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. Philippians 4:6-7, NIV

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the one. The kind of day when you’re sitting there staring at a blank classroom: no students, no plans, no interruptions. Just you, sitting there looking at your classroom and wondering, What will this year be like?

I know we’ve all had that feeling and thought so many times. We question, Will this year be different? Will it be better? Will it be worse? How will it compare to previous years? Will I have difficult students? Will I have easy students? Will there be a disparity between my high class and my low class again? Will I struggle to make connections? Will connections come easily? Will I have good relationships with my colleagues and principals?  

The never-ending waterfall of questions and worries seems overwhelming sometimes, doesn’t it? But I think there’s a place in Scripture where we can go and find answers to these questions. I recommend putting it into memory because if you’re like me, you will need it often! It’s hard to put into words how many times today’s verse has served me over the years to calm my fears and worries and just rest in Christ. 

It reads, “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.” 

Sounds simple enough, right? I wish it were. Even though God’s Word tells me not to be anxious about anything, I still find myself being anxious about many things. Even though God’s Word says to bring things to Him by prayer and petition, I often don’t do that. And even though He says to bring those things to Him by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, remembering those things that He has already done, I forget to do that, too. 

But have you ever noticed the amazing power that comes when we actually do these things? 

If we follow the first verse, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God,” notice what happens…”The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

So, what is the breakdown here? Why is it so hard for me to just stop and do what God says? I think we all know the answer. Life comes at us so quickly. Priorities change rapidly. We’re inundated with information repeatedly. The toxicity of our current culture seems like an army against us. Colleagues and supervisors can often become more foes than friends.  

Also, notice what these two verses don’t say. They don’t say that if you follow their directive, life will be easy and there will be no storms. They don’t say that God will somehow miraculously calm the seas around you. They don’t say that bad things will never happen to Christians. They don’t say we will never be persecuted. 

However, they do say God will give us His peace that far surpasses our understanding and give us more of the heart and mind of Christ Jesus himself. Sign me up! We love that peace of God that surpasses all understanding. We love the storm being calmed. We love the seas when they cease to rage. We love to see the dead raised back to life, and when dry bones come to life. 

But what do we do in the middle? What do we do when the storm rains down upon us? What do we do when the seas continue to rage? What do we do when the dead things don’t come back to life? We go back to the first verse: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Then, we remember in the midst of all of the chaos, our God will give us His peace and the heart and mind of Christ Jesus.

Lord, thank You for the peace of God that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and Minds in Christ Jesus. Thank You for the storms that remind us to reach out to You. Thank You for the adversity that pushes us closer to You. Thank You for our culture that reminds us we all need You so desperately. Please help us be vessels of hope as we share the love of Christ with others, no matter what storms may come our way.

Copyright Matthew Wagoner.

Matthew is a Christian Educators member and a sixth-grade middle school language arts and social studies teacher in western North Carolina.