Free Bible Commentary
“Philippians 4:4-9”
Categories: Philippians“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, 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. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
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In a nutshell, Paul is telling us here to not worry about anything but to pray about everything (verse 6). Worrying never helped a single soul solve their problems. Worry and anxiety only make things worse. When we stress and fret over our problems our physical and spiritual health suffer, and we are quite often paralyzed by fear and rendered incapable of doing anything to help ourselves.
On the other hand, if prayer is our habitual practice and our first impulse, we take the weight of our burdens and troubles, and cast them upon the Creator of the Universe who can actually handle them (1 Peter 5:7). The effective fervent prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much (James 5:16), but the foolish fretting of a faithless person fails to accomplish a thing.
God loves you and He is ready, willing and completely able to bless you in your times of distress. Stop worrying long enough to start praying. Cast your cares and your prayers upon God, “WITH THANKSGIVING,” and He will give you the strength to endure. Don’t forget to thank God for all the good things that He has given you! That will help to take your focus off things that are going wrong in your life.
Then, redirect your focus. “Dwell on” things that are “true” and “honorable” and “right” and “pure” and “lovely” (verse 8). Focus on the excellent and praiseworthy things, and “the God of peace will be with you” (verse 9). As a matter of fact, God will grant you the peace of mind that “surpasses all comprehension” that will “guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (verse 7).
God doesn’t always promise to remove the storm, but He will help you to have peace in the midst of the storm if you will only turn outward and upward to Him instead of inward to yourself. Get out of your own head and turn to the One who has all the power to help you with your problems!
Please read Philippians 4:10-14 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed and peaceful day!
- Louie Taylor
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