The Zone.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Athletes talk about being in “The Zone”. That place where everything works together. Your body flawlessly responds to a mental picture of everything working perfectly and what occurs afterwards is just as you pictured it. Competitors are unable to block your progress and you achieve a level of performance that you believed was possible but until that moment had not achieved. When I was 17 years old, I was playing a game of pick-up basketball with my brother and some friends. I had a breakaway to the basket and everyone was shouting “dunk it”. Problem was, I couldn’t dunk! Somehow on my way down the court everything began to fall into place. I knew my stride was right. I stared at the basket. I leapt off the correct foot, at the correct angle at precisely the right time. There was no doubt in my mind and I jammed the ball home. It felt wonderful. Never again have I been able to create that moment on the basketball court. The Christian can and needs to be able to find the place where God can keep our hearts and minds in perfect peace.

The 4th Chapter of Philippians has tremendous value to Christians. Our world is full of circumstances that rob us of our equilibrium. Everyone admits that stress is always just below the surface and often reveals itself sometimes with frightening regularity. In our troubled world, how can we avoid being caught up in the pressures we face every day? Philippians talks about the God of peace but also talks about the peace of God. The writer implores us to think (meditate) on things that are right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (4:8) the directive to focus on positive things and to put aside negative things is the key. This sounds simplistic but it is neither simple nor easy. Having a positive attitude and knowing God can place you in “The Zone” where your stressful circumstances no longer are able to reach you and you are able to easily overcome is possible through Christ Jesus.

My prayer for you today is that in the midst of stress you find God’s peace to keep your heart and mind.

Deacon Larry Woodard