Eagle Brook Church Blog

Inked Scripture Verse: Peace

By Vince Miller, Ministry Development Director

Philippians 4:6-7

There are so many times when I am just blown away by statements that the apostle Paul makes. On our INKED scripture cards this week there is one of those verses.

As I was sitting in church this past weekend,  I couldn’t help but think that the one of the great points of this text is that when we experience anxiety we need to immediately run to Jesus.

Yet this is not my typical response; why?

The answer is probably found in what I do run to when anxiety strikes. It is typical for me in times of anxiety to run to things like complaint, gossip, impatience, or frustration. What our verse suggests is different. Paul says, “Present your [anxiety] to God.” The vehicle for this is “prayer and petition”—simply a conversation with God.

For me this is much easier said than done, but practicing this daily in the midst of anxiety is key to unlearning old patterns and relearning new disciplines.

Now here is the shocker of Paul’s statement.

Notice that it doesn’t say that presenting these requests to God will result in answered prayers, or removal of the anxiety causing tensions. Most of the time this is what I secretly desire: complete removal of the symptom. Unfortunately at times I believe a specific prayer from God will remove my anxiety. But what is promised in verse 7 is not an answer to prayer, nor a removal of the tensions, but instead “the peace of God.” The answer we do get when we present our request to God is this—peace. And then Paul says there are certain results we can expect—protection for the heart and mind.

What anxiety do you need to bring to Jesus?