PEACE BEYOND HUMAN UNDERSTANDING

Have you noticed your peace seems to depend on the circumstances of your life? When you are free from stress or difficulty, then you experience peace. That is worldly peace. But God explains that His peace is different. It is not dependent on anything but Him; He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)!

Jesus states in John 14:27:

“I leave the gift of peace with you, My peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but My perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts; instead, be courageous” (TPT)! The Amplified version notes, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.”

The Prince of Peace offers us a way of experiencing His peace at all times! Seems impossible, considering what you may be experiencing? The Word increases understanding of this truth.

Intimacy with the Lord is a key to His peace:

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace (the peace of His kingdom) at all times and in all ways (under all circumstances and conditions, whatever comes)” (2 Thessalonians 3:16). Living intimately with the Lord through every season of life, no matter what is happening, is essential.

How do you live intimately with the Lord? 

You live intimately with reliance upon the Lord through prayer. We are instructed: “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God” (Philippians 4:6 Amp). Notice, once we pray, the Word instructs us to praise God, grateful for His answer to our request. We don’t wait to see with our eyes or experience with our senses that the answer has come before we praise Him. We praise Him immediately by faith; this is to live by faith and not by sight! To do this, you must trust Him. To trust Him, you must know Him. To know Him, you must be intimate with Him. To be intimate with Him, you must spend time in His Word; it is by His Word that we gain knowledge of Who God is.

What is the result of praying, making your request known to God, then praising Him for His answer before you see the results?

Peace. A peace that surpasses understanding. In other words, even in the midst of challenges, in the midst of all circumstances, God’s peace is extraordinary, not dependent on anything. Therefore, even when life is challenging, the supernatural peace of God is present. Perhaps by human thinking, this shouldn’t be, but His peace functions and is present despite the challenge. It may not make sense to your human thinking, but this is peace that goes beyond any human understanding or the absence of problems. This kind of peace, God’s peace, will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7)! His peace is supernatural!

When you pray, this is what the Word says happens:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14,15). Having the opportunity to talk with God, expecting Him to listen and answer your request, should provide you with peace.

You experience peace because:

• You are confident in the Lord. You gain confidence through intimacy with Him and being in His Word. You grow in knowledge of Him.

• You pray according to His Word, which is His will. This gives you confidence.

• You know when you pray, He hears you.

• When you know He has heard you, you know that He has answered you.

• Because you know He heard and answered, you praise Him. Praise is actually a position of worship and releases the power of God over your situation.

  
  

God is your Source of comfort, and He is in your midst; He indwells you.

When you have anxious thoughts, the soothing comfort of His presence calms you; His comfort is a delight as He gives you hope and peace (Psalm 94:19). Love Himself is in your midst, quieting you with His love (Zephaniah 3:17) if you allow Him to do so. You allow Him by spending time in His Word, which confirms His abundance and provision to you. God is the Promise-Keeper! The comfort of knowing He is in your midst provides reassurance, as His power is at work on your behalf. Knowing this, you rest in His soothing calmness, as Peace Himself is present, as He perfects that which concerns you. He establishes you in confidence as you grow in knowledge of Him.

Peace is powerful and overtakes you even in the midst of trouble, if you allow it. 

God brings order to your life, harmony, and wholeness through His peace that surpasses human understanding, which is a peace not dependent on the absence of trouble. Being fretful, anxious, agitated, unsettled, disturbed, fearful, intimidated, or cowardly is not spiritual well-being. God is asking you to allow His peace to overtake you in all of these areas. He is telling you, “You prayed, I heard, and I have released what is necessary; things are straightening up in response to My power, as things come together in harmony. My power and ability are at work! Trust Me and praise Me even when you don’t yet see with your natural eyes or experience with your senses.” Praying by making your request, believing God heard and answered, and praising Him is placing a demand on Peace to enter into your situation. When Peace enters, there is restoration; harmony is restored in your life, and you experience peace by the Prince of Peace. Rejoice at this supernatural event!

You are capable of doing what God has commanded.

God commands you: “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything…” (Philippians 4:6). When God commands you, you are capable of doing it. He would not command you to do so otherwise! You do it in His strength because you are not alone. You may think of yourself as weak because things of this world press hard against you. God is the strong one. “The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army” (Habakkuk 3:19 Amp). This means that God has made a way for you to experience His peace, a state of harmony. He guards you from negative emotions that do not serve you well and that try to overtake you during trials. He instructs you to come, talk to Him, and dump the load of your cares on Him so you may live from His peace; the situation may not change immediately, but you change because Peace is ruling your life, which means Peace is ruling your emotions. God wants you to experience His accomplishments, your inheritance, as His child. He desires that you believe what He says, who He is, and His privileges for you.