One of the most quoted passages of our Bibles comes from the pen of Paul as he wrote to the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 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.” (Philippians 4:4–7, NASB).[1]
Paul tells these believers (and us too) that we receive piece from how we talk with God and interact with Him. I didn’t say we achieve peace or we attain peace. I was careful to say we receive peace. Peace is something that God gives us based on what we do and how we interact with God.
Paul tells us to “rejoice” twice in this passage. Did I mention that he was in prison when he was writing this letter?[2] Nine times in just four chapters Paul talks about rejoicing even though he was in prison in Rome when writing this letter. Bible teacher Ken Hanna says, “The rattle of the chains is drowned out by the sounds of joy that mark this short letter.”[3]
As we talk about rejoicing we need to make a distinction between happiness and rejoicing. Happiness is a personal feeling we have based on our circumstances. Rejoicing is the activity we can do regardless of our circumstances or our feelings. One commentary describes it like this, “Sometimes the trials and pressures of life make it almost impossible to be happy. But Paul did not tell his readers to be happy. He encouraged them to rejoice in the Lord.”[4] We might not feel happiness, but we can rejoice!
If we are honest, anxiety naturally comes to most of us. But the challenge is what we do with that anxiety. Three things from Philippians 4:4-7 direct us about how cope with our anxiety. First, we have requests. “Let your requests.” We need to simply acknowledge those. Paul doesn’t say to ignore the problems or to pretend that they are not there. We need to accept reality. Second, we share them. Paul tells us those requests should “be made known.” We must make those request known to God either by talking aloud, writing them out, or sharing them with others. Third, we direct them to a person. And that person, according to Paul here, is “to God.” This is an important point because if we are not careful, we can start to direct our requests and problems to areas they should not be sent. We might reach for a bottle of alcohol or open a container of prescription drugs that don’t belong to us. Instead, we need to direct those requests to God. Here’s the amazing thing: He’s always available and He wants to listen. Do you have someone in your life that you can go to at any time and know that he or she will want to listen to you? That is God!
Hebrews 4:14-16 says that regardless of what we have done or experienced we can always approach God’s throne of grace with confidence. When we arrive He accepts us! And when we meet Jesus on his throne we find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need! You don’t need an appointment to enter His office. Every time you call Him He answers.
Philippians 4:4-7 is one of the most quoted passages in the Bible because it helps us with a problem almost all of us have: anxiety. But God has given us a prescription to help with that anxiety.
[1] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[2] See Phil 1:7, 13, 17.
[3] Ken Hanna, From Gospels to Glory (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2015),276.
[4] Robert Lightner, “Philippians” in Bible Knowledge Commentary (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 1983), 663.