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 a (n) nervousness,
unease and 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 them 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 todays 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 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 of 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 pray 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!
BE
BLESSED!!!
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