The wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace… Let your heart be always guided by the peace of Christ, who called you to peace as part of his one body, by always being thankful. James 1:17, Colossians 3:15
There are so many verses in the Bible that combine wisdom, peace and thankfulness. But the bottom line is Peaceless people don’t give thanks. Thankless people don’t have peace.
The expression and mindset of thankfulness has an amazing cleansing or healing nature within us that results in inner peace and when we’re at peace on the inside, external circumstances are changed. “The peace of God which passes understanding” permeates our lives in such a way that it is contagious. Gratitude brings the Spirit of peace to the giver and the receiver alike.
To really experience God’s peace, we must come to Him with thankful hearts. To really express thankfulness within us (and outwardly), we must “let the peace of Christ guide (our) hearts, since as members of one body (we) were called to peace and thankfulness” (Col 3:15)
Peace isn’t the absence of difficult circumstances. And we know that we can pray about these difficulties. But praying is not all that we can do. Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything”—good start, but how? He continues, “but in everything by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God. And THEN the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7 emphasis added).
To put it simply: In every situation … prayer plus thanksgiving equals peace.
To experience God’s peace, we must come to Him with thanksgiving. Hard-core, uncompromising gratitude. Extravagant gratitude. Costly gratitude. The kind of thankfulness that trusts that Jesus is working for our good even while we face unpleasant circumstances… the kind that builds a fortification around our troubled hearts and minds with His incomprehensible peace.
When we face chaotic, unsettling, desperate situations…When our spirits are exhausted from striving, stress, and strain…There is peace—God’s peace—waiting for us just beyond the gateway of deliberate gratitude.
Wisdom pursues gratitude and experiences peace. But the only way to find it is to “in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let (our) requests be made known to God.”