Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God: (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (8) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. (9) The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
The letter to the Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul to the Christian community in Philippi. In our verses today Paul is addressing anxiety which is the most common mental disorder. Paul tells his readers that proper concern is one thing but if we lack belief in the sovereignty of God, that concern – lack of faith and focus on self – becomes sinful anxiety. If we are anxious, we should examine our faith in God and our focus which should be on Christ. As Christians we must trust in God’s revelations and promises and have faith in the works of Christ Jesus. We must live to please God, not ourselves.
The Holy Spirit interprets our prayer to God; He knows our hearts. Prayer is more for our sake – and not for God’s sake. It is our need for God, not for the temporal benefits and we must remember that what we ask must be in line with God’s purpose. Paul is telling us to always be thankful – trusting in God to work in us to good. We must trust in His sufficiency for the future. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, Whoever is saved will look back on earthly life and see it as always heaven. Whoever Loses their salvation will look back and see their life as hell from the beginning.
Paul cautions his readers to develop a Christian thought life. All sin begins in our thoughts. We can bring glory to God by our behavior – our thoughts become our words which become our actions, our behavior. These actions become habits which become our character. Paul urges us to think on whatever is true, right, lovely as God is truth. God never changes: He is not relative or cultural. God cannot lie but Satan is a liar. We need to watch out for what is expedient, pragmatic – whatever works. We should think of this very seriously as it matters very much what we do and we need to remember the REALITY of eternity.
We need to learn Christian content and the Scriptures, so our response is not just emotional but is an affirmation – an intelligent yes to Christian doctrine. Everyone has the same need as sin has separated us from God. Everyone needs to bow to the Lord. We need to give up all that holds us back from God, including that “darling sin”. We need to live as we believe and live our Christian faith. and the God of peace will be with you.