Ep. 39 | Rest in Peace | Philippians

Listen in as Pastor Eddie Blalock shares today’s daily devotional featuring Philippians 4:7. Let’s be Formed by The Word together!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Formed by the Word, a podcast where we don't just read the Bible, we invite it to shape our lives. In each episode, Pastor Eddie Blaylock will provide daily devotionals seeking to connect real scripture to real life. We'll be starting with the book of Philippians. This incredible letter clearly reveals how life in Christ shapes a resilient faith and a joy that is not dependent on circumstances. So wherever you're listening, whether you're driving, working out, or just scrolling for something meaningful, lean in, open your heart, and let's be formed by the word together.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Well, I've flown enough now to experience varying amounts of flight turbulence. In my experience, some of the worst turbulence has occurred over the North Atlantic on a transcontinental flight, or maybe over the Sahara Desert, perhaps worst of all. Have you ever been on a flight when turbulence hits? The plane starts shaking, drinks rattle, people grip the armrests a little tighter. You look around and you wonder, is this normal? But then you glance at the flight attendant. He, she's calm, still smiling, walking the aisle like nothing's wrong. Why? Because the flight attendant knows something you don't. She's been through this before. He trusts the pilot. She knows the plane is built for this. The turbulence hasn't gone away, but her confidence changes everything it might be said that peace isn't the absence of turbulence, it's confidence in the one who's in control. So Paul understood this concept as it relates to our faith, not in a human pilot, but in a loving, sovereign heavenly Father. He understood that an abundance of peace is available to the follower of Christ even before our faith is perfected. When someone passes, we often breathe a prayer of blessing over them. We may say, for instance, may he or may she rest in peace. Well, Paul suggests that we don't have to wait until we die to rest in peace. We can actually find the rest in peace even before our faith is perfected. Today we're looking at Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 7, where Paul is telling his friends how he manages to live out his faith in real life. It's a good topic for us to consider, right? Because we need to know not only what we believe, but how do we live that out in real time? To this point, in this portion of the letter, Paul has written to them about the need to rejoice in the Lord always, verse 4, to live their lives with a gentle spirit, verse 5, to pray instead of worrying, verse 6. And now he adds, to rest in God's peace, verse 7. So let's take a closer look at this verse and see if we can observe some important and familiar things that we need to know to enjoy this promise of peace that Christ gives us. Let's read it again. And the peace of God, he says, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The first thing we observe in this sentence is that the peace of God is not dependent upon an absence of trouble. Rather, it's an inner stability despite outer chaos, despite whatever turbulence is found around us, there is a peace inside. Now, this is not talking about peace with God, but the peace of God. Now, let's explain the difference. Peace with God is found through our salvation and our justification. In Romans 5.1, Paul writes, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So justification is the exchange that we spoke about earlier in chapter three. It's that transaction that declares us to be just before God through his sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. He exchanges our sin for his righteousness, and that brings us peace with God. But in verse 7 here, Paul is talking about the peace of God. And this peace of God speaks about being found in our experience, our daily lives. The peace of God is not the absence of trouble, but the inner stability of God's presence, the calmness he possesses, the stability that belongs to him. This peace that God promises is not self-produced, not personally or personality based, not circumstantial. It's the peace that is freely given to us by God. You don't create this peace, you receive it. It flows directly from verse 6, where Paul wrote that we replace anxiety with prayer, and when we replace anxiety with prayer, God replaces anxiety with peace. You don't manufacture God's peace, you receive it, you rest in it. Next, Paul says that this peace of God surpasses all understanding. The peace of God doesn't make sense logically. It isn't dependent on circumstances, and it can't be fully explained. Why? Because it's a supernatural kind of peace. It's beyond human reasoning. What this means is that you can have peace even when the diagnosis isn't good. You can have peace even when your future isn't clear. We can have peace even when the problem that we're facing isn't solved. The world's peace says it'll be okay when things change, when things get better. God's peace says I'm okay because God is present. If your peace only exists when the master makes sense or when life makes sense, you're not experiencing this peace that Paul's talking about just yet. God's peace doesn't always make sense, but it always makes a difference. The third thing we notice Paul says is that this peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds. Now this is a military term, and much like soldiers standing watched to protect from intrusion, this was easy for the Philippines to follow. In fact, it fits the city of Philippi. Remember, Philippi was a Roman colony, and so this imagery would be vivid to them. Picture a Roman colony with this military presence. The colony would have had soldiers stationed around the city. God's peace surrounds us in the same manner. So what's being guarded? He says, Your heart, that is your emotions, fear, anxiety, discouragement. Your mind, that is your thoughts, worry, overthinking, worst case scenarios. Peace doesn't just comfort, it protects. It stands at the door of your life and says that thought doesn't get in, that fear doesn't take over. God's peace doesn't always remove the problem, but it prevents the problem from controlling you. God's peace stands guard where anxiety used to rule in your life. So where do we find this kind of peace? Paul says it is found in Christ Jesus. The only place this peace can be found. This peace is found only in a relationship with Christ, when we are in union with Christ, when we are dependent upon Christ. And outside of Christ there is no true peace, only temporary calm. But real, lasting and supernatural peace is found in Jesus Christ. So you see, you don't get peace by eliminating problems. You get peace by entrusting your problems to God. So in the summary of this section, we learn that the peace of God is not random, it's the result of right focus, joy in our life, a right posture, living in gentleness with a gentle spirit, and a right response to prayer. So the takeaway for today is this God's peace doesn't always make sense, but it does always make a difference. Haven't you found that to be true? God's peace doesn't always make sense, but it always makes a difference. You don't defeat anxiety by controlling your world, you defeat anxiety by surrendering it to Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this wonderful teaching from the Apostle Paul. May we be reminded today, Lord, to focus our attention on you, to surrender our lives on you, and to allow your peace to flood our hearts, to guard our minds, to guard our emotions, and may we trust you even when life doesn't make sense. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Thanks for joining us today. We are so glad that you chose to spend a few moments with us in God's Word. If this episode has encouraged you, we ask that you leave us a review or maybe share this episode with a friend. Also, would you consider sending us a note to let us know what God is doing in your life? Pastor Eddie would love to hear from you. You can find this email in the show notes. Until next time, stay in the scriptures, keep following Christ, and allow your life to be formed by the Word.