When I was in high school one of my favorite books was A Separate Peace by John Knowles. It was the story of some boys attending a prep school during World War II, and the title was derived from the idea that all kinds of upheaval was going on in the world, but they were in this separate bubble where they were completely oblivious to the war that was raging on the outside. In some ways, I think that idea mimics what Paul was intending when he talked about a “peace that passes understanding” in Philippians 4:7. Just before he talked about this new kind of peace, he told the church to give their anxieties to God. Once they had been released, a separate kind of peace would come – the kind that is beyond comprehension for the situation at hand. When we give our anxieties to God, we begin recognizing that He is the One in control in the first place. Regardless of what we think we control, our lives are in His hands. Stress comes when we try to take control of things over which we have no control. But when we give them to Him – when we realize that He has our best interests in mind – then our stresses no longer give us reason to worry, and the worry turns into peace. Is there something you’ve been holding onto for too long? Do you have the courage to give it to the One who has your best interests in mind? When you do so, you will experience a different kind of peace.
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