Day 2 - Week 62 - Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

"The peace of God", does that sound familiar?  Does it bring back to you another verse that we have already learned?  For me, I hear the words of Jesus, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let not your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27...way back on Week 25!)

Just as Jesus told his disciples that He was leaving them with a peace unlike they had ever known, that would alleviate their troubled hearts and calm their fears, Paul reiterates to us that when we deposit all of our concerns into the very capable hands of our loving God, that we will experience God's peace, a peace that surpasses any sense of calm that we may have had before, a peace that truly is incomprehensible to those who have not entered into a relationship of trust with God. 

Robert J. Morgan states,

This isn't just the peace God gives; it's the peace He enjoys, His own internal dimensions of peace.  It's the peace of Christ Himself...

...It's beyond our ability to understand it or to explain it to others.  When we do as God commands here, we're promised an inner composure utterly unexplainable and inexplicable.

Think about the peace of Christ.  In the midst of scorn, rebuke, and terrible punishment, He remained at peace.  That peace came because He knew, completely and without a doubt, who He was and where He was headed.  He saw beyond the cross and trusted His Father to do what He had told Him He would. 

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  - Hebrews 12:2

That's the kind of peace I want in my life...that no matter what the course, I remain confident of the joy that is set before me.  That I have placed every worldly care and concern in my Father's hands and am trusting Him to bring me through.  I believe that is what Jesus did in Gethsemane...he gut-wretchedly poured out His human concerns of pain and, more desperately, his fear of separation from God, into His Father's hands and He came out of that time confirmed of God's absolute faithfulness to Him.  He could then go forward in confidence and with peace. 

And the ultimate result..."joy"!