The Path to Peace: Experiencing God's Comfort When You're OverwhelmedSample

Peace that Overcomes Anxiety

If there’s one thing to be said about Paul’s life as a follower of Jesus, it’s that his life was never boring! He saw people get saved, took on new disciples, and planted new churches. And his presence in many of the cities he visited caused an uproar. Both revivals and riots—these were common occurrences when Paul went into a city to preach the gospel.

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas land in jail in the city of Philippi. But God causes an earthquake that leads to their freedom and also to the jailer’s salvation. While it is a beautiful moment, it came at great personal cost to Paul. He had been severely beaten and treated horribly. His future was in limbo. His friend, Silas, was also suffering.

And yet, the Scriptures show us that Paul was, amazingly, at peace throughout the entire ordeal. Although they are battered and wounded, Paul and Silas use their time in the darkness of prison to worship God through song and prayer. They know that their lives are in God’s hands, and so they worship the Lord for who he is, even in the middle of an awful situation.

Years later, Paul wrote a letter to the Philippian church, sharing that he has “learned” to be content, no matter what he faces (Philippians 4:11-13).

Whether he has much or little, whether he is exalted or disparaged, he is at peace in Christ. He has what he needs because he has Jesus. Paul’s strength to be able to endure everything from prison to plenty comes from the fact that he is united to Christ.

All of us, like Paul, will face both highs and lows, both joy and sorrow. Yes, God set Paul apart for his unique ministry on earth, but he was not a superhero. He had to “learn” to be content—he had to learn how to find peace in Christ in whatever circumstance he faced.

The same is true for us. Most of us will not automatically find ourselves singing hymns in the lowest moments of our days—but we can learn to do so. Most of us will not knee-jerk our way into prayer when our bodies or minds are hurting—but we can learn to do so. We can train our hearts, through practice and time, to turn to Jesus in our pain rather than wallowing in it:

We can choose to open the Bible rather than scrolling on our phones.

We can choose to turn on a worship song rather than the TV.

We can choose to call a friend and ask for prayer rather than calling to gripe.

These are not easy choices, but they are choices, nonetheless. As we choose the way of Christ over our flesh, we will find the peace that passes understanding and overcomes anxiety. Paul wrote about this in that same letter to the Philippians:

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5-7).

What Paul did in that jail cell—offering prayer and thanksgiving to Christ—that is how we “learn the secret of facing” anything that comes our way. For as we do so, God’s peace will guard us, no matter where we are.

We adapted this plan from another resource. Learn more at http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-path-to-peace/408900 .