Do you ever experience worry?  I don’t consider myself a big worrier but like everyone I struggle with worry sometimes.  As school starts I am sure that students, teachers, and parents are probably all experiencing a little bit of worry.  Paul gives us a brief passage about how to deal with worry and gives us three steps to combat it in an unusual way.  Let’s look together at Philippians 4 today

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

First of all Paul starts by telling us to rejoice.  That’s probably not anyone’s first thought when it comes to worry but maybe it should be.  We rejoice in what God has done and continues to do in our lives.  When we rejoice we remember His faithfulness and it puts our minds in a different space.  It resets us and reminds us of God’s goodness to us.  Once we are in that head space we are told to place our anxiety on God through prayer.  I find that most often we worry about things that we have no control over anyways.  Why not give those worries over to the one who has control over everything, Jesus.  We are promised that when we really give those things over to God in prayer we will be given a peace that passes understanding.  The problem is that often while we pray we also hold on to those worries instead of truly releasing them to God.  Most of us are closet control freaks and even though we can’t do anything about it by holding on to worry we retain a sense of control.  We need to learn to release the situation fully to God and trust that He will work for our good.  Then the last step Paul gives us is to shift our thoughts to whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.  I find the best way to do this is to recall some of the promises of God from the Bible.  Today I leave you with an assignment look up some of the many promises of God from the Bible and write your favorites down.  Hold on to them and next time you need them remind yourselves of just how great our God is.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave