Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT)
Do you have peace when you have a tough day on the golf course? I can tell you that this is a fight for me.
Years ago, when I was working full-time in sales, some of my closest customers were golfers. We all had to work every day, so we would get up early and play nine holes together at 6:00 in the morning. This allowed us to get off the course by 8 a.m. and start work. But who’s fired up for work when they have just played a lousy round of golf? Even now I have to remind myself that my golf does not define me—especially when that golf is bad.
Bad golf is not a recipe for peace. The same is true for anything that causes us anxiety or fear, or anything that makes us angry or frustrated. When things like this come into our life, we find ourselves fighting for peace. But maybe we’re not fighting with the right weapon.
With God, it’s never “just talking,” because he has the power to turn every part of the conversation toward good.Today’s scripture provides a great reminder, as the apostle Paul told the Philippians not to worry. That’s a typical encouragement we give one another, but Paul blew it up into something much bigger. He told them not worry about anything. The great thing, though, is that Paul didn’t just leave them with the don’t; he provided an alternative. He told them that instead of worrying, they should pray.
At a recent Links Fellowship, we discussed prayer. Men admitted they don’t pray as often as they should. Someone wisely said, “God our heavenly Father just wants to hear from us as much as possible.” If you have grown children, you understand this. You get excited when they call or send you a text. And casual calls might be best of all. They’re calling just because they want to talk. I think God is so pleased when we do the same with him, praying about anything and everything.
But the passage also gives us some specific prayer points: tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. With God, it’s never “just talking,” because he has the power to turn every part of the conversation toward good.
People ask me, “How do you experience God’s peace?” I say, “When I give it all to him, and I know he knows what is best for me.” I will admit I don’t understand why things happen like they do, but this passage is the promise I hang on to when things don’t necessarily go the way I want them to. The end of verse 7 puts it all into perspective: His peace will guard my heart and mind as I live in Jesus Christ.
I encourage each of our Links Fellowships to end their time together with prayer requests and in prayer. It has been a very valuable time to give life up to the Lord. Later we look back and see what he has done, learning again that his peace rides in on his promises.
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Dereck Wong
December 5, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.