Philippians 4:7

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus”

“And”: As. result of practicing the gratitude and humble prayer-life mentioned in Philippians 4:6. “The peace of God”: The peace that is available in. relationship with God. “Which passeth all understanding”: “Surpasses all comprehension” (NASV). Vincent notes, “Either, which passes all power of comprehension or better, which surpasses every (human) reason, in its power to relieve anxiety” (pp. 457-458). “There are two possible views. It may mean that the ‘peace of God' is beyond our ability to mentally appreciate or, it may denote that real peace, such as comes from God, is beyond man's ability to contrive, produce, or obtain by himself” (Jackson p. 80).” 'God's gift of peace will do far more for us than will any clever planning or calculating on our part.” (Hendriksen p. 197). “God's peace is able to produce exceedingly better results than human planning or that it is far superior to any person's schemes for security or that it is more effective for removing anxiety than any intellectual effort or power of reasoning” (Hawthorne p. 184). Often people will ridicule prayer, but this section reveals that sincere, humble, grateful and earnest prayer, casting all our cares upon God in simple trust, can do much more than all the human "cures" combined!

An incredible number of human ways of dealing with anxiety exist. Some turn to drugs and medication. Others turn to promiscuity. Some read endless self-help books and spend their time on. psychiatrist's couch. Some turn to human philosophy, Eastern religions or some other false teaching. People try to convince themselves that suffering is just an illusion. Some naively think, “Everything will always just work out”, or that things will simply take care of themselves. Others take the fatalist view, “What will be, will be, and it is pointless to resist”. Again, let it be emphasized, “all our contemplations and premeditated ideas of how to get rid of our cares” (Muller p. 142), will fail.

“Shall guard”: All other mechanisms for dealing with worry will fail. Notice the word "shall". Prayer, when done right, will work every time. “ Guard is. military term picturing God's peace as. detachment of soldiers ‘standing guard over' the metaphor would have been easily understood and appreciated by the Philippian Christians who read it: God's peace, like. garrison of soldiers, will keep guard over our thoughts and feelings so that they will be as safe against the assaults of worry and fear as any fortress” (Hawthorne pp. 184-185). “Your hearts and your thoughts”: Guarding the heart and mind is essential (Proverbs 4:23). Believe the wrong thing, become convinced of something false, buy into some erroneous idea, and we are sunk. “Together these words refer to the entire inner being of the Christian, his emotions, affections, thoughts and moral choices” (Hawthorne p. 185). “In Christ”: “Apart from Him there is no surety or guarantee for peace of mind” (Muller p. 143). In Christ Jesus we have access to every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), therefore, such peace can always be. reality, yet outside of Christ, we are lost, and real, true peace is impossible for anyone who remains an enemy of God (Jeremiah 2:14; Jeremiah 2:11).

God's prescription for mental health

“In his little book, ‘The Bible and Mental Health', Dr. Paul Southern states: ‘The number one problem in the United States is the mental health problem. Mental and emotional ailments claim more victims than cancer, heart disease, polio, tuberculosis, and all other physical diseases combined. At least one in every ten persons across the nation is in need of help for the living of life in these days. This simply means that twenty million Americans suffer from psychic tensions that they are unable to handle alone. Every other bed in all the hospitals in our country is occupied by. patient who has no organic ailment. One in every five families is affected” (pp. 2,3)” (Jackson p. 81). The Bible stresses the absolute importance of filling our minds with good things (Proverbs 23:7; Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 12:34; Mark 7:20).