Yesterday, my daughter, her friend and I strolled through Little Italy. A sign on a business’ mailbox, caught my attention: NO JUNK MAIL. I told the young ladies, “When I get home, I’m going to make a sign for my mailbox: No Junk Mail, No Bills, Just checks and Happy Thoughts.” My daughter’s friend quickly pointed out the ‘flaw’ in my logic, reminding me why it was necessary to receive bills.(Apparently my joke telling skills diminished when I crossed the border.)

The mailbox of our soul is our heart. And often, I am like the bad witch in the Oz singing, “Don’t nobody bring me no bad news.” I don’t want to hear the junk mail of politics, racial unrest, hungry children. Keep the bills of friends and family going through sickness, joblessness, hurts and pain. Deposit only in my mailbox blessings and good news.

But alas, my young friend is correct. There is a flaw in my logic. 

Yes, the Old Testament tells us to “Above all else guard our hearts. (Proverbs 4:23). But we have a better promise in the New Testament. “The PEACE of God which passes all understanding WILL GUARD our hearts AND our minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)

Jesus said, “In this life, junk mail and bills will arrive.” (John 10:10 Melissa’s Translation) But because the peace of God guards our mailbox, with the junk mail and the bills also comes the promise from Jesus, “Don’t be intimidated, I have overcome the junk mail and the bills.” 

We can’t hide from the unpleasantness of life. God has called us to confront injustice, sickness, hurt, pain, disappointments. We must pay the bills. But the peace of God, guards our heart from hopelessness, from discouragement, from anxiousness as we confront our problems. The peace of God guards our minds from fear and irrational thinking. 

There is no need to dread your mailbox. Not necessary to ignore trouble. Allow God’s peace to guard your heart. Let it remind you that all God’s promises are yes and amen! Face the bills with the assurance that God has equipped you with every spiritual gift to pay any bill that comes your way. 

Be the epitome of Jeremiah 17:7-8.

““But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT