Experiencing the Peace of God

[Sudsy]

This world constantly does things to rob a Christian of what scripture calls a 'peace that passeth all understanding'. It is very easy to get sucked in to whatever the current anxieties are in this world. But scripture tells us not to be anxious about anything. Philippians 4:6,7 -

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And then it goes on to tell us what to keep our minds on.

This is a thread to talk about how we go about maintaining a peaceful heart in this world of constant turmoil. Have you reached a point where if anything brings up anxiety in you, you are able to quickly handle it and live in a state of real peace ?

You probably heard the phrase 'ignorance is bliss' and to some extent this is true for me. The less I know about what all is going on in this world the less anxious I become. But I also can lose my peace when getting anxious about things not of this world, such as how others practise their Christianity different from how I do. Many times I have logged on to this forum and ended up anxious about certain beliefs and practises of others. Things I can turn over to the Lord and leave them there.

When you go through your day how do you go about guarding your heart from being anxious about anything ? Philippians 4:8 tells us where we should focus our thoughts and yet how often our thoughts get unto things that bring out anxiousness in us.

Your thoughts about maintaining a peaceful mind about anything happening in this world. One of the areas I struggle with is my curiousity about the current war in Ukraine. And, too often, I watch something that robs me of my peace. Others struggle more with politics or the economy or family issues, etc, etc.

Although I don't think it is the ultimate solution, I wonder about the anxieties of an Amish setting as I suspect although different by keeping the world out in many ways, they likely also struggle with anxieties of sorts. Isolation, I don't believe is the solution nor what we are called to.

Everyone welcome to contribute.

[Josh]

Although I don't think it is the ultimate solution, I wonder about the anxieties of an Amish setting as I suspect although different by keeping the world out in many ways, they likely also struggle with anxieties of sorts. Isolation, I don't believe is the solution nor what we are called to.

Everyone welcome to contribute.

I would not view the Amish as "isolated". They often are more involved in the local community than I am and know their neighbours better. They do do things like read the local newspaper.

[MaxPC]

Plain Catholics isolate from professional sports; carnivals, amusement parks, social media (such as FB, X, etc). We isolate from bars and parties that network with booze as a lubricant. We isolate from political rallies and those who only live to acquire another status symbol.

Are we missing much? Not at all. We have plenty of real time friends and neighbors. We help others and others help us. I should think we have more real connections than those living in subdivisions and come home to video games and other mind-numbing activities.

This is the reason we live as we do.
YMMV

[Sudsy]

What would you say are or have been the top 3 areas that you struggle with the most that robs you of the peace of God and causes you to be anxious
and what are you doing to overcome these ? I'll share 3 of my areas and how I try to deal with them although I fail at times and find myself in a state of anxiousness. At my age and situation these would not be the 3 top areas in other periods of my life.

For me, these 3 areas rattle my peace of mind at my age -

1) Following politics
2) Following current events
3) Concerns about Christian beliefs and practise

What I am working on -

1) Keeping out of following politics and political discussions. Hard to do at times when someone close to me and so much media is always there to draw me in. Also, it would seem this is not an area of anxiousness that other believers do feel anxious about so there is a certain separation required here as has been allowed in this forum which I am thankful for. But even in read mode I see thread titles and am tempted to go there so I try to get logged in asap.

2) Current events that are not political is another area that can get me anxious at times. Again, the news often majors on anxious possibilities in the future and mostly the bad things that are happening now. I have to keep being reminded of what Philippians 4:8 says about what I am to focus my thoughts on. Again, this is my area of guarding my heart and others may not feel anxiety over these things. I try to look at thread titles and decide whether to get involved or not. But I fail to stay away at times and open the door to being anxious.

3) Other Christian beliefs and practises are not something I can 'flee from' if I am going to participate on a forum like this. I do see some spiritual benefit possible from discussions that can challenge my beliefs and practises and have decided to participate. However, there are times when this also is not a peaceful environment and the fruit of the Spirit has given way to the acts of the flesh. Of this, I am guilty too. What I believe I need to keep working on, with the Spirit's help, is to guard my heart from anxious thoughts and learn to turn more things over to the Lord and leave them there.

I have had periods in my life where I experienced this 'peace of God that passeth all understanding' and they are most glorious times to live in. A time where the state of my heart was fully trusting in God no matter what can be seen around me. A time of faith believing God is still in control and working out His plans and purposes regardless of what I see for we walk by faith and not by sight. A time that just refuses to take on anxieties in this life and believe that when scripture says don't be anxious over anything, it means just that and that it is possible.

If you don't care to share your personal struggle that is fine but I welcome all thoughts about this subject of experiencing the peace of God.