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The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5b-7)

A strange thing can happen when we know we should talk to someone, but don’t.  Maybe we need to talk to them because we see or know that they’re struggling.  Maybe there’s a tension or disagreement unresolved between us.  Maybe we owe them something.  Maybe it’s simply the fact that it’s an important relationship that we want to keep up with.

Whatever the case, the longer we go without talking to that person, the harder it becomes to reach out and do it.  I’m not exactly sure why.  Maybe we get used to telling ourselves that we’ll do it later.  Maybe the conversation feels too big or too important to try to squeeze into any of the moments we have and so we wait for an opportune moment that just never seems to come.  Or, maybe we build up a story in our head that they’re frustrated or angry with us for not talking to them, and that makes it all the harder to reach out.

I think I’ve been guilty of all of these at some point.  And, most of the time, when I do finally talk to that person I’ve been avoiding, it brings relief.  We take steps to resolve our issues, we’re encouraged by each other, I discover that they weren’t nearly as upset at me as I had imagined, finding sometimes that they didn’t even realize anything was wrong, making it clear in an instant that I’d been agonizing over nothing.  Sometimes there’s nothing to it, but to do it.  To just reach out and talk.  Sometimes that the quickest way to peace.

I think that same dynamic plays itself out in our relationship with God, too.  We know we should talk to him.  It’s an important relationship.  We owe him our thanks.  Perhaps we feel a tension between us of some guilt or sin that needs confessing on our side, or something we’re frustrated at God about that he seemingly hasn’t held up on his. 

The longer we go without talking, the harder it is.  And yet, when we do, more often than not what we walk away with after is his peace that transcends all understanding. 

So Paul reminds us, the Lord has already drawn near to us.  He has already redeemed us and adopted us as his very own in Christ Jesus, making all the peace there ever needs to be between he and us already.  So, no need to be anxious about coming to God in prayer.  He’s already taken the first step.  He’s already confirmed his love and forgiveness to us in Christ. 

So, come to him.  Talk to him.  Today.  And let his peace in Jesus that transcends understanding meet you and guard your hearts and minds as you journey on.