Today is another opportunity for #UnitedExtraordinaryPrayer.
Yesterday Rev. Chris Hutchinson quoted a passage that has been on my mind as well, Philippians 4:6-7:
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Verse 7 speaks of “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.”
The term translated “surpasses” in Philippians 4:7 is also used in Sirach 43:30. There it is translated “far exceeds”:
When ye glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as ye can; for even yet will he far exceed: and when ye exalt him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; for ye can never go far enough.”
The term in Sirach, and I suggest in Philippians 4:7, refers to God’s transcendent state of being, which far exceeds anything we can understand, anything of which we can speak.
In Phil 4:7, it refers to God’s transcendent peace. God’s peaceful state of being, his sovereign repose as Lord of all, far transcends anything we can understanding, anything we can utter.
However, by means of “prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” and through the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, who pours the peace of God into our hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit, God’s peace, which far exceeds all thought and all speech, will guard our hearts and minds.
This is a much needed promise at present: that God’s transcendent peace will keep us in Christ Jesus as we call upon his name.
Many of us are losing our minds. May God grant us to retain our composure, that we may act wisely, lovingly, patiently.
Many of us are being torn apart by loss. May God, the author of peace and lover of concord, guard us, that in our loss, we may not lose the things that cannot be lost.
May he keep us in perfect peace, as we set our minds on him, the God of peace: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
