Lord, I need a mulligan please (yes, another one)
Chapter 1The last few months have been a struggle on several levels, but one of the big ones is everyone's favorite - financially. Actually "a struggle" would be an upgrade. Just flat been getting my backside kicked. Some (if not most) of the issues are my own fault, but some are not. On Friday I had had enough. I wanted to take the advice of Job's friends and curse God and die (no, really I did). I confess I did curse God, but obviously did not die. So I needed a Plan B - the Word of God.
I had already begun studying Philippians 4 because I felt like I needed to "fight for my joy" as Dr. John Piper would say. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again - Rejoice". But how? I didn’t have much to rejoice about. So I looked deeper into Philippians 4.
Philippians 4 has several "nugget" verses that we have all memorized (v.4, 6-7, 8, 13, 19), but I had never pieced them all together before. They all hold keys that allow us to "Rejoice in the Lord always". Let's start at vs. 6,7:
I had already begun studying Philippians 4 because I felt like I needed to "fight for my joy" as Dr. John Piper would say. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again - Rejoice". But how? I didn’t have much to rejoice about. So I looked deeper into Philippians 4.
Philippians 4 has several "nugget" verses that we have all memorized (v.4, 6-7, 8, 13, 19), but I had never pieced them all together before. They all hold keys that allow us to "Rejoice in the Lord always". Let's start at vs. 6,7:
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Anxiety is joy-killer! No mystery there. Some translations use "worry" or "take no thought". When I think of passages about worry the end of Matthew 6 instantly comes to mind. Jesus tells his followers that God feeds the birds and clothes the fields, so why wouldn't he take care of you. You are much more important. Besides, he knows yours needs.
Okay, that sounds good, but now what do I do?
"But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God."
Hebrews 4.16 tells us to "approach the throne of God with boldness" or "confidence". I've never been able to reconcile "boldness" with "thanking God for 'whatever'" mentioned in the previous verse; however, we need to look at the end of that verse:
"so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."
So how does all of this fit together? How does "making our request known to God through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving" cause us to "Rejoice in the Lord always"? The joy comes from knowing (and being thankful) that despite the circumstances of our anxiety we can be confident of these 3 things in regards to those distracting thoughts (Strong’s Definition) know as anxiety:
a) God's Mercy - we will NOT get what we earned. May not be how/when/where/what we want, but it will not be what we deserve. God owes us nothing. Our righteousness is like filthy rags. If we got what we deserved our prayers would never be answered.
b) God's Grace - whatever we do get, it will be because of God's grace. It will be because God loves us and wants what is best for his children. (Read Hebrews 4:14-16 - this is shouting ground 101). We have access to the throne of God.
c) God's Timing - Think about Mary and Martha at Lazarus' tomb. Think about how low their faith must have been in day 4. "Jesus, you are too late." Now, think about how strong their faith was after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after it was "too late". Now, they had a real story to share. Their faith was that much stronger because of God's timing.
Next is v. 8 and how it helps us "Rejoice in the Lord always.."
