Philippians 4:6-9  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

One of my weaknesses is that I like things to go the way I like them.  I’m not very comfortable when things are out of my control.  It makes me anxious and sometimes a little bit of a pest to those around.  Over and over I go to this scripture because is says in Every situation through prayer to trust God is in control.  The result is peace.  I have taken my peace away so many times by trying to control things.  God found a way to teach my through mission trips to Mexico.  I was blessed to make a trip down there years ago with a mentor named Larry Acton.  Very organized but kept reminding us that God is in charge and we have to let go.  Over the years I have had the opportunity to lead 20 plus teams in Mexico and have learned more about not being anxious and experiencing peace in situations that usually are high anxiety positions.  Through the years having rifles aimed at us, sleeping on train station floors with 25 students, trying to meet bus, train schedules, major breakdowns of vehicles, Montezuma’s revenge, being robbed of most of our funds, and so much more, God has shown me peace in a way that I rarely experience elsewhere.  I have to trust people I don’t know that well to even have a conversation.  In Mexico I was not in control and had to trust God.  I truly experienced many times:  “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7.”   I still struggle a lot wanting to be in control but these lessons help me to realize that real peace happens when we let God have control.  What are some areas in your life where you need to stop trying to run everything and let God give you peace?