The Peace That Transcends Understanding

[APPLAUSE]
Keegan Stewart: Good morning.
What a great week of chapel we've already had.
When you think back to Monday and Tuesday.
Ben, I might need a little help.
I don't think my clicker is working, unfortunately.
[AUDIO OUT]
On Monday, Jana Anderson-- all of us were here.
We're blessed enough to hear from her.
And she reminded us of the fact that we're image bearers.
We're image bearers, and we have been given peace.
And because of that, we don't have
to live like the rest of the world.
And then on Tuesday, Trey Morgan reminded us
of three critical reminders.
God is attentive.
God sees you as valuable.
And God is a great provider.
And because of all of those things, we can have peace.
We can have peace.
It's been a great week.
And I want to continue the content this morning,
talking about peace.
I want to talk about peace.
And I want to challenge you.
Stick with me just a few moments,
because I want to encourage you.
I want to offer you a couple of encouraging reminders.
And the root of these reminders are
built around the good news and the reality about the peace
that comes from God.
And man, we wish we had more peace, don't we?
We're a stressed out, busy people.
Show of hands, students.
Anyone here already stressed out?
We're on week three, by the way.
We're a stressed out people.
We're busy.
Who already has enough homework that's impacting
your overall level of joy?
Who's already worried about their second intramural game,
trying to bounce back from a tough loss in week one?
Who's already worried about that first exam?
Who's already worried about which social club
you're going to get into?
Who's already worried about which office
you're going to hold in social club next year?
Who's already worried about that internship you have to have?
Who's already worried about what they're
going to do after they graduate?
There's a lot of stress.
There's a lot of concern.
There's a lot of worry.
And then on top of that, things are hard.
We live in a broken world where topics such as mental health
and anxiety are more prominent than ever.
Statistically, your generation, the college generation,
anxiety is at an all-time high.
And we all have our own stories, our own examples
of difficult and hard and challenging.
And some of you in here today are probably
experiencing hard in ways that the majority of us
can't imagine.
And to that person, I say two things.
One, this is a community here at LCU
that's ready to meet you where you are and walk with you
through that.
I've seen it many times, and I know we'll see it again.
And secondly, I say to that person,
despite your past or current circumstances,
what a blessing it is to live in a world
where one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is peace.
So peace is what we're going to be talking about today.
So it's one thing to hear, hey, God offers you this.
God offers you peace.
Did you know that?
It's one thing to hear that, but it's another thing
to understand what that means.
What does this mean?
I thought this was interesting.
Albert Einstein said, "Peace cannot be kept by force.
It can only be achieved by understanding."
So he claims understanding is the key.
And we got a lot of really smart people in here,
and we could probably debate, hey, this is good,
or this is wrong.
Or Albert, this is too worldly.
This is too scientific.
I'm not sure this should be on the screen during chapel.
We could go a lot of different directions with this,
but the place of understanding being the key
is what I find interesting and what I want
to talk about this morning.
I want to focus this morning by asking,
what is our understanding of peace?
Here's what I think.
I think sometimes we want peace to look like, hey, God,
will you come in, come into the middle of my hard situation
and just make it go away?
Press Delete.
I'm dealing with this, God.
Will you make it go away?
Will you erase it?
And so what I'm asking this morning,
what if that's not what peace looks like?
What if it's not just the Delete button, the removal,
the make this go away?
I want to encourage us to start thinking about peace
differently this morning.
I want to offer this.
Peace isn't the absence of something,
but the presence of someone.
Instead of God coming in and removing
your hardship, your hurdle, your poor circumstance,
what if peace looked like God meeting you
right where you were in the middle of that circumstance
and loving you through it, being there with you through it?
John 16:33 says, "I have said these things to you,
that in me you may have peace.
In the world you have tribulation, but take heart.
I have overcome the world."
When I think about this concept of peace
not being the absence of something,
but the presence of someone, I think
about a few biblical examples.
Who remembers the story of Daniel in the lion's den?
Daniel, a man punished by the king,
punished by being thrown into a den of lions.
Why?
To be killed.
But Daniel went in that den of lions,
and God's peace went in there with him.
God's peace didn't go in and say, hey,
we're taking Daniel out of that lion's den.
We're removing Daniel from the lion's den.
But instead, God's peace joined him in there.
The mouths of the lions were shut,
and Daniel found God's peace.
Another example.
Who remembers Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
Three rebels for the cause, three rebels for God,
willing to be martyrs in the name of God,
not willing to bow like the rest of everyone else.
Their punishment?
Thrown into the fiery furnace, where
they should have died instantly.
But God's peace joined them that day as well.
And when God's peace joined them,
it didn't take these three guys and remove them out
of their circumstance.
It didn't remove them from the fire.
God's peace didn't come in and make the fire go away.
God's peace joined them right in the middle of that hard.
God's peace joined them right in the middle of that trial.
And they were OK.
When I was little, I used to go to Camp Blue Haven.
When I was growing up, I went to Camp Blue Haven.
Anyone else go to Blue Haven?
We've got a big Blue Haven population here at LCU.
The first time I went, I had to have been fifth or sixth grade.
That's young.
That is a young time to go away for two weeks.
I went to the two-week session.
That is a long time to go away from your parents.
I remember the first year I went.
I'll be honest with you all.
I'm going to be vulnerable.
I was really homesick.
I missed my parents.
I was like, man, this is a strange place.
They make you wear pants, and I got to wear pants
while I'm playing basketball.
I was homesick, OK?
I was homesick.
But I remember thinking, OK, only four days left,
only two days left.
All right, camp's over on Friday.
And I remember when we got to Friday,
and I saw my parents' car driving up that dirt road
to pick me up.
And they got out of the car, and I got to embrace and hug them.
In that moment, I felt peace.
I felt peace.
And it wasn't because my parents were
going to remove me from my situation, my setting,
my circumstance.
It was because my parents were right there with me,
and they weren't before.
They were there with me.
So I ask you today, have you ever felt it?
Have you ever felt the peace of God?
This is the kind of peace that passes understanding.
This is the kind of peace that comes from the Prince of Peace.
And I know this for a fact.
In the moments of my life where I have felt that,
it is the most evident reminder, the most clear reminder
that some of the things that hold us back,
some of the things that make us worry, stress, anxious,
don't truly matter.
And that the only thing that matters is knowing God,
loving God, loving others, pulling others along.
Philippians 4, "Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your request to God
and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds."
In Christ Jesus, it says, "transcends all understanding."
It's so unique that all of us in here
can't possibly even wrap our minds around it.
I was showing this text and going over this conversation
with my wife Ashton last night.
And she said, hey, you know what makes sense here?
I said, tell me.
She said, did you know anxiety and gratitude cannot be
present in the brain at the same time?
No, I didn't know that.
She's a mental health counselor.
She said, if we are feeling grateful,
it is likely that peace will follow.
Isn't that good?
In your anxiousness, try to zoom out and remind yourself
what there is to be grateful for.
So I don't know what lions you're
having to navigate around in your life right now.
I don't know how hot the fire is on the flames that
are making your life difficult.
But my challenge and encouragement for you today
is to invite the Father and His peace
into those situations with you.
You're dismissed.
: (applause)