The Anatomy of Anxiety
Part 23: Christ’s Peace Plan
Note: For previous posts in this blog mini-series, visit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22.
Life Focus: Does worry, doubt, or fear get the best of you sometimes? Do you wonder where anxiety comes from and how to defeat it in your life and the lives of those you love? Then we need a biblical anatomy of anxiety. We need God’s prescription for victory over anxiety.
Five Peace-Producing Principles
In one verse (Philippians 4:6), in the context of one chapter, in the context of one book, in the context of the Gospel, Paul has taught us five peace-producing principles:
1. Guard My Relationship to God My Guard
2. Engage in Worship Prayer Focused on God’s Character
3. Open My Palms to God
4. See God As a Rewarder, Not a Hoarder
5. Faithfully Trust My Faithful Father
But just what is the nature of this peace?
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Three False Peace Plans
1. God’s Peace Is Not Irrational
Peace doesn’t ignore the reality of the situation around us. It’s not Pollyanna Christianity pretending life is wonderful. It’s not living in denial of problems, suffering, troubles, and stresses.
2. God’s Peace Is Not Circumstantial
There’s no promise that the anxiety-prompting events will magically disappear. In fact, Jesus makes the opposite promise. “In me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
3. God’s Peace Is Not Predominantly Emotional
We don’t eliminate emotions. We manage emotions. We bring spirituality and rationality to our emotionality.
Recall our “anatomy of anxiety.” Emotions are God-given. The core emotion underlying negative anxiety is our God-given emotional gift of vigilance—an emotional response to threat.
An external threat prompts an internal reaction. We can respond in an ungodly way: stuck vigilance leading to self-trust, self-protection, and fight or flight behavior. We can respond in a godly way: wise vigil based upon faith in God and protection of others.
Christ’s Peace Plan: Core Rest Despite External Stress and Internal Distress
1. Christ’s Peace Is Rational: Reason Redeemed by Faith
Paul says God’s peace transcends all understanding. It’s not irrational. It’s super-rational. It’s reason redeemed by faith!
Peace brings rationality and spirituality to our emotionality. Our vigil detector screams, “Incoming missile! Take cover!” Or, if you’re a Star Trek fan, “Red alert! Red alert! Shields up! Evasive maneuvers!”
Our emotions scream, “Take control! Trust self! Protect self!”
However, our rational spirituality says, “Shh. Quiet. Calm down. Look at this real threat with spiritual eyes. What has God promised in Christ? He has overcome the world. He has won the fight, so you don’t have to fight in self-trust. He has won the final victory, so you don’t have to flee in self-protection.”
That’s why Paul says God’s peace guards our hearts and minds. “Heart” in the Bible is a comprehensive term with a focus on our rational, volitional, moral control center. “Mind” is thoughts, mental reflections, images, and beliefs.
God’s peace helps us to reinterpret life based upon God’s perspective. God’s peace helps us to see life through the lens of God’s promises based upon God’s character.
2. Christ’s Peace Is Supernatural: Whole, Healthy, and Holy in Christ
“Peace” means wholeness, unity, integration, rest. When we’re anxious, we feel the opposite. We say, “I’m coming unglued. I’m falling apart. My life is disintegrating!” Or, if we’re a Star Trek fan, “The shields are breakin’ up Capt’n Kirk. I can’t hold ‘em together much longer like this!”
God’s shalom is core rest despite external stress and internal distress.
Core rest: I am supernaturally at rest—whole, healthy, and holy. External stress: Even when real threats attack me. Internal Stress: Even when my emotional sentinel is clanging “Red alert!”
It’s supernatural because it is God’s guarding peace. Paul says God’s peace shall guard—garrison. God’s peace is the sentinel that mounts a guard over our hearts and minds. God’s powerful sentry of peace garrisons my heart and guards my mind—protecting my thought life. God’s peace stays on sentry duty continuously, without interruption, so I can relax my stuck vigilance. I can rest.
Peace is supernatural because it is in Christ. “It will guard your hearts and minds in Christ.”
In Christ, God demonstrates once and for all that nothing can separate us from our Sentinel. We have the peace of God because we have the promise in Christ of peace with God.
Since my ultimate fear of separation from the God of the universe is calmed in Christ, then I can face all other real, but smaller, fears through Christ who promises that He is my Sentinel who has overcome all the world’s threats.
Making It Real
1. Am I looking at life threats with spiritual eyes? Am I looking at life’s stresses through the lens of God’s protective promises based upon God’s faithful character?
2. Am I experiencing core rest despite external stress and internal distress? Is my daily peace based upon my understanding of my eternal peace with God in Christ?
The Rest of the Story
We’ve been looking at the foundation of peace—spiritual peace. There’s still more. In the coming days we’ll ask, “What additional biblical principles can we apply to our lives to find God’s peace?”
