How to Experience True Peace Every Day

Austin Huang:
David, is it all right if we start with Scripture to kick off this episode?

David Platt:
Ah, that’s always all right, Austin, a great place to start.

Austin Huang:
Praise God.

David Platt:
Yes, always.

Austin Huang:
All right. Well, let’s turn to Philippians 4, starting in verse 6. It says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” For me, I think that’s the key verse in Scripture when I think about peace, and I know these episodes that we’re talking about, the fruit of the spirit are designed to help Christians walk out the fruit. What do you say to the person to just start this off who does not feel the peace of God right now?

David Platt:
Oh, man. I’ve been just meditating on this recently in my own life. I just read a great book by a Puritan named Jeremiah Burroughs, and the title is The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. And so let me talk about that for just a second because this is where my mind immediately goes when you ask that.
He defines contentment, which I think is really very closely related to the concept biblically of peace. He just defines it as the sweet, inward, gracious, quiet frame of spirit. So even just that in and of itself, I think we all long for that, like a sweet inward quietness that no matter what turmoil is racing around us. And that’s why peace comes to my mind there, that there’s a way to have just a sweet, inward, gracious… And it’s a gift of God. It doesn’t happen naturally. That goes back to all this fruit we’re talking about of the Spirit, gracious, given by God, quiet frame of spirit that freely, if I can remember the definition right, freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.
That’s like a loaded definition.
So it’s this frame of spirit that submits to, okay, God is all wise, all sovereign, all loving, all good. The only way I can have peace of mind and spirit is… I mean, this is Isaiah 26:3. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”

Austin Huang:
Yeah, that’s good.

David Platt:
So if you struggle with peace, then okay, how do you overcome that? With a really high view of God, and your mind stayed on God. So you keep him in perfect peace, and perfect peace, that’s quite a phrase, whose mind has stayed on you because he or she trusts in you. The Lord is an everlasting rock. So this isn’t like an escapism from the world; this is a, “I’m in the middle of the turmoil of this world…” And obviously Philippians 4, “Don’t be anxious about anything,” certainly implies there are a lot of things that you could be anxious about, you could be worried about.
Yeah, I think about Matthew 6, Jesus saying, “Don’t worry.” But why? Because you have a Father in heaven. So that’s where it comes back to that definition, a wise and fatherly disposal. So the fact that in every condition, no matter what circumstance we’re walking through, no matter how hard, no matter how painful, no matter how heavy, hurtful, whatever it might be, chaotic, that there’s a way to have peace. How is that possible?
The Lord is an everlasting rock. Stay your mind on him, trust in his wisdom. I always think about this when I’m… Yeah. His wisdom, his power, and his love altogether. That’s like a foundation for peace. He’s all-powerful. He’s in control. So it’s not chaotic ultimately. He’s in control. He’s all-powerful. He’s all wise. He knows what’s best. He knows what’s good and he’s loving. He’s working for our good. That’s the only foundation I can find in this world.

Austin Huang:
Oh, that’s so good.

David Platt:
It’s not in the world. It’s in God’s Word. It’s in who he is for peace. And then practically Philippians 4, what you were talking about, “So don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition…” So lift all these things. How do you practically fight for peace? By just laying down those things that don’t feel peaceful to you before the Lord, in everything with prayer and supplication, present your requests to God. And that’s when the peace of God that transcends all understanding guards your hearts and minds.

Austin Huang:
That’s so good. That’s so good. And I think on top of everything that you just said, we have to kind of return as Christians to like, what does peace with God even mean? I think of 2 Corinthians 5:21; it’s just this great exchange of Jesus becoming sin on the cross so that we could be free in him. That is peace with God. I think we have to also have this view of our own sinfulness, as you talk about all the time. We have to have our own view of this sinfulness that without God, we don’t have peace. Peace is not available to us. This world can fight for peace all it wants and say, “I’m just trying to find my peace.” But that peace does not surpass all understanding, and it will not guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. We only have one way to be reconciled to the Father, and it’s through Christ.

David Platt:
And that’s Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we’ve been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And that’s key. Some people, I think maybe sometimes think, “Okay, is the gospel really the answer for everything?” Well, okay, fundamentally, why do we lack peace in this world? It all goes back to Genesis 3. There was total peace before that, no chaos. And then sin enters the world, and there’s a lack of peace between man and God, and woman and God. Then there’s a lack of peace between man and woman. There’s a lack of peace with the creation around us. It all flows from sin.
And so Jesus, he is the Prince of Peace who came to give peace, who made possible peace with God, who then makes possible peace with others. And yeah, as long as we live in this fallen world, there’s still going to be chaos.
There’s still going to be fallenness and hardship and suffering and pain and sorrow and death. But we know that’s not going to last; ultimately, we have this picture of God with us, us with God, Revelation 21, and peace; all the old has passed away, new has come. So we’re looking for… We have hope of peace, which I think is a ground for present peace.
How can I have peace amidst the chaos in my life or my family or whatever’s going on in the world around me? I can know, one, I’m secure, Romans 5:1, in relationship with God. Two, I have a reservoir of peace to work for peace with others. I live peacefully with all, so far as it depends on you, work for peace. And then third, I have total confidence that one day there’s going to be total peace. His peace is justice; his righteousness will reign on the earth. So that’s just a confidence to live in today.

Austin Huang:
It’s so good. I also think of the beatitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.” I don’t know if you know the definition of that peacemaker, but the way that I’ve thought about it, and feel free to correct me, is just thinking of, yes, the peace that we experience tangibly, but also blessed are the peacemakers. What is a peacemaker? It’s someone who brings others to peace. And so when I think of that, I’m like, “Okay, so that means that as I go and share the gospel with people, lead others to Christ, counsel others, I’m making peace between them and God.” And is that the right way to think about “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God?”

David Platt:
It’s certainly one dimension of it, for sure. I mean, I just think about Ephesians 6. It’s not a coincidence that this armor that God gives us for spiritual battle, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

Austin Huang:
Yeah, that’s good.

David Platt:
Yes, so we’re bringing peace. What amazing news we have in a world of war and a world of conflict and a world of chaos, and just people right around us who are going through all kinds of struggles. We bring a gospel of peace, good news, peace with God. I mean, this is the song the angels chose when they decided to announce Jesus’ birth, like, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those whom his favor rests.” So yes, we’ve got great news of peace, and the beauty is that peace, yes, it is with God, and so now peacemaking also extends to Ephesians 2.
Jesus has broken down this dividing wall of hostility. And what does it say? In Ephesians 2, it says, “He himself is our peace.” And so this creates the way for us to have, certainly in the body of Christ, a supernatural unity and peace with one another, which we need to live in, like in a world of canceling and criticizing and dividing. No, Jesus made possible supernatural peace. The church should be a place, a community of peace.
And so yes, peacemaking. And then obviously to extend that to what we do in the world and doing justice and working for, to lead people to peace with God and peace with one another, that’s obviously and ultimately only found in Jesus.

Austin Huang:
Yeah, that’s so good. I mean, you spoke on this, but why do you think that it is that the church as we see it today is not achieving that peace? I also think of unity as another way to think about it in John 17, is like the prayer that Jesus prays, “That they may be one as you and I, the Father, are one.” Why is it that we don’t experience that peace amongst brothers and sisters in Christ in the body?

David Platt:
I’ll tell you, in my mind, this is so good. Ephesians, I didn’t even plan on talking about Ephesians. I really hadn’t… Yeah. But when he says at the very beginning of Ephesians 4, “To be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.”

Austin Huang:
Come on.

David Platt:
Okay, so what’s the answer? How do we do that? Well, we need to not be conformed to the pattern of this world, be transformed by the renewing of our minds. But he says, “With all humility, with gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love as we’re eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.” So all of that, to live and love one another, serve one another with humility, with gentleness, with patience. I mean, these are all fruits of the Spirit we’re going to talk about through the Spirit, bearing with one another in love as we’re eager to…
And I love how it’s maintaining the unity of the Spirit. It’s not creating a unity. It’s not manufacturing unity. We have unity, like you and I, brothers in Christ, united in relationship, reconciled in relationship to God, reconciled in relationship with each other; let’s just maintain what Jesus has bought for us, which should make it all so much more precious for us to experience as the body of Christ. Like with any and every other brother, sister in Christ, we’re eager, like zealous, to maintain the unity Jesus made possible for us with his blood.
Man, that changes the way we talk to each other; it changes the way we look at each other, it changes the way we serve each other, it changes the way we get along with each other, which I mean, that’s a whole other thing, that obviously implies some people are hard to bear with. I’m hard to bear with; you’re hard to… This is part of what it means to be in the body of Christ. If we’re not having to bear with somebody else, then we’re probably missing out on what God is actually designed for us, but to bear with one another in love. So all that, you’re maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. What a phrase.

Austin Huang:
So good. Come on. And I mean, going back to how we started this episode, for somebody who’s listening to this, watching this, if you don’t feel that peace, just take everything that David said, that I said, because it’s all rooted in the Scripture of God that brings peace to man. Yeah, that’s my encouragement to anybody who’s listening to this, watching this: peace is available for you today. If you haven’t given your life to Christ, that is the first and foremost peace that you should be seeking after. And then like we’ve been talking about, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, is available to guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus today.

David Platt:
Yeah. Even that, as you’re saying it again, that word guard, it’s like a protect… God wants to protect you from the chaos and the anxiety and the worry, and he does that. He promises to do that. It’s like that’s a promise. Let me pray that over just us and every single person who’s… Oh God, we talk about this often on this podcast. We never know. Only you know where somebody’s going to be when they’re listening to a particular episode. I’m trusting, assuming, God, that somebody, well, a lot of people and just individuals who are hearing this right now are walking through all kinds of things in life and are anxious or worried, and you’ve ordained this word on this day and this moment. God, we pray your peace over them. We pray all these Scriptures we’ve just walked through that you’ve promised.
God, you keep him or her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. We pray that you help their mind to stay on you, not to fix their mind on what they’re walking through in this world, but ultimately on you, and to see what they’re walking through in this world through the lens of you who are infinitely trustworthy, the Rock for them, you’re their Father for all who are in Jesus, and that in every condition you have wise and fatherly good for them. I pray for the inward, gracious, quiet frame of spirit that trusts in you and delights in the peace that you give that passes all understanding, that is supernatural, that transcends this world.
We pray that over them. Jesus, we praise you for making this possible for us. Help us to live in it in each of our lives and then yes, God, in our relationships with each other, help us to live in this peace and help us to live with confident hope of the peace to come and to lead other people today, help our feet to just be fitted with the good news, the gospel of peace as we go today to share that with others. In Jesus’ name, we pray all these things according to your Word. Amen.

Austin Huang:
Amen.
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of Everyday Radical. We pray that it encouraged you in many ways. We do this every single week, so be sure to subscribe or follow to not miss the next episode. We’ll see you then.