Philippians 4:7 English Standard Version (ESV) And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If we trust God then we do not have to understand how the peace of God accomplishes the protection of the heart and mind. We just have to believe it does.

How keenly are we aware of the peace of God in our lives?

Have we replaced it with what we deem to be necessary to secure our place in the world?

That could be a portfolio, a big house, a position at work or the respect of others.

Ask Job how that went for him. A good friend wrestles with me over the context of the book of Job but I think we both appreciate this one verse.

Job 1:22 English Standard Version (ESV) In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

There are people in this world that find someone else to blame for their misfortune. If it isn’t mom and dad, it might be a brother or sister. If not family it might be society in general or politics. When they runout of people to blame they tend to blame God even when they do not believe in God.

My observation is that people who live that way end up dying alone.

God placed love in our hearts to share love, to love and be loved. 

Deuteronomy 6:5 English Standard Version (ESV) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

It begins in the heart, then the soul, then strength. So many of us focus on the mind as a center of choice but spiritually the center of choice is the heart. Before anyone gets all new covenant on me, allow me to remind everyone what standards were set in the Old Covenant. We did not have the strength to keep covenant with God in the Old Testament so He gave us His Son to live in our hearts by faith in order to keep this New covenant.

He is that perfect love, Agape. Since Jesus reigns in our heart, Agape love makes the right choices for us. Now it is just a matter of Him working in us to convince our human minds that He has made the right choices.

Our soul is composed of the mind, will and emotions that operate in our human condition. We still have free will but as in any good relationship cooperation is the best way.

John 14:27 English Standard Version (ESV) Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

What we see today is a growing number of alarmists who believe they are standing on the walls of righteousness crying out to all “The enemy is here!”

Do they serve God or the schemes of the deceiver? 

The first thing we must look at is the arena of the battlefield. Is it spiritual or of the world? If it is either we will need the peace of God to answer what is needed of us. We can be used by God on any battlefield. The reason is because people are involved who have lost their peace of God or who need to find it for the first time.

We will not hear God clearly during these times if we sacrifice His peace by rushing to do battle because the alarmists have upset us. God gave us emotions but not to become victims of them. We become victims when we sacrifice our peace.

What upsets us the most?

That is a difficult question to answer here because I have my own list as do we all. We might agree on some and not on others.

Ask why we are upset. In some cases we may have experience in the past which brings up strong emotions about our own abuses. What we went through ourselves will likely foster strong emotional responses. Perhaps something seems important with or without cause. Others can influence our perceptions.

Luke 21:34a Amplified Bible (AMP) But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed……

An inappropriate expression of emotions to a situation beyond our control can lead to depression. Depression is harmful to good relationships. We must guard our hearts against it for the sake of our relationship with our Lord.

Philippians 4:7 English Standard Version (ESV) And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.