“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7 [NASB]
Verses four through seven spoke to me. We all know these
verses, but I don’t think I had seen them this way before. Verses four through
six are commands. Verse seven is a blessing of shalom, heart peace that only
God can give. After you have done those three things in verses four through six,
then you have blessing-from Paul and from God. As I walked through those
commands, I was like, “Yeah, yeah,” but then connections were made that hadn’t
been there before for me. And I was like “Yes, I am going to have shalom!” I am claiming. And I prayed that way for my
family this morning.
Verse four: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say,
rejoice.” Rejoice at what God is going to do, at what He has done, at what He
is doing, and at Who He is-I AM, Immanuel, Creator, Savior, Provider, etc.
Verse five: “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The
Lord is near.” Don’t let what happens to you deter you from being who God has
made you to be. Show the world God’s goodness, kindness, compassion, love,
grace, mercy, and forgiveness even when things are not what you want them to
be.
Verse six: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made know to
God.” This one has been on my radar for years. Thanksgiving is not something I
regularly do. Maybe you are like me. Today, I began thinking of all the things
I could be thankful for and recognizing they all come from God’s hands.
Then the coup de
grace (There is a reason grace is part of this French idiom.) is in
verse seven. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will
guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” When you do these things, you
will have peace because you recognize from where peace comes. God is your peace.
Nothing that comes against you will prevail when you thank God for who He is,
rejoice no matter what your circumstances, continue to be gentle in spirit,
being anxious for no thing at all, but seek to keep in relationship with the
Lord. This is how you have peace. And you don’t have it because you manufacture
it. You have heart peace because of God’s grace, His blow of grace-the
soft breeze that glides by your skin or the tumultuous wind that gets your
attention and you know, despite it, you have peace because you are in a
relationship with God.
What is coup de grace
normally? In French, it’s an idiom that means a mercy killing, or the blow of
grace. We could say that is what God does with His mercy toward us. His Son’s
crucifixion was a mercy killing to save us from a dying misery. It’s God’s blow
of grace on us that gives us eternal heart peace. Paul meant this when he
wrote, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God’s blow of grace may be a soft
breeze across your mind or heart or may be a stiff knock to get you to that
place, but His peace, no matter what your circumstances, will guard you and
keep you. It’s a heart peace-shalom-that comes from knowing God, from being in
a saving relationship with Him.
Verse seven is the coup
de grace when you look at those four verses together. His blow of grace-His
heart peace-will keep your hearts and minds when you rejoice always, remain
gentle in spirit, stay calm and un-anxious, while giving thanks in expectation.
Grow and keep on growing in your relationship with God and this peace, this
shalom-heart peace-will be yours. That is coup
de grace. This coup de grace is a
different way to look at the French idiom, a Christian way.
Then finally we get to the familiar “whatevers” list in verse
eight. Dwelling on the “whatevers”-whatever is true, honorable, right, pure,
lovely, of good repute, excellent, worthy of praise-can only happen because of
having a close relationship with God and because they come from Him. Paul
didn’t stop with the command to dwell on them. He told the people to practice
them. Why? Because the “God of heart peace will be with you.” Just as Jesus
taught people what comes out of a person in words and actions comes from his or
her heart, Paul told the people to put into action those excellent things that
God puts in them by practicing them. Following these last two commands, Paul
gave a promise. The same promise he gave the people in verse seven. When you
do these things, God’s heart peace will be with you.
It's not a magic trick. You don’t do things just to get
peace. You have peace, God’s peace, the blow of God’s grace, when you are in a
saving relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. The grace that brings each
of us into relationship with God upon our profession of faith in Jesus as our
Savior is how we get this peace. When you are in a relationship with God
through Jesus, you dwell on those excellent things that come from God, and you
have heart peace because God is with you.
A big sigh is expressed as relief and release enters and we
understand much better than before. Rejoice. Show your gentle spirit from God.
Be anxious for nothing but pray and supplicate with thanksgiving. These things
come from the mind and “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will
guard your hearts and minds in Christ.” More than this, dwell on excellent and
praise-worthy things, which only come from God, then practice them. And again/still,
the God of peace shall be with you. Three verses of commands, then a promise of
God’s peace. Next, two commands, and again a promise of God’s peace, heart
peace.
Are you ready to breathe that sigh of relief? Are you
seeking heart peace, the peace that passes all understanding? God gives it
through His Son, Jesus Christ. Come walk in relationship with God. Rejoice. Be
anxious for nothing. Have access to the Father through the Son. Be thankful before
God answers prayer. Think on excellent and praise-worthy things and practice
them. Receive unending heart and soul peace, the blow of God’s grace across your heart, soul, mind, and body. His
merciful love calls to you.
Lord, God, many times
I did not rejoice always. I was anxious and did not seek You first. I acted and
reacted based on my best judgments or on my fears. Help me to walk with You so
I can keep my eyes focused on You. Help me to recognize Your grace and merc,y
and sway towards Your ways instead of my own ways. Forgive me my stubbornness
and conceit thinking that I always know what is right. Without You, I flounder
and fail. With You, I have learned I can have Your peace-heart peace-even in
the middle of difficult times because You are God and nothing surprises You.
Amen.
