Week 9 — Tuesday: Experiencing His Peace
Philippians 4:4-7
Do you ever feel like anxiety is in control of you? I have been there. And yet, we are told to NOT BE ANXIOUS. But how? Well, I am thankful for a God who doesn’t just tell us what not to do but what to do instead.
REJOICE in the Lord—even in our pain, sorrow, and anxiety! Why? Because the Lord is NEAR, and that is our comfort. How? By lifting up our prayers in every situation FULL of thanksgiving.
Reminding ourselves of our thankfulness is how we fight anxiety. Positive Psychology did a study and found that “gratitude significantly reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety. At the neurochemical level, feelings of gratitude are associated with an increase in the neural modulation of the prefrontal cortex, the brain site responsible for managing negative emotions like guilt, shame, and violence. As a result, people who keep a gratitude journal or use verbal expressions for the same, are more empathetic and positive-minded by nature.” 1
However, this isn’t news to us as believers because we see it written here in scripture. We see that the Lord promises us His peace, such a sweet peace that we will not even be able to understand it. We receive this peace if we come to Him with our requests and a thankful heart. Have you come to the Lord in this way, seeking His peace? I encourage you to do so today.
Through our prayers and thankfulness, we will experience God’s peace. Believe that and take hold of it for yourself. He is an almighty, all-knowing, sovereign God who loves us with a perfect love, and His desire is for us to experience His peace by coming to Him in our times of anxiety, so that is what we must do.
—CONTRIBUTED BY MADISON GIANNOSA, CERES CAMPUS STUDENT MINISTRIES COORDINATOR —
1. Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury, B. (2023, March 16). The neuroscience of gratitude and effects on the brain. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/
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