Beyond Understanding

This is the last blog in a mini-series on peace. You can read the previous entries here, here, here, and here.

There are a lot of things that I don’t understand in this life – quantum mechanics, how in actuality airplanes fly and computers process, and exactly how the cast of the Jersey Shore is on Barbara Walters’ list of Most Fascinating People for 2010. And while I don’t understand all of these things, I trust that with enough time, insight, and diligence they can be understood. After all, there are people out there who build planes – they must understand the concepts of lift, drag, and other theories of physics that keep the pilots and passengers up in the air. Other people program computers, they must get how the zero’s and one’s are translated into meaningful data. And if nothing else, Ms. Walters herself could explain the criteria for inclusion on her list. These things are understandable, even if it would take some study to do so.

Philippians 4:7, however, tells us that what’s beyond our understanding is God’s peace. Reading the preceding verse, we learn that when we bring our cares, concerns and anxieties to our Father, He provides His peace to protect our hearts from those very same worries. His peace, therefore, makes it so that we can “not be anxious about anything” – because we know that we and our needs are in His very capable hands.

It’s not a peace that anyone can understand – because humanly speaking it doesn’t make sense that we would live life free of unsettled worry – but in His love God grants us that peace, when we fully rely on Him.