Men and women of faith are not immune to suffering and loss. However, their faith in God, His sovereignty, His plan and His word makes it possible for them to lay claim to a “peace that passes understanding (Phillipians 4:7),” according to Romayne Lyle.

Lyle experienced loss at an early age. Her mother died when she was only 3.

“I was so young, I don’t remember her,” she said.

In a sense, she lost her father to grief.

Raised by her grandmother, Corine Crawford Cole, it was her great grandmother Ollie Foster who made sure Lyle was at church every Sunday. At 12, she committed to living a Christian life based on Biblical principles and in time she realized “an underlying assurance that the peace giver is there at all times.”

However, it wasn’t until she lost her granddaughter that she truly experienced the peace described in Phillipians 4:7. She was home for a few minutes before her granddaughter’s wake when she received a call from Rev. David McKemy, an evangelist who had often preached at her church.

Currently he is the Psychology Department Coordinator at Louisiana Christian University and Pastor at First Pentecostal Church.

“In Phillipians 4:7, Paul said, ‘And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ Most people focus on the word peace in that passage,” McKemy said. “But Paul is showing us that  human ‘understanding’ has limits.”

Individuals are devastated by loss because they want to understand and can’t. Understanding only goes so far.

“Paul says when understanding fails and leaves you with more questions than answers, His peace keeps going,” McKemy said. “Peace has no limit, and it never stops and never fails. You can live without understanding, but you cannot live without peace. We’re not going to understand every loss in our lives, but His peace keeps going where our understanding stops. He has more peace than we have problem.”

“It’s up to us to draw on that peace by making daily contact with Him,” Lyle said.

By that she means taking time to talk to Him.

“It doesn’t have to be aloud,” she said, “sometimes it’s just a whisper of the heart.”

The word of God has always been her rock.

“If you don’t read it, you won’t know what’s in it,” she said. “There have been so many times that God has given me assurances through his word.”

For those going through the valley, Lyle also recommended leaning on family and friends.

“My dear husband, Mac, was always a shoulder to lean on,” she said. “We enjoyed working together with youth and Sunday School for many years.”

And never underestimate the power of a sense of humor, even in hard times.

“Sometimes you have to make your own sunshine,” she said.