The Peace Of God
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
My most anxious moments those first few days in North Korea were alone in my hotel room at night. Darkness somehow seems to heighten anxiety. And the city of Pyongyang was particularly dark at night. I was accustomed to lots of lights in a large city. But because of shortages in electricity, there were almost no lights used in Pyongyang. The darkness in Pyongyang at night reminded me of my childhood nights in rural Mississippi where no lights could be seen at all.
Sleep was not easy for a number of reasons. Did I mention I was anxious? Okay, that makes sleep difficult. I was also suffering from jet lag. We were 11 time zones from my usual central standard time in the US. When I went to bed, my body acted as though it were time to wake up. And the surroundings were ever so strange. The hotel was an old Russian hotel with cold, cold concrete everything. The beds were narrow and hard. The pillows were hard and uncomfortable.
As I struggled with sleep that first night, God gave me what I needed through these verses from Philippians. That night, I gained a new understanding of “the peace of God which transcends all understanding”. God did give me a peace that night. He provided a guard for my heart and mind. I certainly had a keen understanding of my anxiety and the causes of it. But the peace God gave to me that allowed me to sleep and rest was one like I had never experienced before. And it was a peace that surpassed my understanding.
God does not want us to be anxious about anything in any circumstance. When he allows challenges to enter our lives, he wants us to become more dependent on him. As Paul says in another letter, he uses our weakness to make us more dependent on Him. If we will pray with thanksgiving, He will surely provide us with a peace that is not to be understood with the human mind.
Lord, when I am anxious, remind me to pray with thanksgiving. Thank you for blessing me in so many ways.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
Photo by Christopher Sardegna on Unsplash
