Peace that Surpasses All Understanding

I think a lot of people think that Christians have life easy. We never have tough times, and are al

ways successful in what we do, but that’s not the case. As Christians we are not given an easy life, nor are we promised an easy life, actually the exact opposite.

1 Peter 4:12

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.

Christ tells us that we should not be surprised when we have troubles. God made this world so that we would have an easy life, but because of sin that no longer is a reality. We are poor miserable sinners. We try to find peace, and hope, and faith, and joy, and trust in things of this world. We want to use our own abilities to acquire money, and fame, and possessions so that our life can be “easier”. Because we are sinners we don’t want to rely on God for His peace, His joy, and His hope. We forget that He is the one in whom we should put our faith and trust.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

God knows that we are influenced by the world and He knows that it is hard. God has been here, He has walked through the difficult and tough times, just as we are walking. He suffered more than we could know or imagine on the cross. God has given us so many Bible verses that warn us of our troubles, but within each verse He also gives us the answers. God doesn’t just tell us that life will be hard, He gives us the solution to all our problems! John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” The solution is peace in the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We may not always have earthly peace where we are cool, calm, and collected. We may not always have peace in relationships, or in our career, we may not even have peace in what we want to eat for dinner. But because we know Jesus we will have peace. We know that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived our life in this sinful world. He was tempted, He suffered, and He died because of sin. He rose from the dead defeating death, the devil, and all sin. Because of that we have the peace that no matter how difficult our life is, no matter how many sleepless nights we have, no matter if we sometimes feel empty or lost or scared, we have peace that everything will be okay. Maybe not on this earth, maybe not in this life, but in life eternal.

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.”

That is what the peace that surpasses all understanding is. It is beyond all that people can possibly imagined. As Christians, we know Christ, we know His love for us and because of this we have peace in knowing where we will go once we die. We may not know what heaven is like, but we know that it will be perfect. This peace is only known by Christians, it cannot be received by anyone else or anything else. Nothing will ever be able to give us the peace we find in the confidence of God’s love for us. We have peace that in heaven we will not have to deal with sin, but more than that, we will have all the peace, hope, joy, faith, and trust possible because we will be dwelling with God, fully in His presence and fully embraced forever.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.