These six verses in chapter four, are full of encouraging words and promises. It’s such great timing too, as we are about to celebrate Thanksgiving this week. But, do we always celebrate real thanksgiving as we should, regardless of our circumstances? In every situation? We are told to do this by Paul in this passage!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, 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. 9 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.
Philippians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, rejoice. Why are we told twice, to rejoice? What does rejoice even mean?
To feel joy or great delight, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary.
To feel or show great happiness about something- Cambridge.org
To be glad, happy or delighted, Gladden- Collins Dictionary
We are not rejoicing when we are cross or when we are just generally apathetic and nothing appears wrong in our life, by our general disposition. Joy is not the same as happiness. I heard once that happiness is based on circumstances and happenings, but real joy comes from the Lord. At times, when I am out of our house, I may look one way, but at home, I look and act differently. This does not mean that I need to look unhappy because this is how I show how “real” I am.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
In Psalms we read to “take delight in the Lord…” It’s hard to be delighted when we have our mind on negative things. We will see in this passage, what to think on so that we do rejoice! It is awfully hard to have a happy, joyful disposition, including the look on our face when we really do not have joy. This has to be joy in our heart. If it isn’t in our heart, it is not going to make it to our face either.
A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13
Showing a hostile or grouchy attitude also does not spread joy. Joy spreads from one person to the next. If we are not joyful, others around us are soon going to see us and not be joyful either. Pass the joy to each other! We may even know someone who has clinical depression or is going through a tough time. Don’t be afraid to reach out to them and ask them if they need to talk or if you can help somehow. It takes more effort but I have to depend even more on the Lord when my depression or anxiety gets worse. It has been lately so this is timely for me right now. It is God calling me to be “supernatural” and not “natural.” He alone gives all of us who know Him, the ability to be and do more than we can in and of ourselves. It brings us closer to Him though and draws us to a greater dependence on only Him.
I would go to the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary.” – Charles Spurgeon
Fond Memories
My daughter just reminded me of something that I think is a great illustration. As a wife and mother I frequently visit my local grocery store. I have several to choose from. The last thing that I need when I go to a store is bad customer service! I would far rather go to a store that has great customer service than one that does not, even if the prices are a bit higher.
I still remember fondly, days that I would go to Publix, my favorite grocery store chain in Florida. Not only did they provide great customer service, but most of the Publix stores that I have been to, had very kind and friendly employees that usually brightened my day! I think this really makes a difference, when we are kind, loving, caring and joyful. This kind of care passes on to other people. I miss it alot. Not that I don’t receive some good customer service in the midwest, but Publix really has a reputation and a culture of bringing joy to their customers and many people know this. Even if I was having a rough day, I could go to my local Publix and come out cheered up.
You can’t go bad with great food too! Their cakes and cupcakes are my favorite!!! When I go back to visit our daughter in Florida, I always visit a Publix store!
Gentleness, Rejoicing, Anxiety, Prayer and Thanksgiving
As I read through these verses, they all seem to build on each other! Let your gentleness be evident to all! When we are rejoicing, our gentle spirits are evident to others, like I stated earlier, we pass on more joy!
Our Lord is near! It is hard to be nasty when we really have a close relationship with the Lord where we believe His Word, love Him and love other people, whether they are believers or not.
Do not be anxious about anything- do you know that people can tell often that you are anxious about something? It is hard to not be anxious, but we are told not to be anxious! But, instead of being anxious, use prayer to speak to the Lord! Tell Him why you are concerned or upset or anxious, any of these things! Telling the Lord through prayer will make us less anxious and look less anxious as well. Believe me, this is a challenge for me too and something that I definitely have to work on.
“My anxiety doesn't come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it.”
—Hugh Prather
I have more responsibility now that I am writing about it too. The Lord is working on me in this area especially as I am studying this. Don’t forget though, look carefully at what verse six says, “but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Tecumseh
Finally, We Have Peace
When we have a thankful heart, it is also hard to not rejoice! Again, pass it on to others, that we have a thankful heart. Give these requests to God, that we have in every situation!
Then, the peace of God… goes back to rejoicing and how we rejoice.
Even when we cannot see the why and wherefore of God’s dealings, we know that there is love in and behind them, and so we can rejoice always.”
J.I. Packer
This Is A Journey, Not A Magic Formula
Rejoice Always. Again- Rejoice!
When we rejoice, we are more gentle. We aren’t full of rage and uptight, making others around us uncomfortable.
The Lord is near! People can tell through our lives, how much we rejoice by our gentle spirit. We aren’t uptight! Something I need to learn, again!
Don’t be anxious about Anything
BUT, in EVERYTHING, by prayer and supplication WITH Thanksgiving
Let your requests be presented to God
Then, the peace of God which is above all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. His peace guards us. This peace from Him that guards our hearts and our minds, protects us when we do not dwell or focus on anything that He (God) doesn’t wants us to dwell on. The things are listed in verse 8, are what we should think, dwell or focus on.
They are whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Whatever you have learned, received, heard from me, or seen in me(Paul), put it into practice.
Then, the God of peace will be with you
In Summary…
Peace comes when we are thankful. When our hearts and our minds are guarded, we think about what glorifies Him. These things are excellent and praiseworthy. When we think about these things, it is hard to NOT rejoice, isn’t it?
Each aspect of these verses come full circle in our life, in our relationship with God and with other people. We won’t be gentle either with others when we don’t rejoice. They won’t see Him in our life. We aren’t looking to Him either when we are anxious about anything. We don’t live with thanksgiving either when we are anxious and do not accept the peace that God gives us when we ask in prayer and supplication.
I don’t have this together yet, not will I until I sit at the feet of Jesus and “look into His wonderful face.” Writing and studying actually helps remind me and others of what we all need. This has been an intense year and last few months for health problems in our family. Adjustment is never easy, but I have to accept the promises that I read, and when I think on things that are good, lovely, etc. Then with thanksgiving, give Him my prayers and supplications and let my anxiety go, then His peace that is beyond my understanding will guard my heart and mind. We all need to “Turn Our Eyes Upon Jesus!”
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
– John 14:27
How very precious….may we all open our eyes to the goodness around us and be thankful.
Mae’
Growing up in the psychobabble 70s, we were always asked, "How do you 'really' feel? You need to be more real about yourself."
Actually, this was a mask for asking, "What is the worst that you feel. You should show people the worst side of yourself."
Yes, sometimes I "feel" lousy, but that is rarely ALL I feel! What this promoted was a self-centered attitude of "You should make ME feel better." When I realized this, I began answering the first question with another question: "Do you really want me to share my whole heart or are you just trying to find out the worst about me?" 😉
And I am thankful for friends like you and Daniel.
❤️&🙏, c.a.