(4)  Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!

(5 )Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand.

(6)  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.

I love these verses.  The Apostle Paul commands his readers to Rejoice in the Lord always.   Our joy is meant to be continual.  Paul wants the Philippians to have a full appreciation of their connection with Christ – to exult in Him not as an abstraction but as a living person.    It is so refreshing to think of salvation as a happy event; a happy union with Jesus and a time when believers shall be raised up with eagle’s wings.  Remember that this is a command and a calling for a lifestyle of joy with a deep seated belief that God is in charge of everything for the believer’s good.  Alll is well no matter what the circumstances.  We rejoice not in circumstance, but in Christ.

There was a belief at the time of writing Philippians that the Second Coming of Christ was near or that death could usher the believer into His presence at any time.  Some believe that this is what Paul was referring to when he wrote The Lord is at hand.  But Paul also felt the constant presence of Jesus.   True Christianity does not postpone the presence of Christ but lives in the sense that He is.

It follows that we should stop being fearful and/or anxious.  The use of the present tense calls for this to be habitual and we are to worry about nothing because we are to pray about everything.  God is in control.  This is not meant to belittle trouble but it is an order as to how to deal with circumstances and goes directly to our view of God as sovereign.  Worry can strangle our joy.  This does not mean indifference for that would end prayer which brings us the peace of God.  Freedom is to cast our cares upon God in thankful prayer.   The secret is to replace worry with prayer.  Grateful prayer.

Thankful prayer brings release from fear and worry because it affirms God’s sovereign control over every circumstance and that God’s purpose is the believer’s good.  Fretting is a waste of time .  Wouldn’t that be saying with our actions that we do not need God by not praying?  Worry is unbelief.

Ian Maclaren wrote  “What does your anxiety do?  It doesn not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but it does empty today of its strength.  It does not make you escape the evil.  It makes you unfit to cope with it when it comes.”