Previously I have written about anxiety (ET November 2019). I noted that biological anxiety (as a response to a threat or in the context of a mental illness) is not what is in view when we are told not to be anxious in the Bible. Rather it is worrying, fretting about our situation instead of trusting in God. In this article I want to consider the positive alternative to such worrying, the peace of mind which we should have as Christians serving the Lord. Paul speaks of this to the Philippians (4:6-9), referring twice to peace from God which he will grant to us.
Usually when Paul or other Bible authors refer to peace they mean objective peace, the state of a reconciled relationship with God which we enjoy in Christ. Sometimes peace can mean the fullness of our salvation blessings, when it becomes roughly equivalent to salvation itself. But here peace is something which Paul says results from our prayers (vs. 6-7).
This would not be true of objective peace, would it? This is established and unchangeable for those in Christ by faith. Rather, he means here a mental peace which should replace any anxious fretting a Christian may have in difficult circumstances. And we should be clear that Paul is not advocating some kind of 'prayer therapy'! That is, of course, how many non-Christians see prayer, isn't it? Prayer makes us feel better. Such a view is patronising hogwash. The mental peace Paul speaks of here is something which transcends human understanding (v. 7). This is hardly true of psychotherapy.
Alan Thomas
