Be anxious for nothing, but in all things by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:6-7
This is one of my favorite scriptures. Paul tells us : don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. Make your requests known to God. The bible also tells us to cast our cares upon the Lord because He cares! We can find peace in placing our burdens in the hand of an all-powerful God, who knows the beginning from the end, Who has great plans for us, and who delights in giving good gifts to His children :-)
I love the next few verses of this chapter. Paul, Being led by Holy Spirit must have realized that even after we have prayed we might be tempted to become anxious and discouraged when we don't see things happening right away, or when things don't work out the way we think they should.
The word tells us:
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. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace WILL BE WITH YOU. Phillipians 4:8-9
We are instructed to think about And meditate( focus on, chew over, mull over)things that are good and true, noble and praiseworthy. For me personally, I think about the goodness of Jesus, I think about His sacrifice on the cross, and what that means for me, I think about my righteosness in Him, I think about all the victories He has won for me in the past, and I think about all the promises of God in the Word for me. Holy Spirit may bring a scripture to your remembrance that is specific to your situation that you can recite, or He may remind you of a specific time where He came through for you before.
This concept can and has been diluted to "thinking happy thoughts", but the Word of God is living And powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword...(Heb 4:12). God's word through the power of Holy Spirit is able to break through fear, anxiety, confusion, and stress.
When we continually meditate on these things, we develop an attitude of gratitude. Which will eventually make trials and hardships seem like water off of a ducks back.
When we do these things we create an atmosphere in our minds and in our environment that is welcoming to the Presence of God. Verse 9 tells us that the God of Peace will be with us!!! He will be with us, walking joyfully through the valley until we get to our high place. He will be with us while we rejoice and thank Him for the victory.
God is sooo good!!
Practice His Presence, and watch your life change, until it is totally and completely IN HIM that we live and move and have our beings :-)
Be blessed!
Apple of His Eye!
