Meeting 12/12/20
"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." Phil 4:6-7.
I like "do's and don't's" in the Bible. They are clear cut, black and white. They fit my resonating with formulas and recipes. I want to put a quarter in the machine and get a gumball, after all, right? It just makes sense to me, I guess. If you were paying close attention, that just exposed one of my weaknesses. I'm bent to attempt to control outcomes. I like to operate in a system where if I do certain things, certain favorable results will happen. It's a fair and righteous system, in my own mind. The problem lies in the fact that I've jumped ahead of what this passage is actually saying. It says nothing about our situation outcomes. It only speaks of obtaining peace and protection in the process of walking through the situations. Friends, pray for me in this, and realize yourselves, results and outcomes are in God's hands, not ours. The future belongs to Him. We pray that His will, His plan be done, not ours. He, in His omniscient, sovereign rule, knows what's best for us as He moves His agenda and kingdom forward. When things go bad for us, we can't fathom how that result is good for anything. This subject may inspire much more to be written to address the topic, but for today, let this point be our focus: the "do's and don't's" are better to be taken as commands, not suggestions for right and good living. Remember, God is more interested in our obedience than our performance. He clearly points out our responsibilities to fulfill in difficult, challenging, and trying times. "Do not be anxious about anything." There's not an exclamation point at the end, as we see in other commands given. I believe this command is spoken more gently, with care and compassion, because He understands our anxious and worrisome hearts, as sheep. Like the Good Shepherd that He is,He lovingly soothes our fears and gives us the right perspective to have in troubled times. He directs us to pray and intercede, and be thankful about the whole of life. We are to be thankful about everything, including whatever current situations we face. That's faith.
It's interesting to note the statement, "present your requests to God". It immediately indicates our proper place and position in the roles we play. God is God. We are not. We take our humble position as His submitted sons and daughters. We recognize His authority and Lordship. We honor His Kingship. On the heels of Christmas, where we participate in the tradition of giving presents, I see the same offering in this command to present our requests to God. It's like we are lifting our requests up to Him as a gift of our inner heart. "This is all of me, Lord. This is what I'm facing. This is what I'm wanting and hoping for. I give it to You. I place it at Your feet, as an offering. It's no longer mine, so I pray Your will be done in it. I trust You to act fairly and righteously. I release my own understanding because I know it falls short of Your vision and perspective about the whole picture. The future is Yours. Help me be obedient each day as I walk in trust."
Now, I'm in a much better position and am prepared to receive the wonderful gifts of peace and protection from God in return. It's a supernatural peace that's strikingly different than the world gives. In fact, it doesn't even compute or make sense in the world's eyes. How can you have peace during cancer, or covid, or loss? What is impossible for man is possible with God. If God gives it, it's real. And He knows we need His peace to protect our hearts and minds. The devil continues to prowl around and attack. He intends to steal, kill, and destroy our peace. He tries to drag our understanding back to the place of selfishness and worldliness, where things make sense in our own understanding. God doesn't work that way. There is much, much more going on behind the scenes than in the scenes we see with our human eyes.
What about another scenario where we have success? We don't normally think of such times as being anxiety producers. Maybe we should! Maybe these are risky and dangerous times also? Does anyone think to pray with thanksgiving and receive peace and protection when things go well? Why not? True, we tend to only consider this passage when we face struggles, but it applies to successes too. In fact, successes can be just as damaging to our walk. We don't often consider the possibility, but pride is lurking at the door. "Sin is lurking at the door", Gen. 4:7. Success can change attitudes and perspectives, just as hardships can. What good would it be to gain the world, but lose our soul. We truly should want to avoid drifting away from God. Whether it be success or loss, we need reminding that one of God's overarching goals for us is to conform us into the image of His Son. May we cooperate in that process along the journey, for His glory.
