Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-9
Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
These verses have popped up in my life several times over the last few weeks. When that happens, I pay attention!
I know just a little bit about anxiety from personal experience. Two months ago I moved out of a job where I was daily experiencing clinical levels of anxiety. I finally went to the doctor to have my heart checked, because I was concerned that the heart pounding I was experiencing all throughout the day was a physical problem. Nope, anxiety.
I was moved against my will into a job that I literally could not do. The meetings were a foreign language to me. I plastered verses all over my home office reassuring me of God being with me and that focus was the only thing that got me through three months of off-the-chart anxiety. I did not do it well.
Thankfully, I was able to move to a new situation and that high level of persistent anxiety went away. I know that sort of relief does not happen for everyone and chronic, long-term anxiety is a completely different situation but God offers hope and help.
Paul is writing to the Philippian church from prison (1:13-14), yet from “his chains” the book has an overriding message of rejoicing in Jesus Christ. In chapter 4, Paul challenges the believers in Philippi to “not be anxious about anything.”
Paul was writing to the church at Philippi, but the faithfulness of God remains the same across all generations. Paul assures that if, as a Christ-follower, you choose to engage with God in every situation and pray and ask of Him with thanksgiving, . . .
- the peace of God which transcends all understanding . . .
His peace is beyond all that we can comprehend. It is also beyond us because our minds cannot grasp that if we have given our lives to Him, He holds us safely in His hands. While He may or may not answer what we have requested, we can trust Him with ourselves, knowing that He is a good God who – even in the most difficult of times – will walk with us every step of the way. (Heb 13:5) - the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
“In the present context God’s peace will be his “garrison” (a striking military metaphor) around our hearts when anxiety threatens. It will also guard our “thoughts”—those very thoughts that lead to fear and distress and that keep one from trusting prayer . . . such protection is in (or “by”) Christ Jesus. It is the Philippians’ relationship to God through Christ, in whom they trust and in whom they rejoice, that is the key to all of these imperatives and this affirming indicative.”*
But wait, there is more! Not only does Paul tell us what God will do, he gives us a tool for working along with God toward knowing His peace.
The human mind is a powerful thing – amazing to me at times, but that is for another day – and our thoughts have a tremendous impact on our lives. PhD Jeffrey Nevid states, “emotions follow thoughts[;] without thoughts as drivers, emotions are mere shadow puppets on the wall.” God designed our minds, so He knows this better than anyone and tells us through Paul -focus your mind on these things: whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable . . . things excellent and praiseworthy. The things that we learn from Paul (God’s Word), put into practice and “the God of peace will be with you.”
God has said, “never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Heb 13:5b-6)
*Gordon D. Fee, Philippians, vol. 11, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1999), 176–177.
Denise Travanti 