Flip through my notes here recently, in almost any class, and you'll see several times that I've written Philippians 4:4-8 in the topmost margin.
biblegateway.com:
Philippians 4:4-8 (New American Standard Bible)
4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Though you'll only see the reference, picturing me zoning out and quoting the complete Scripture in my head. (Not that I advocate zoning out in class...) But seriously, this Scripture has meant alot to me. It's one of the best comforts I've had throughout this summer and the beginning of the semester. It seems like I've shot myself in the foot so many times. There's been so much going on in my life, in the way of joys, disappointments, upsets, and simply just hurt. Then I flip to that passage. Paul says rejoice in the Lord, always. Don't be anxious about anything. Give it to God, and you'll receive that wonderful peace. Dwell only on the upright and good.I'll be honest. I was after that peace. It seems like so much turmoil has come up, whether it's my own, or others, or just in my head. Then you might notice that the rest of the Scripture is a lot of common sense. Think. If you dwell only on the upright, you'll be happy, or maybe more content is a better word... and peaceful. If you know that, whatever you're doing, yes, it might hurt then, but in the long run, it's for the best, you'll be content.
The best part is knowing that, even if you feel the whole world is down on you, and, if you're like me you want to run away, God is always there, providing for you and protecting you. For instance:
1 Peter 5:6-7
6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
To be honest, I was really sad when I thought Garrett was going to skip over that particular verse when preaching on it this summer. But he didn't, and I was happy for the reminder. It came at a great time. I always focus on verse 7, cast all your cares upon Him. It puts me in mind of the Psalty song, which used to be pretty much my favorite song ever:I cast all my cares upon You.
I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet.
And anytime I don't know what to do,
I cast all my cares upon You.
That particular passage and song is a great reminder for me to rely on God. He cares for me! How much more could I ask for? Why should I then be upset? I have all I need right there.
There's more I could write, as I was once asked why I liked Romans 5 so much. Which I never got to explain.... But, it's getting late, and I'm curious as to whether these are even checked anymore.
So, I had inspiration and wanted to journal. I hope what I see is a comfort for someone else in hard times. Remember, God is always there! So, BE HAPPY! Rejoice in Him! Give Him everything and He'll guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus!
2 comments:
Hooray! Philippians 4:6 has been one of my favorite verses for some time now but it wasn't until recently that I realized it came right before the stuff about the secret to being content. Pretty sweet. I'm glad you're finding relief in God's Word, it's the best encouragement we've got :).
I still want to know about the Romans 5 thing... :D
Nope, I check them every once in a while as well. A few weeks back, I had a couple of posts I wanted to post, but never posted them. Now I can't remember what they were about. :-/
I had to learn something along those lines a couple years ago. (And I'm sure at various other points in my life.) When I was trying to forget something or get over something, I would always pray something like, "Lord, please let me stop thinking about this," or "Lord please just take this away from me, etc..." For some reason, those never helped too much. While those can be good prayers, I think the best way change ones thinking, etc. is to renew your mind as it speaks in Romans 12:2. And you do that by what it talks about in Philippians 4:8. Instead, I found out the importance of trying to figure out what God wanted me to think about and what God wanted me to do. In order to forget/get past something, you have to think about something else, preferably something true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, worthy of praise. In a slightly different vein, but along the same lines, if you're trying to live for God, it takes devoting oneself to doing good (Titus 3:8), not just stopping doing what is bad. (This reminded me of Ephesians 4:25-32.)
I guess I've basically just repeated what you've said. Every once in a while, when I'm talking to someone who is really down and negative, I try to ask them what is good in their life or ask them how they are blessed or what's doing right. Even if they don't have an answer, I mention to them to think about that for a while. Finding several things and dwelling on those really does change one's perspective. All this makes me think of the song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
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