More from Tim Keller

Tim Keller's book Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering is important enough for me to devote several blogs on it. I've also been listening to some of his sermons--outstanding. You might enjoy them too. Just search for his name and church. Many are free for you to download. But here's the next section of his book:

Chapter 15 covers thinking, thanking, and loving. Paul says God comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God – 2 Corinthians 1:4. Paul conveys a comfort to others that he received from God in Philippians 4. He talks about a peace of God, which is an inner calm and equilibrium as well as a presence.

The peace of God is not the absence of negative thoughts; it is the presence of God himself. Christian peace does not start with the ousting of negative thinking. You get a living power that comes into your life and enables you to face those realities. People gain a breakthrough to this kind of peace only in tragic situations.

Paul speaks of three types of disciplines to find God's peace – thinking, thanking, loving. First, in Philippians 4:8-9 he refers to the specific teaching of the Bible about God, sin, Christ, salvation, the world, human nature, and God's plans for the world. Paul is saying if you want peace, think hard and long about the core doctrines of the Bible. Christian peace comes not from thinking less but from thinking more, and more intensely, about the big issues of life. See Romans 8:18 where Paul reckons that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory. Is Jesus really the son of God? If so, then there is all the comfort in the world. Paul is saying that if you are Christian today and you have little or no peace, it may be because you're not thinking. Peace comes from a disciplined thinking out of the implications of what you believe. See Romans 8:28, Romans 8:1, and Revelation 22:1.

The second discipline is thanking. In Philippians 4:6 Paul says to make requests with thanksgiving. Thank God--you ask before you know the response to your request. That way we are trusting God's sovereign rule of history and of our lives. We are to thank him for whatever he sends to us, even if we don't understand it.

The third discipline is loving. See Philippians 4:8 where we are told we are to think of things that are lovely. It is not enough just to think the right things. It is also important to love the right things. Stoics said most people are not contented because they love things too much. They said we must set our heart only on our own virtue – you can determine to be courageous, have integrity, and be honest. But it is wrong to think your virtue is under your control. You're a human being; you are frail. Your virtue can let you down. But there is one thing that is immutable. It is God, his presence and his love. The only love that won't disappoint you is one that can't change, that can't be lost, is not based on the ups and downs of life or of how well you live. Keller mentions something very important here, so I highlighted it: You must reorder your loves. Your problem is not so much that you love your career or your family too much, but that you love God too little in proportion to them.

I'll add more in the next blog.