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We’re living in a time of panic, aren’t we? We might call it a Pandemic Panic! And while we all hope it will run its course very soon, we simply don’t know. It seems as though nobody knows—except of course, our Omnipotent God. So, in the midst of all this, I just thought it might be a good idea to remind us who are Christ followers that we have the secret to peace in the midst of panic.
Let me begin by making it clear I’m not saying that because we’re Christians, we should just sail through these panicky days without missing a beat, no stress, no worries. Some of you have no doubt personally struggled with this disease and its variants or you’ve had people very close to you who have struggled, and some even died as a result. We don’t make light of it at all. And we’ve all had to deal with the loss of freedom, the restrictions, the masks and mandates, and a myriad other situations resulting from this pandemic.
But since it is true that we have peace in the person of Jesus Christ—for he is our peace—and since it is true that he has given his peace to us as our own unique possession, then shouldn’t it be true that as Christ-followers, we should demonstrate peace in the midst of this panic? Let me remind you:
Ephesians 2:14a: “For he himself is our peace,”
John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Notice that Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” He gave you peace—his peace that is totally different and infinitely better than any peace the world tries to give you. But you have a part in this, right? It’s that “do not” part. So, how “do you not” let your heart be troubled or afraid?
The battle is, of course, in your mind—in your thoughts. This takes us back to that basic Christian discipline which is absolutely vital in our Christian walk, based on 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Notice again that in order to think like we should think, we must “take captive” wrong thoughts. So, as we deal with the lack of peace in our lives, what we are really dealing with is the lack of peace in our minds. And that happens because we allow our hearts to be troubled and afraid because we don’t take wrong thoughts captive. We don’t insist that our thoughts must be obedient to Christ. Nobody can do that for you; you are the only one who can decide to change your thought life.
What does that look like on a daily, thought-by-thought basis? Let me give you a hypothetical example:
You’ve just heard from a good friend who you were with two days ago that she wasn’t feeling so good today, so she got a test to see if it’s COVID. She won’t know until tomorrow, but she just wanted you to be aware that she might have the disease. What is your response?
Well, if you’re like me, your first thought is “Oh, no! I don’t want that disease. I hope she doesn’t have it! I hope I don’t get it.” And your heart beats a little faster as your mind goes to the possibilities of what could be true: your friend has COVID and she has exposed you to it. You start to think of all the plans that you will have to change if you’re sick or just quarantined. You think of other people who have been around you for those two days and worry if they might catch it from you. Maybe you wonder how in the world you can isolate from your family or from your job. And how long will you be quarantined?
Panic drives out peace instantly and it all happens in your thoughts. In this example, you allow your thoughts to imagine the worse before you have any confirmation that there is a problem. Who hasn’t done that? Who doesn’t still do it? The initial panic drives our thoughts where they should not go.
Does that mean you don’t trust God? Does that mean you don’t have the peace that Jesus promised you? No, it just means you now have a job to do: you must bring those wrong thoughts into captivity. You must not let your heart be troubled and afraid. And the first step is to recognize those wrong thought patterns.
So, you stop and think about what you’re thinking about, and you realize you’re allowing your thoughts to go into panic mode. That usually begins with a bunch of “what ifs” and “oh dears” and I can’ts.” And if you’ve learned to practice this discipline already, you know what you must do. You talk to yourself, like this:
Okay, Mary, you have a choice. Keep thinking about all that might happen or choose to think only true thoughts—not imaginary thoughts and what if thoughts. So, I choose to get rid of these panic thoughts. And with that, you send up a quick prayer, a “Lord help me” prayer, because you need the power of God’s Spirit to do this. But the good news is, his power is instantly and always available to you if you’ll just turn it on. And then you make yourself think different thoughts. Remember the verse from 2 Corinthians 10 which says you make your thoughts obey Christ. That’s what you do.
And you then replace that wrong thinking with true thinking. You talk to yourself like There you go again, thinking things that aren’t true. Not going there today. And you quote a verse of Scripture like “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” or you sing a song to yourself or out loud like “Turn your eyes upon Jesus,” or you play some really great music. You do something! That’s the “do not” part of what Jesus meant when he said, “Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.” You do not allow yourself to think wrong thoughts.
Does that mean you are careless and take no precautions in this pandemic world? No, we are to be wise and not foolish. Does that mean you are cavalier or boastful about your refusal to be afraid? No, you recognize that you are just as susceptible to this disease as anyone else.
This is just one pretty simple illustration of what you can do as a Christ-follower, a person who has been redeemed from your sin through faith in Christ, and now enjoys the power of his Spirit within you. This is Spirit-controlled living and thinking. It’s possible because of God’s Spirit which was given to you when you were born again.
Jesus told us “Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34). It’s the thoughts of tomorrow and the next day and the next, the fear of what might happen, that causes your mind to go into panic mode. You cannot handle tomorrow. Jesus said we have enough to handle just for today.
Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because she trusts in Thee.”
Take some peace breaks; close your eyes, focus your mind on Jesus Christ and say to yourself, or out loud if possible, “I want to be in perfect peace right now in the midst of this panic, so I choose to focus my mind on Jesus Christ.” You may have to do it repeatedly, but that’s okay—it will teach you the important principle of replacing wrong thoughts with right thoughts.
In Ephesians 6:15 we are told that a key part of our spiritual armor is to wear the shoes of the gospel of peace. Why do you suppose we are told to put peace on our feet? At first you’d think it would be better to put peace on as a breastplate to cover our heart—peace in our heart. But no, we’re told to put peace on our feet.
Have you ever tried to get through a day wearing shoes that hurt your feet? Is there anything more miserable? Seems like you just have to quit if your feet are hurting, if the shoes don’t fit well.
Think about the boots that people in the military wear. Those shoes are designed to be comfortable and do the job no matter what the conditions are. If you’re marching in the hot desert, those army boots keep your feet from scorching; in the snow, they keep them from freezing; on rocky, rough paths, they protect them from cuts and bruises. With those boots on, you’re prepared to keep going no matter what the circumstances are.
When we wear the shoes of peace, we can keep going regardless of our circumstances. It’s that peace of God, which is described as passing all our understanding. Have you ever experienced that kind of peace, where you knew when you looked around you that you ought to be in panic mode, but instead you’re peaceful—incredible, unreasonable peace? When we wear the shoes of peace, we have peace whether it makes sense or not.
I think we need to make sure we put those shoes on every day, especially in a world gripped with panic. I pointed out earlier from Ephesians 2:14 that, “He himself – Jesus Christ – is our peace…” Peace is a person—it’s Jesus. We focus our minds on our peace, Jesus Christ. We put on the shoes of peace each day, and we’ll know peace regardless of the circumstances.
Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:10 that the person who intends to love life and see good days must seek peace and pursue it. You have to go for it. It doesn’t just come like a blanket and settle upon you when all the circumstances are just right. It comes when you pursue it. Again in Romans 14:19 Paul says “Let us pursue the things which make for peace…”
It won’t just happen. You have to discipline yourself to stop at those panic points and talk to yourself and to the Lord. Even in the midst of your workday, find a place you can get alone for one minute or five minutes for a peace break. Say out loud, “Lord, you will keep me in perfect peace if my mind is fixed on you. I choose to fix my mind on you. I put on the shoes of peace so that I can keep going, regardless of what’s going on around me.”
We have the great privilege of spending time with the Prince of Peace—anytime we want to, anywhere we are. How foolish we are if we don’t take advantage of this great privilege. Here we have available to us the fountainhead of peace. Here we have the God of all peace ready to heal our frazzled nerves and bring calm in the midst of chaos. How foolish if we don’t go to him. Our excuses for not spending time with him are pretty feeble.
Probably the best testimony you and I can have in our hectic worlds is to demonstrate peace in the midst of the craziness. I have a dear friend who came to know Christ as her Savior because she kept observing one coworker who was peaceful in a chaotic environment, and she decided she wanted what he had. She wanted peace.
We can point people to the One who brings peace, and one of the best ways to do that is to demonstrate peace which passes understanding in our daily lives. I trust you’ll make this a priority for yourself, and learn to put on peace, to pursue peace, to make your thoughts obey Christ and do not let yourself be troubled or afraid.