In a society where nearly everyone has a busy, sometimes chaotic, schedule, where financial worries are a very real thing, where thinking ahead several years is normal, we are constantly bombarded with anxiety. It can be difficult to stop being anxious and stop worrying. Some people embrace worrying, while others are plagued by it and are endlessly searching for a way to put an end to their worries. People will look for remedies almost anywhere they can find them, whether they look to the Asian style of meditation, trying a new diet or ignoring their worries. Some people begin to feel hopeless about their worrying and anxieties. I know this because I was one of those people, but hope showed itself to me and I began to struggle less and less. Hope can be found in the God of peace, who brings order and a great calm to a world that is surrounded by worries and anxiety.
The God of peace doesn't promise peace and then leave us hanging. Many Christians have gone to Philippians 4:4-9 for comfort when faced with anxieties. For many years, I've done the same, but it was only recently that I began to understand what the Apostle Paul was saying in this passage. After reading through this passage, we are able to see Paul begins with rejoicing in the Lord. He challenges us to rejoice always, meaning there is always going to be something for which to praise God. Even when things seem like they couldn't get any worse and everything is going wrong, we have hope, because Jesus rose again. Because of that, we will always have a cause for rejoicing, even if that's the only reason.
Paul reminds us in verse 5 that the Lord will be coming back soon, so we have no time to waste when it comes to rejoicing in the Lord. In verse 6, it says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” I would like to point out that the discussion doesn't end with Paul telling us not to be anxious. He uses the word “but.” Paul doesn't stop with telling us to not be anxious, but he instead gives us a weapon to use against anxiety: prayer. Not only that, but we're supposed to pray in a spirit of thanksgiving, which I believe points back to verse 4 about rejoicing always. I believe expressing praise and thanks to God go hand-in-hand.
In the last part of verse 6, Paul says to make our requests known to God. God wants to hear us talk to Him about our worries and anxieties and place them at His feet. He loves when we pray to Him. For His saints, God never leaves a prayer unanswered, even though at times, we might have a hard time hearing His answer. I've learned that “no” and “not yet” are just as much answers to prayer as “yes” is. These are valid answers from God, and just because we receive a “no” or “not yet” does 't mean God hasn't answered our prayers.
Verse 7 is where the peace of God comes in. This verse tells us that the peace of God “surpasses all understanding.” For something to be beyond our comprehension is something we should be praising God for. He knows all things, and if we can't comprehend His peace, then that points to how awesome He is. We're also told that this peace we will receive from God through not being anxious and laying our requests before Him “will guard [our] hearts and…minds”. God is going to protect our hearts and our minds through the privilege He has given us to bring our requests to Him through prayer.
Through prayer, the God brings peace to the chaos in our lives. Through prayer, we're able to not only praise God and thank Him for what He's doing, but we can come to Him with the things that make our hearts heavy and weighed down. The burden of anxiety is alleviated through praying to God and telling Him about what's making our hearts anxious. The Lord cares about the cares of the hearts of His children. The Lord doesn't just listen to our prayers, but He answers them, and when we surrender our anxieties to Him, He grants us peace that we cannot understand. This should cause us to rejoice in Him all the more, as He answers our prayers in His perfect way.
