Philippians 4:6-7
A lot of us may be walking around wondering why God hasn’t answered our prayers; we may even be at a point where we find ourselves wondering if He even heard our prayer which we laid before Him… The answer to this question resides in the verses we focus on in today’s devotional… Despite all the confusion and chaos we find ourselves dealing with directly or indirectly within this world; Paul reminds us that the first step which must be taken in walking according to the will of God is that you do not be anxious about anything... Anxiety is nervousness, unease and/or apprehension about something which will eventually be a bridle within our minds taking captive our thoughts and the direct steps which we take upon this earth… When we worry we reach a state of unrest and therefore find ourselves tossing and turning until we either get an answer or resolve the situation on our own… This is not of God and this captivating mental state must be denied within us so that we can clearly see God working through us… There are situations that we all face which do concern us; however, when we walk in faith we pray about them and completely turn them over to the Lord… Doing this keeps us from becoming anxious… Knowing that God has heard us and will step in on His time gives us peace of mind over every situation and stronghold that we encounter… How you handle things outside of your control is the best indicator to the depth of your relationship with the Lord… Jesus through all His life and even through all His persecutions never rushed or tried to speed up the actions of His Father… You can say that peace was on Him and dwelt within Him no matter the storm or test that was presented… Remember, in the gospel of John, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
This passage comes as Jesus tells the disciples that He will be going away… Knowing that His death is coming, knowing that sin will be thrust upon His shoulders and knowing that He would be betrayed; Jesus lets the disciples know that He is at peace… His peace is derived from a complete trust and faith in His father’s divine plan… This is the mindset that we all should be trying to achieve in this life; knowing that there are things which are simply out of our control, realizing that not everything will work as we planned, we can still be at peace within ourselves knowing that God has a plan and just like it’s written in Jeremiah, His plan is to prosper you and not to harm you; to give you hope and a future… There are a lot of thing in life that we desire to obtain, a lot of goals that we have set in place to reach and a lot of heights we want to climb in this life… Today, Paul reminds us that having desires are fine, but that we must align our desires with the will and direction of God… Paul starts off today's focus verses by saying that we are not to be anxious about anything; I think we all would agree that we live in a “I want it now” society with a “give it to me now” mindset… This approach to life leads many to turn from the will of God and seek their own way through this difficult journey on earth… The bible is filled with many promises, but the fruition of those promises usually takes years and countless hours to be birthed… The Israelites were told that they would receive the Promise Land, but it took over forty years and a lost generation before they settled in the Land promised by God, Job lost all He had and waited countless days and months before the Lord blessed him with double what he had… Paul was struck with blindness by God on his way to Damascus and for three days could not see… God has made promises of deliverance, victory and blessings to you; however, as a child of God you must be careful to allow His will to unfold in your life…
If you decide to inquire of God as to when and/or how these things will come about in your life that is fine, but you must also remain faithful in knowing that God doesn’t work on your timetable and that there will be times when you may not receive the response you’re looking for or even get a response from God at all (see Job)… What Paul is teaching today is that trying to do things on your own will lead to more problems and conflicts, we must pray about situations instead of acting or reacting, we must lay our request (petitions) before the Lord instead of moving without His guidance and we must always be thankful… The key to making a request to God is to always be thankful for what He has already done in your life and what He is doing… I make many requests to God; however, I make these requests because of the kindness and faithfulness that He has already shown and I am careful to give Him thanks because of His goodness… You may be making a request to God in the form of deliverance, healing or financial freedom today; however, make sure that you recognize the blessings that God has already bestowed, know that you are blessed to simply be able to go before Him and lay your problems at the foot of his throne… When you are careful to avoid anxiety and make a rash decision, you allow God’s plan and will to take affect, when you are praying for God’s guidance He will impart it to you, when you are thankful and recognize His sovereignty than His peace will be bestowed into the situation… This peace will give you comfort to sleep, this peace will allow you to stop worrying, this peace will give you confidence to know that even though things may not be happening according your plan, things are taking place and that God is in the midst… He will guard your heart (keep you out of harm’s way) and your mind (keep you from making bad decisions) as long as you keep your focus on Christ… If you want peace, if you want comfort, focus on Christ and allow God to focus on your problems!
ALL FOR HIS GLORY!
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