One of my favorite movies, which I’ve watched several times, is Polyanna. Polyanna could see good in every situation, a silver lining behind every cloud. It’s just a happy movie.
The book of Philippians is the "rejoice" book of the Bible. It really is a "how to be happy" instruction manual. It is great to read when we find ourselves discouraged, despondent, lonely, or dejected.
You might think that the Apostle Paul, who wrote it, was living a life of ease, perhaps on vacation on the Florida coast with an ice-cold glass of iced tea, enjoying the luxuries of life.
Wrong! He wrote this letter from a Roman prison cell with his life at stake. You would think he had every right to complain about his difficulties—every right to be angry with God.
He should have been complaining about the guards, the soldiers, the food, and the treatment. But Paul had a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude.
Even in a prison cell, perhaps chained to a Roman soldier, Paul had an inner sense of joy, gratitude, peace, praise, and spiritual anticipation.
But Paul’s attitude was not a ‘Polyanna’ kind of, “a silver lining behind every cloud.” Paul had a deep sense of peace because of his deep, abiding faith in Jesus Christ—he had God’s peace.
I’ve discovered that too often we Christians are more like non-Christians when we face trials. Our eyes are centered more upon the circumstances of life than on Jesus Christ.
I’ve also discovered that we often live in the “if only’s.” If only I didn’t have any problems I'd have a lot more to be thankful for and I could be forever happy. If only my taxes were lower my paycheck would go farther, then I would be joyful.
If only I had a different job . . . or, If only I had studied this in school rather than that. Some who are more noble think beyond themselves . . .
If only all the poor had food and sufficient clothing and no one was sick any longer, and everybody had a good job, then our nation would be happy, and I would be happy.
Yet we know that's not true. Even if all the "if onlys" could come true there would still be an absence of gratitude and real joy. Look at what this amazing letter, written by a man who knew he could be executed at any time, says…
Philippians 4:4 - 7 (NIV) 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Three important questions are answered in the first five words: What are we Christians to do? Rejoice! Why should we rejoice? Because of Jesus! When are we to do it? Always! Some of you think this is an impossible dream.
When we lived in Portales the sign at the entrance of town said, "Home of 12,000 friendly folks and a few old grouches." There are too many of those grouches are in our churches today.
Do you know how the world views the average Christian? Like we don’t enjoy being a Christian. Sometimes we act like someone who has lost their last friend and that the world is coming to an end.
We act like we're just holding on until Christ comes again, or the Lord calls us home through death . . . Wait till we get to heaven! Then we'll have a wonderful time. We'll finally be happy. What makes you think you’ll enjoy heaven if you haven’t learned to rejoice in Jesus here?
The truth is that when Paul wrote this letter, the church at Philippi was a poor, struggling little church. They faced the danger of being a Christian during the time of Nero—Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Whether that was true or not, Christians were blamed for the fires.
Not only that, there were false teachings being introduced into their congregation tempting them to compromise their faith. Into all this he told them to rejoice always.
Despite what the old grouches think, the Christian life and the joy that God has for us is not something we have to wait for until we die.
When you love Jesus and know He loves you, there is an abiding joy deep inside that has nothing to do with your present circumstances. Paul stresses that we are to rejoice under all circumstances—it is a direct result of our faith in Jesus.
The joy we have in Christ should be a present tense, present day, present hour, present minute experience.
And the really exciting thing is that, according to verse 5, we are able to rejoice because of the nearness of Jesus. 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Paul didn’t tell the Philippians to ignore their problems because they would just go away. He gave them the promise that Jesus was near.
Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God.
Christian, you have the promise of God Himself that no matter what is going on in your life, Jesus is with you. It is in Him alone that we have true and lasting joy. This kind of joy requires deep faith and a close walk with Christ.
It is the joy of knowing that you live in the eternal, and that this life is temporary, and that Christ is with you always.
It’s easy to be thankful for the good things that happens to you. When you receive a compliment that boosts your ego, or someone does something nice for you or gives you a gift, it doesn't take much of a spiritual person to be thankful for that.
Paul goes beyond that. He said to rejoice in the Lord. Why did he word it like that? Because sometimes your circumstances are not good. You’re not supposed to be thankful for the bad things that happen. You can’t rejoice in them.
But you can rejoice that you have Jesus. Jesus is the source of inner joy. He is the one who gives us inner peace. Only the person that knows the Lord personally can have an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving in times of trials and tribulations.
Right after Paul wrote ‘the Lord is near’, he said, 6Do not be anxious about anything…
Does this mean we shouldn’t take care of our problems? Does it mean that we’re to sit back and let God handle them? No! God expects us the intelligence and abilities He has given us to work out our problems. At the same time we are to trust Him.
Some of you remember the Great Wallendas, the greatest tightrope walkers who ever lived, and the greatest of all was Carl.
He said that the most important thing about walking a tightrope is to be confident you can do it, and to never think about failure.
I was watching a live broadcast of the Great Wallenda on Wide World of Sports in 1978. He was going to walk a tightrope stretched 75 feet up between some high-rise buildings in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
It was a little bit windy, and Carl seemed anxious. With the balance bar in his hands he slowly moved out on the wire.
He didn't go far when he began to teeter. Suddenly he dropped the bar and he fell. For an agonizing moment he caught himself with one hand, then he was gone.
Later, his wife, also an aerialist, said that never before in their career had her husband given a thought to falling. But for this walk he spent all of his time putting up the wire, which he'd never concerned himself about before.
He worried about the guide wires. He spent endless hours calculating the wind, which he also had never done before. Listen to this quote from her:
"I believe the reason Carl fell was because he spent all of his time preparing not to fall, instead of spending time preparing to walk the rope."
When we constantly worry about our circumstance rather than trusting God, like Carl Wallenda who took his eyes of the other side, we take our eyes off of Jesus.
The word ‘anxious’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘a divided mind.’ To care about the circumstances of life and to take steps to take care of them is a virtue. But to be over-anxious says we don’t trust Jesus—we have a divided mind.
The word ‘peace’ literally means to bind together. God peace is the result of God’s grace in our life.
Paul didn’t say we are not to care about worldly things and exercise good judgment in them. He is saying that we are have confidence in God and trust Jesus, our Savior.
Do you know what happens to chronic worriers? Worry becomes a millstone about your neck. Worry causes you to forget to trust Jesus. You turn into an old sourpuss, a whiner, and complainer. Worry robs you of your joy.
Paul had plenty to be anxious about. He didn’t know whether he would be sentenced to die or be set free. The Philippian Christians had ample cause for anxiety regarding the threats to their church.
Paul knew about those threats and difficulties they all faced. He is not making light of their difficulties, but he reminds them that God is greater than all their troubles.
Jesus is near. He is with you at all times. He knows what is happening in your life.
The second part of verse 6 is vital: …but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. This is Paul’s prescription for over anxiety—prayer and commitment of your life to Jesus.
The word ‘prayer’ is a general word meaning adoration, devotion, and worship. In other words prayer really refers to your attitude or your frame of mind.
When you find that your troubles are overwhelming and you begin to be filled with anxiety, your first thought and action ought to be to get alone with God and worship Him. This is what prayer is.
Then, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. God doesn’t need to be informed of your troubles—He already knows. But you need to say them to Him. God wants you to talk to Him about what’s going on in your life.
And thanksgiving must always be a necessary part of what you say to God. Never pray without being thankful because some anxieties can resist everything except thanksgiving.
Karl Barth wrote: “Thanksgiving means giving God the glory in everything, making room for him, casting our care on him, letting it be his care. The troubles that exercise us then cease to be hidden and bottled up. They are laid open towards God, spread out before him.” (Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Philippians, John Knox Press, 1962, pp. 122-23)
7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This is the promised blessing that awaits you when you take your anxieties to Jesus in prayer. “The peace of God” is an interesting expression. First of all it means the ‘peace that God possesses.’
Secondly, it is the peace that God gives to you when you do what Paul has instructed in these verses. As I thought about God I realized that He never has anxieties and worries. God is never at the mercy of circumstances.
When you learn to be content in Christ, and to trust Him even in all the circumstances of your life, God’s peace will be in your heart and mind.
God’s peace is so great, so high, so overpowering, so divine, that it passes all understanding or explanation. No one can explain God’s peace. It must be experienced to be known. God’s peace is always independent of external circumstances.
There’s one final thing I want you to see in this verse: ‘will guard’ is a military term. Can you see Paul sitting in his prison cell and he sees the Roman soldier standing there. Immediately he thinks about how God guards our peace.
When your trust is in Jesus, when your real joy is because of your relationship with Him, and when you have an attitude of prayer and thanksgiving…
Like a sentinel on duty, God’s peace will stand guard before the door of your inner self to keep back all intruders that want to break in and destroy your trust in Jesus and the peace that He gives to you.
God’s peace. It is possible to have it. Paul has told you how. You can experience the peace that comes to the person who has total trust in God, not only with your life, but with your family, and with your church family. Rejoice in Jesus today. He is near.