T H E O P H I L U S

4 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

I remember preaching my very first sermon. It was to the youth group of the church which I was interning. The young eyes darting at me hoping to hear the good news and hear the truth come from my lips created more anxiety than excitement for me that evening. I had prepared for an entire week, reading the bible profusely, and praying desperately to God for his “cup to pass” or “send a snow storm or something so I don’t have to preach!”. I had not yet had an ounce of experience or training. The worst part of it was the senior pastor was sitting at the back of the chapel with a huge grin on his face. Meanwhile, I was sweating about an ounce a second and my shirt was drenching and growing darker on my collar and armpits like the great flood of Genesis. It was likely the quickest sermon I’ve ever preached, but it felt like an eternity – a whole whopping 10 minutes of eternity. But to my gratefulness, somehow the Lord used me to speak to somebody that evening. Afterwards, one student had quietly come up to me and said to me – “Thanks Pastor James, I really needed to hear that today. I was depressed, but I think I’m going to be okay today.” That blew me away. That first experience changed my life forever.

There are things that we may have major anxieties about. We worry as if it is the end of the world and we have no salvation from it. One thing we often forget not just as Christians, but as humans, is how to find joy in the midst of our circumstances. The news is flooded with sadness, anger, injustice, and is a rare gem to see something celebratory hit the headlines. We often picture our lives that way as well. But Philippians 4 calls on us as followers of Christ to do these things:

1. Rejoice

2. Let your gentleness be evident

3. Through Prayer and Petition present your requests to God

5. Think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy.

6. Put it into practice.

These are all things we can put into practice. The hardest part is getting to the first one, and is the first point that is often overlooked. But the practice of rejoicing does not mean there is no pain. No, it means clinging to Christ and finding joy in knowing him even when it hurts. We can choose to let the enemy feed us with negativity and anxiety, or hold onto Christ who is the greatest love and news of salvation even when all seems hopeless. We can hold to Christ who has a greater plan for us than the issues which we feel so dragged down about. But it takes the willingness to put into practice the things that have been taught to us in the Word of God – Even when it hurts.

If anxiety has been of great consumption on our daily lives, then a tool for faith-living today may be to begin with the first step – Rejoicing in the knowledge of Christ. If we are able to take that step towards rejoicing in Him today, may God bless you greatly. If you struggle with that today, may God bless you even more with strength to try again tomorrow. Don’t lose hope, cling to Christ and put it into practice. God will continue to pour his peace on you and is near all along the way.