Real Grace

I was reminded of a scripture verse from the bible this morning: Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Do you ever find yourself during this healing process caught up in the “emotions”?  I feel that is where I have been.  I’ve been so focused on making sure I don’t stuff the feelings only to have them surface and explode later on because that has been my pattern for 25+ years.  I’m afraid that I have not gone to God during this storm that I am currently in as often as I need to be.  My healing process is not always a storm, please don’t misunderstand me.  It is just where I am currently at.

I was reminded that thanksgiving is an important part of this verse because it speaks of trust and confidence.  That hit home because trust can still be a huge issue for me.  To thank God for doing something before I actually see it come to pass does speak of a level of trust I struggle with.  I do believe it’s a control thing.  I have a hard time feeling like He can really take care of things for me.  I feel more like I can probably do a better job or maybe it’s more that I need to be able to supervise to make sure it’s being done right.

What this verse says to me today is that I need to be able to put my whole trust in God and then I can experience the peace of God which goes beyond all human understanding.  This peace will cover me and protect my heart and mind.

I was talking with a friend last night and as we were talking I heard myself saying, “Emotions can lie”.  I woke up thinking about that this morning and thought I probably could have also said, “Emotions can distort our perception of reality”.  I realize God created emotions to be a healthy part of us but there is a place for them.  I cannot let them reside in the place of truth.  I fear this is also what I have been doing.

So, to sum up I choose today to cry out to God, thank Him for taking care of me, and walk in truth!