Peace

We're told in Phillipians 4: 7

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

I had always understood that this meant that it was a peace from God that we couldn't understand. Although this still remains true (at least for me) I now understand it differently and to me it makes much more sense.

We all have questions, problems and things we can't work out. We are all on a journey to find answers. Why did God allow this? Is this right or is it this? What does God what me to do? Some of us have questions and worries that keep us awake at night and ruin our days. Sometimes when we find the answer to a question that has been on our mind we heave a huge sigh of relief and for a while we are at peace. We’ve had our question answered and we are satisfied, at least for a while, until the3 next one pops up. When it talks in Philippians about God's peace transcending (passes) all understanding it is talking about a peace that comes without the need for the question to be answered. It's saying that we don't need to find understanding, we don't need to lie awake at night with those questions going around in our head. God's peace replaces the need to ask why? True peace from God is like the peace you'd find when all your questions and worries have been answered, but without the need to have them answered. In some ways we need to cling on to God for that peace. We need to surrender to Him saying that I will seek your peace, not the answers to my questions. At the end of the day God's peace is something real and tangible and worth seeking. If we continue to look for answers we will always have something missing. Now don't get me wrong, there are things that we can find answers to and it is right for us to look for them and to ask others and to seek God for them. This, however should be a short journey. I believe that we are not meant to spend our lives seeking answers, for to some questions there are no answers to be found this side of heaven. It will just be a frustrating and fruitful pursuit. We need to trust God and seek his peace that bypasses the need to find an answer. Let all your strivings cease and accept God’s peace. Keep those thoughts, those questions, captive and may the peace of God become a reality in your lives.

Perfect Love

1 John 4:18
　
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…

So, what is perfect love?

The only way I can understand this is in the outworking of Love in the life of Jesus. His life was perfect and so I’m guessing that his love was also. So what was this love like? Throughout the accounts of His life you can clearly see that His love was no passive thing. It was the love He had for others that spurred Him into action. He had a love that reached out to lepers, that took Him places most people would have shied away from. It was a love that didn’t wrap people up in cotton wool but which tackled big issues because they needed tackling. His love didn’t mean he agreed with everyone or bent over backwards to comfort people and make them feel secure. In fact it was a love that made people feel insecure with who they were and what they were doing. His love was love in action.
　
Perfect Love is love in action. Perfect love is love that builds up relationships and points people in the right direction, that reaches out to the poor, that shares the Good News and prays for our enemies. Perfect love is putting ourselves out for others, saying and doing things we don’t want to do but know we should. Love is a doing word not a passive word.