God's peace in tough times

The Lord has nurtured us with His love and Word tremendously during this time, and I promised two posts that look at scripture regarding this. I am doing it this afternoon because I need the reminder.

A dear friend was praying for us, and this verse was all over her mind, heart, and prayers, so she sent it on to us:

Philippians 4:7 "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (NKJV)

I often like to look at different translations to get a clearer understanding so here are a couple for this verse:

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (MSG)

If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (NLT)

This verse became a balm on my heart as I read it over and over, and asked the Lord to give us His peace.

The other verse that went with this, at least in our minds was John 14:27

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

The Lord gives us His peace, but sometimes we have to ask Him to help us find it. When our hearts were breaking, and we asked the Lord for His peace, He gave it to us in such a gentle way that it almost sneaked up on us, but all of a sudden we realized that we could function a bit better, and our emotions were not constantly bubbling over.

The world does not give us peace. In fact, for all intents and purposes the world said I had every right to be angry and hurt. William Barclay's definition of the world is the world how it organizes itself apart from God. What the world thinks is almost never what God thinks.

The Lord's peace can be found in the tough times, we just have to be diligent in seeking and looking to Him! Sometimes it is hard, but when we seek the Lord with our whole heart we do find Him. I understand it is hard, I understand what it is like to be brokenhearted and confused in things and have prayers that are little more than tears. But as hard as it is, it is worth it. Seeking the Lord is always worth it.