“Thank You”–Simple, Yet Powerful

Advent Week 2–PEACE

By Maile Soto, Discipleship Director

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 ESV

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone…

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Philippians 4:4-8 NKJV

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

“Thank You”–Simple, Yet Powerful

By Maile Soto

I love our devotionals this week on PEACE. Without coordinating, each one of us has brought us a “tool” for practicing peace. On Monday, Rosie shared about practicing pauses to invite Him in to whatever we are doing. It’s not that He isn’t already with us—He is! But stopping and consciously inviting Him into whatever we are doing at the moment shifts something in us, recognizing that the Prince of Peace is right there in that moment with us. I did this the other morning. My thoughts were spiraling while I was listening to music and getting ready. I “invited Him in”, paused, and actually started giggling when He began singing the lyrics of the song I was listening to back to me! It shifted my whole thought process and attitude– while I was doing something as mundane as putting leave-in conditioner in my hair!

Then, on Wednesday, Tamira shared about storing up peace. About spending time in in His presence (prayer, worship, reading the Bible) when things are going well, so that we know who He is and how to pray with faith when the storms come. I love this idea that as we sow into our relationship with Him, we are storing up peace!

Today, I’m going to share another tool for our toolbox when it comes to peace.

The passage above from Philippians is one I know by heart. I memorized it as an elementary school student over 45 years ago. It’s one of the most quoted Scriptures on peace. In fact, it’s so familiar to me that somewhere along the way I think I stopped really reading it… Until this last week, when I listened to a message called “The Thankful Heart” by Gabe Valenzuela from Bethel Church in Redding, CA, and he pointed out 2 little words I had somehow skipped over—with thanksgiving:

“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 passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7

I had completely missed the connection between being thankful and experiencing the “peace that passes all understanding”. Yes, pray and ask for God what we need. Always. Absolutely. With thanksgiving.

Here’s how Gabe said it:

“Should we pray? Yes, please do that. Should we petition? Yes, we should do that. Those things are wonderful. But if we understand how to use the weapon, we add thanksgiving to what we are doing. And then what happens is the Prince of Peace shows up, because that peace is Jesus. The prayer added with thanksgiving brings Jesus in the middle of everything.”

Did you know that gratitude and anxiety can’t exist in the same space in our brains? Someone said that to me this last week and I stopped in my tracks. Really? That can’t be true, can it? So I googled it. Here’s what I found in an article titled, “Gratitude & Anxiety” by Tanya J. Peterson:

“The brain can’t respond to anxiety and gratitude at the same time, which means it’s one or the other. We can feel anxious and other negative states, or we can feel grateful and all of the positive emotions that are associated with it.” She goes on to say, “The goal in cultivating gratitude is to train your brain to hone in on the good. Then, stick with it. Pay attention to it on purpose.”

This can be hard–to stop in the middle of very real and painful circumstances and think about what we have to be thankful for. But it can be an effective weapon in our arsenal, a very effective tool in our toolbox of pursuing peace.

How do you incorporate thanksgiving into your life? Do you have a particular habit or strategy? Here’s the strategy that Gabe Valenzuela shared: “When I get up in the morning, I try to be thankful for what He did, thankful for what He’s doing, and thankful for what He’s going to do. And sometime before I go to bed, I try to be thankful for what He did, thankful for what He’s doing, and thankful for what He’s going to do.”

I love this particular focus, because as believers, we don’t just practice gratitude as a state of mindfulness or “to the universe”. We believe that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17) We practice gratitude toward God. We thank Him for the beautiful gifts He gives us. We thank Him for His presence with us. Peace isn’t just a state of mind or the lack of anxiety—peace is a Person—Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace—and we find our peace, true peace, in Him.

So, right now, let’s try it:

What is something that the Father/Jesus/Holy Spirit has done that you are thankful for?
What is something that He’s doing that you are thankful for?
What is something that He’s going to do that you are thankful for?

Thank you, Father, for sending Your one and only son, your beloved son, to be born as a man, live a sinless life as a man, die on the cross for our sins, and be raised again, that we might have peace with You and have Your Spirit, the Spirit of the Prince of Peace, living in our hearts. Thank you that You are for us, that You are with us always, that You never leave us. Thank you that You have plans to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future.