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Tag: Philippians

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Paul starts this section of the chapter (Philippians 4:10-14) with a familiar theme: joy! He tells the Philippians that he has great joy in the Lord because they have again showed their concern for him. He is thankful for what they have done to provide for his needs, but his joy does not come from their provision. He is grateful for their gift, but he wants to be clear that he is not asking for more. He has learned to be content in any circumstance, whether he has little and is hungry or he has food in abundance.

The Greek word that is translated as ‘learned’ has the connotation of a long, hard lesson. It wasn’t just a matter of hearing someone say that Christ’s grace is sufficient, (II Corinthians 12:9) as many of us have. I have often heard that verse used as a platitude when someone is facing a trial, but Paul learned this from experience. You may remember from the post on April 20, 2011 that Paul had had more than his fair share of trials, and yet he had learned the secret of contentment. We all should be so fortunate. Sometimes I think that we don’t appreciate the suffering that we have to endure. I know I often wish that things were easier, but perhaps we (I) should look at what we can gain from our suffering rather than work so hard to avoid it. Job learned that lesson in the Old Testament. He had lost everything, even his wife’s support, but Job continued to bless the Lord despite his circumstances. (Job 1:21) Likewise, Paul rejoiced despite his circumstances because he knew that he was in the will of God. Whatever came his way, he knew that he would be able to get through it because God was on his side.

Philippians 4:13 is another verse that is used frequently to encourage people. It is usually quoted by itself without the verses around it for context. Yes, it’s true that with Christ’s strength we can do anything, but the context tells us that this is Paul’s secret of contentment. As long as he is in the will of God, God will provide the strength that he needs to face any situation. Nevertheless, the Philippians were right to support him in whatever way they could. Sometimes the way God provides His strength is through his people, by allowing us to be His hands and feet. It is not that God could not do it without us, but He is allowing us to have a part in the blessing of helping others. We, too, could be the reason for another’s joy.

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On Friday (April 22, 2011) we looked at the simple solution to living a stress-free life. I say simple because there are not many steps to follow, and none of them are complicated to understand, but I, as much as anyone else, know that it is not easy. It is a challenge for humans to stop focusing on themselves and start focusing on God. That is in fact what we need to do.

Philippians 4:8-9 gives us further direction on how to do it. I’m sure you’ve probably heard of the power of positive thinking. Psychologists and business experts alike promote the concept for personal and economic success, but the idea isn’t new. Paul suggested it thousands of years ago. It is a well established fact that if you dwell on negative things—your problems, weaknesses or shortcomings—things will only go from bad to worse. I’ve proved it myself. When I was a student, I used to have terrible exam anxiety; I always feared that I wouldn’t do well enough, that I wasn’t good enough. Finally I tried positive thinking: I can do this. I know the material. I am prepared. I can’t say that I ever became fond of doing exams, but I can say that I did better when I went in with a positive attitude.

Paul’s advice is to think about the positive--the good, noble, pure and lovely. It is very similar to his advice in Philippians 4:6-7. There he said that when you feel anxious, you should change direction by praying and thanking God. Now he expands on that, and says when you find yourself thinking negatively, you should stop yourself and start thinking about the excellent and praiseworthy things. You can control your thoughts. You first need to recognize when they need changing and then make a conscious effort to do so. Think about Jesus and all that He has done for you. Think about the wonders of creation that tell of the power of God. Read the book of Philippians. Realize from Philippians 1:6 that God is in the process of perfecting us. He has a purpose for us, and our trials have a purpose. (Philippians 1:12) Paul in all his distresses was able to keep his eye on the goal, and he encourages us to do the same. (Philippians 3:13-14) Above all, remember the hope of eternity (Philippians 3:20-21), and that our struggles here are temporary.

Paul again accompanies his instructions with a promise. If we follow his advice and example, change our outlook and attitude, and then let our actions match our thoughts, the God of peace will be with us.

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Stress. There are so many circumstances in life to cause us worry or anxiety, from everyday annoyances, like getting the kids to school on time or not burning dinner, to huge tragedies. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan come to mind. So does the Chretien family. (Missing – Al and Rita Chretien) Is there really a way to be stress-free? The Apostle Paul tells us how.

In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul echoes Jesus' words (Matthew 6:25-34) when he tells us not to be anxious about anything. Nothing. But then he tells us what to do instead: In every situation, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. One simple sentence is the cure to all our anxiety; let’s look at it closely.

(a) In every situation. Every situation. That means the small, everyday annoyances as well as the devastating tragedies; God cares about every single detail of your life. (Luke 12:6-7) There is nothing too big or too small to bring to God, for He desires that we trust Him and rely on Him for everything. Nothing will catch Him by surprise, and He invites us to come to him boldly with any request we have. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

(b) Through prayer and petition. Some versions translate this as “by prayer and supplication”. What are the differences between these three terms? I believe that prayer is a more general term and encompasses all of our conversations with God. As followers of Jesus, we should have an attitude of prayer, or some would say live in an atmosphere of prayer, such that we feel God’s presence with us constantly and we are always in communion with Him. When we petition or supplicate, we are asking more earnestly for our needs to be met. Supplication gives more of a sense of pleading, but both terms include the idea of humility. When we are told not to be anxious, it is not that God expects us to stop caring about the situations in our lives. What He wants is for us to bring our cares to Him, and especially to lay at His feet the responsibility of all those things that are out of our control.

(c) With thanksgiving. I think when we have a lot going on that concerns us, we sometimes forget to be thankful. We focus on what we don’t have instead of what we do have. God has given us so many blessings, and many of them we take for granted. In I Timothy 6:8, Paul said that he would be content just to have food and shelter. I’m sure that if you are reading this on a computer, you have so much more than that. We need to take time to thank God for our blessings, but we also need to thank Him for all the things we see as hardship as well. Ann Voskamp, author of one thousand gifts, has said, “If I can take everything in my life and see it as grace, a good gift from God’s hand, and give thanks for it, there is joy in this. That joy really is a function of gratitude. And gratitude is a function of perspective. Can I see the things to be grateful for? If I can see the things to be grateful for, I can find joy.”

So, can we be stress-free? Yes. In fact we are commanded to be stress-free, but it is a command with a promise. If we will take all of our cares to God, and if we will be thankful, we will have peace that is beyond our comprehension, peace that comes from knowing that God loves us and has all things in His control. A peace unlike any earthly peace. (John 14:27) This peace will protect our hearts and minds the same way that a sentinel stands on guard to protect the garrison—a way that will keep us free from anxiety.

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This year, where I live in Canada, we have been longing for Spring, but it is seems so slow in arriving. Everyone around me is tired of the cold, the snow and the grey days. We long for sunshine and warm temperatures. It is interesting how the weather and other circumstances in our life can affect our moods. That wasn’t the case for the Apostle Paul; if anyone had reason to be discouraged, he did. Among other things he was beaten, shipwrecked and imprisoned. (II Corinthians 11:24-33) He endured hardship after hardship; yet he continued to rejoice, and to exhort others to rejoice also.

Philippians 4:4 is not the first time in this letter that Paul encourages the people of Philippi, and by extension us, to rejoice. (Philippians 3:1) The entire emphasis of this letter is joy. For Paul, joy was not the result of circumstances, but found in his relationship with the Lord. Paul was also able to see the blessings that surrounded him. Not only had he been brought through all the trials mentioned above, but in Philippians 4:3 he recalled the names of his fellow workers and that their names were written in the book of life. He focused on the great rewards of their service, not on the hardships they would encounter along the way. Although he knew first-hand what kind of hardships there could be, and that they would encounter more of them, he continued to remind the Philippians to rejoice. It was not a natural reaction to circumstances, but a discipline, an intentional act of devotion to God. Joy is a part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and a sign of true faith. If we really believe that we have given control of our lives over to a sovereign God, and we believe that He only wants what is best for us (Jeremiah 29:11, Luke 11:9-13), that His grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9) and that there is a purpose for our trials (James 1:2-4), we will be able to have joy even in the most trying of circumstances.

I have heard people say on numerous occasions that the best way to cheer up your spirit is to read the book of Philippians, Paul’s letter to the people of Philippi, every day for a month. So I challenge you, for the month of May, in an attempt to bring the encouragement for which you would usually depend on Spring, to read Philippians once a day. Sign up to “attend” our Facebook event for a daily, gentle reminder. In the next several posts, to prepare for our month of rejoicing, I will focus on some of the other memos from God found in Philippians 4.

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I would like to illustrate Philippians 4:19-20 with a personal story.

Almost six years ago my husband and I moved to a new town and bought a house.  This could be a much longer story if I told you all the things that have gone wrong with this house since we moved in, but that is not the main point.  Suffice to say that we have had to do a lot of major repairs, and it has been a drain on our finances.  I should also mention that we live in Canada, in an area affectionately known as the snowbelt.

This house has a fairly large driveway.  Since I work from home, and my husband goes to an office every day, I have made it my responsibility to shovel the snow so that by the time he gets home in the evening he can drive right into a clear driveway without having to go over the pile that the snowplow has left at the end.  This is a time-consuming and sometimes arduous task, but I have seldom minded doing it.

We have a lot of dog owners in our neighbourhood, and they walk by our house frequently.  Almost every time I have been out shovelling the driveway, one or more of my well-meaning neighbours has said, “You need to get a snowblower.”  The first few times that happened I explained that we had higher priorities.  After a while, although I started to get a little tired of the advice, I would just smile and agree.   Over the years, two different neighbours have each helped once when they thought that the task seemed too daunting for me.  These occurrences of helpful neighbours are unfortunately rare, happening on average once every three years.

About a month ago, while stopped at a stop sign, I was struck by a vehicle that had made an unsafe turn.  I am still in a fair amount of pain, and I suffer sometimes debilitating headaches.  Since then my husband has pitched in to take care of all the household duties that I used to do, including the shovelling.  I know that he really doesn’t like to shovel, and he was much happier when I was doing it.  Being the compassionate guy he is though, he cares more about my health than about my contribution to the task.  Nonetheless, I felt bad about it.

One day, after a particularly heavy snowfall, I lamented on my Facebook status that now I wish that we did own a snowblower, so that my husband didn’t have to do all that shovelling.  A conversation ensued that included reasons why we should have a snowblower, where to find a used one, aren’t there any kids in the neighbourhood looking for odd jobs, and don’t I have any neighbours that would be willing to help.  Interestingly, there is a snowblower at just about every house on the street, and despite the advice that I need to get one of my own, no one has ever offered to lend or rent one to me, or to clear my driveway for a fee.  Nor have I had any kids coming to the door looking for work.

Now, let me get to the point of this story.  A day or two after that Facebook conversation, my best friend, who lives about an hour away, called me on the telephone.  She said, “I bought you a snowblower.  All you have to do is come and pick it up.”  I was flabbergasted.  Even a used snowblower is quite a large gift.  Ironically, she bought it from her neighbour who clears her driveway for her.  He was relieved to find out that it was for someone else and that he wasn’t losing a client.  And the point:  It came in a completely unexpected way, but God did definitely supply our need.  Is He prompting you to help a neighbour, a friend or a total stranger?  You could be the way that He supplies a need for someone else.