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Introduction:
One of the most shocking statements in the Bible, to me, is
Paul’s statement in Philippians
4:6. “Be anxious for nothing.” My initial response to such
a statement is to question it as an overstatement. I want to
soften it a little and say that I just need to be careful
regarding what I am anxious about. If I heard this statement in a
vacuum, not knowing who said it or why, I would immediately assume
it was some young, naïve preacher making grandiose statements
that simply are unsupportable. But the problem is I know who said
it. It was Paul, who was neither young, nor naïve. He said it by
inspiration which means it is certainly supportable. What really
causes me to stand up and take more notice is the number of things
about which this man had to be stressed out and anxious. Just
consider the things mentioned in this letter alone: 1:7—Paul was writing while imprisoned; 1:15-16—there were men teaching from envy and strife just to add
afflictions to his chains; 1:20—he
knew he may be executed; 1:28-30—he
knew his friends were going to suffer; 2:1-2,
14; 4:2-3—evidently the church at Philippi was struggling
with disunity and division; 2:25-27—though
Epaphroditus was well by the writing of this letter, Paul had
friends who were dying;
3:2ff—false teachers were getting to the brethren; 3:7ff—he
had to give up everything that had been meaningful to him when he
became a Christian; 3:17-18—he
knew of brethren in Philippi who needed to be disciplined by the
congregation; 4:10-12—his
needs were being fulfilled by the brethren and who knew when gifts
and support would arrive. This is the man who said, “Be anxious
for nothing.” Then this man explained how to avoid this anxiety.
When I consider what Paul had been through, that makes me want to
sit up and read a little more closely. Within Philippians 4:6-9, Paul presents a three-point plan for personal
peace. What anxieties, distresses, frustrations and concerns
plague us today that Paul did not go through before us? Take a
look at Paul’s plan for peace and take courage that we can
indeed overcome the stresses of our personal lives, family lives,
work lives and even church lives. Discussion: I.
Pray—Trust God (Philippians
4:6). A.
On the surface, we could easily just say that Paul’s
advice is to pray. We could talk about how to make requests and
offer thanks. But that is really just the surface. The deeper
issue that Paul is really bringing out is to trust God. No matter
what stresses are weighing down on you, trust that God is there
and will take care of you. B.
When you consider this trust note four areas in which you
must trust God. 1.
Trust God that He will not abandon you (Hebrews
13:5-6). Additionally, trust that nothing is so powerful as to
overcome God such that we will be abandoned by Him (Romans
8:35-39). 2.
Trust God that He knows what we need, even before we ask
Him (Matthew 6:8, 32). 3.
Trust God that He cares about our needs and concerns (I Peter 5:6-7). 4.
Trust God that He is able to take care of us. Paul
demonstrated that in Philippians
4:6, when he pointed out that our requests should be made with
thanksgiving. God has already demonstrated His ability to take
care of us. That is why we owe Him our thanks already. C.
Paul makes an amazingly subtle, yet profound, point in Philippians 4:7. He demonstrates that the peace we will receive from
God comes through Jesus Christ. What a welcome reminder that, in
fact, the one thing that should cause us the most anxiety and
stress has already been dealt with in Christ. No wonder we can
have peace. That one thing of course is sin. Do you want stress
and anxiety? Then think about trying to get rid of your sins and
keep from going to hell all by yourself. No matter what you would
do you would run into a brick wall (Proverbs
20:9). But Jesus has already taken care of that. If we are in
Christ, we can overcome anxiety, stress and frustration because
the greatest of stresses is resolved. Do you remember what Paul
said in Romans 5:6-11? Paul made a great point. If God loved us so much to
save us through Christ while we were still in our sins, how much
more will God stay with us and get us to heaven once we have
become His children in Christ? D.
We can trust God to take care of us and provide what is
best and most needed for us. So, when we face anxieties and
stresses, pray. Make your requests known to God, giving thanks.
And know that even when, in your stress and anxiety, you do not
know exactly how or what to pray, the Spirit knows and intercedes
for us (Romans 8:26). II.
Think good thoughts (Philippians
4:8). A.
In Philippians 4:8,
Paul gives a list of things upon which we should meditate—true
things, noble things, just things, pure things, lovely things,
things of good report. Basically Paul said to think about good
things. However, his statement is even stronger than that. The
term translated “meditate” is “logizomai” and is defined
in Spiros Zodhiates “The
Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament” as
“to put together with one’s mind, to count, to occupy oneself
with reckonings or calculations.” B.
Here is a man in prison telling us in very strong terms to
look on the bright side. Do not get bogged down in thinking about
all the bad things. Do not count up in your mind all the false,
irreverent, unfair, sinful, disgusting and terrible things that
are happening to or around you. Count the good things. The song we
sing, “Count Your Many Blessings” fits here. It may surprise
you what the Lord has already done for you. C.
Look at Paul’s example in the first chapter of Philippians
alone. 1.
In 1:12, Paul
was in prison but thought about how his imprisonment furthered the
gospel. 2.
In 1:14, he
thought about how his chains made the brethren bolder. 3.
In 1:15-18, he
thought about how the dishonest teachers were still teaching the
gospel and some might be saved. 4.
In 1:21, he
considered the blessings of living and dying, “To live is
Christ, and to die is gain.” D.
One of the great battles of our time is the battle of the
mind, but Paul said in II
Corinthians 10:3-6, that we must wage that warfare and bring
our thoughts into captivity. A friend of mine once said, “We may
not be able to stop the birds from flying over our heads, but we
can keep them from making nests in our hair.” In like manner, we
may never stop fleeting thoughts from coursing through our minds.
But we can control our meditations. Meditate on the good things. III.
No matter how you feel, do what you know is right (Philippians 4:9). A.
This is where the rubber meets the road. There comes a
point when we get up off our knees and get out of our thinking
chairs. There comes a point when we have to decide to do
something. Paul says do what we know is right. Specifically, to
the Philippians he said that they should do what he taught them.
They should do what they saw him do. B.
Certainly, Paul has not literally been with us. He has not
preached sermons to us, nor have we seen his daily behavior.
However, we do have a guide given to us. Paul was one of the human
authors, but ultimately it came from the Holy Spirit (II
Peter 1:20-21). Paul said that the scriptures were profitable
to teach us, convict us, correct us and make us complete and
equipped for every good work (II
Timothy 3:16-17). C.
The scripture provides instruction for how we should live
as members of the church (I
Timothy 3:15). It talks about how to live within a family (e.g.
Ephesians 5:22-6:4). It tells us about personal day to day
living regarding speech, actions and even emotions (e.g.
Ephesians 4:25-32). It talks about conflict resolution (Matthew
5:21-26) and much, much more. There are so many things we can
learn from the teaching in the Bible and from the example of
saints recorded in the Bible. Paul explains that if we want peace
from God to overcome the anxieties and stresses of life, we need
to follow what we learn from them. D.
That means we do not follow our feelings. We do not follow
the crowd. We do not follow our peer group or our family. We
follow God, according to His word. Then we will have peace,
because only then can we rest assured that we have done what is
right. Conclusion: Certainly, I am not so naïve as to think that you can go home tonight, go through this three step process and never have stress again. However, as you grow in Christ spending your time doing these three things—trusting God in prayer, thinking good thoughts and doing what you know is right—the God of peace will be with you and you, through God’s grace, will overcome the stresses and anxieties of life.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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