I’ve been invited to share more on a peace that transcends my understanding, which is a biblical promise that is fully realisable in the general sense. I say general sense because even though I bear this peace that transcends my understanding, I’m still human and have tough days, like today for instance, when I failed multiple times.
The key about this peace that transcends my understanding is it also transcends my failures.
First, a little something on the concept of a peace that transcends our understanding. It’s a biblical concept that Paul coined in Philippians 4:6-7, and I think is usually quite misunderstood. I’ve certainly misunderstood it. And I’m not saying here that I fully understand it; I believe the things of God are well beyond our full comprehension, but I also believe God grants us a taste—which is more than enough to blow us away.
A peace that transcends my understanding is like this: it is completely beyond being conditional and seems to superintend over all circumstances that I encounter, and it lives as a smile on the heart the vast majority of the time. It’s a mood of gratitude that has prevailed over me for nearly five months now in a way I’ve never experienced before.
Even though this is quite beyond my understanding, I’m going to attempt to be forensic to get a glimpse as to the character of it—I’ve got five below, and there may be more, but five suffices:
1. Not worried about gaining anything, which has helped me gain release from desiring in a demanding way. As a peacemaker, the concept of the “progression of an idol” means that we don’t always control our desires. The peace that transcends my understanding has my desires more in check so when I feel a demand arise I tend not to be bothered in pursuing it. I just don’t seem that interested these days in pursuing to gain—and I seem to notice what I am gaining more, so as to not take it as much for granted, which tends toward gratitude.
2. Not driven by achieving anything but achieving what seems to be in keeping with what I discern to be right. Biblically speaking, peace is linked with doing what is right, so when we do what’s right, we have peace. I feel that doing what is right is pretty straight forward, and having arrived here, having this sense of peace for doing what is right, I just want more of that. This is not saying that I’m doing what’s right all the time, because I don’t. But what’s changed is my implicit decisions are now more likely to be based on what is right. The peace that transcends my understanding is a resoluteness that suffers much less indecisiveness.
3. Less focused on others and what they’re doing and not doing. I think I used to compare myself to others a bit and sometimes a lot, but pecking-order thinking feels like such an inferior way to spend thought time these days. I do still sense that many others are better than me, but it doesn’t seem to bother me, and it also seems to bother me less when others choose to go their own way against what would otherwise be advised. I feel completely free of needing to rescue people from what is potentially their own folly. And I feel freer of judging people for the consequences of their folly which I find is a great encouragement.
4. Definitely decided that I can’t control almost everything I want to control. This is a game changer. I’ve actually decided to NOT want what I want, to refuse those “goals” I tend to subconsciously covet. It’s taken me all life to do this. In saying this, I want you, the reader, to be clear that I still want to control things I can’t control. It may only seem like a small difference between still wanting to control things I can’t and deciding I can’t, but the difference is truly as vast as the known universe. Probably best summed up as: I can’t, so I won’t.
5. I’ve decided sticking around and setting down roots is the shortest route to peace. Somehow, and I don’t fully understand this, my feet are no longer itchy. I’m not striving to be elsewhere, and I think that’s a beautiful thing to experience—being and feeling at peace right where I am.
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What sums up the peace that transcends my understanding is I care less now than ever.
Not about people I mean. I care heaps about people and those I can help.
I just care less about what happens in life. I don’t feel as bothered about trivialities because that’s actually most of life.
The key is, I think, to always expect for bigger things, so the present things appear far less daunting. By bigger things I don’t mean better things. By bigger things I mean bigger challenges, in the same way as yesterday is preparation for today and today is but preparation for tomorrow.
IMAGE: me outside my local church which has been instrumental in helping me feel at peace.
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