To Be Known

My Testimony 

Birth

            Twenty-seven years ago, I was born to two hard-working and loving parents who loved and served Jesus.  As I grew, they told me about Him and took me to church, where I heard the same message:

 Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  For as long as I can remember, I knew what sin was and that I was a sinner.  I knew that all sin brought death, that I was not perfect, and as such, I could not enter a perfect heaven with a perfect God.     

                       

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  I heard again and again the story of how God sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin, how he was buried, and how he rose again three days later.  I learned quickly that Jesus' blood paid the penalty for my sins and that I could go to heaven if I believed in Him.

                       

Ephesians 2:8, 9 - "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."  I also learned from verses such as these that trusting in Jesus for salvation on the basis of His death and resurrection was the only way I could be saved.  I knew that going to church, praying, and being good did not save me.

           

 It didn’t take long before He began to stir my young heart, and my mom says that I was saved around the age of three or four.  Of course my understanding was limited, but I honestly don’t remember a time when I didn’t believe in Jesus at all, so I know that I was pretty young when I first believed.  At that point, I was given a new life: I was born again in Christ.  After my physical birth, it took time to develop.  I had to learn how to process sensory information, how to hold my head up, how to crawl, how to walk, and how to communicate.  Just as I had to grow, learn, and develop over time as a child, I’ve also had to learn, grow, and develop in my relationship with Christ.

Baby Steps

In elementary school, I remember having an intense inner drive to obey authority, follow rules, and do what was right.  I didn’t know why, and it drove me nuts.  I didn’t like when some of my peers called me names, hated me, or tried to get me to do things that I knew were wrong.  There were times when I wanted to do what was wrong to fit in, but something inside me made it incredibly hard to do that.  Don’t get me wrong, of course I gave in and did the wrong thing sometimes.  However, I was miserable inside afterwards.  Now I know that the “inner nagging” I was experiencing was partially my personality and my conscience, but primarily it was the Holy Spirit working in my heart.  Since I did not know that fact at the time, and I didn’t read my Bible or pray on my own much, I wasn’t really glorifying God with my life even though I often did what was right.  I was living to stay out of trouble, to keep my parents and other authority figures happy, and to satisfy that relentless inner drive to do what was right.  I also lacked a sense of purpose and meaning.  What was the point of living rightly anyway when it often made me so awkward with my peers?      

Growth Spurts

In middle school, I reached a significant milestone in my relationship with Christ.  During the summer after sixth or seventh grade, I went to Maranatha Bible Camp with one of my best friends.  Prior to attending camp, my friend had been participating in the AWANA program with me and was asking increasing amounts of questions about Christianity.  When we went to camp, God used one of

the lessons to draw her to Himself to trust His Son as Savior and also to open my eyes to having a daily, thriving relationship with Jesus.  Like I said, I was saved when I first believed.  However, at this point, I began to understand more about why I did what I did and why I should spend time with my Lord by reading my Bible and praying.  My faith became more than just going to church on Sunday and knowing that I was escaping Hell because of what Jesus did.  That year at camp, God opened my eyes to my ultimate direction and purpose and life: to glorify Him by getting to know Him, obeying His Word, telling others about Him, and living for Him as He guides me through each stage of life.

Developing Doctrine and Disciplines

            Throughout high school and college, I experienced many valleys and mountaintops in my relationship with Christ.  The darkest valley during that period led to the most incredible season of growth that I have experienced so far.  During my first year at a secular junior college, I rebelliously entered and stayed in an unhealthy relationship that I knew wasn’t God’s will for me.  Among many other significant problems, we had different doctrinal views.  Our main point of contention was whether or not a person could lose his or her salvation.  I had been taught that salvation can never be lost.  He believed otherwise.  As he showed me verses to support his view, I began to question and doubt everything I had been taught concerning eternal security.  I knew there had to be an explanation, but I didn’t know how to find it on my own.  I also grew concerned about the fact that if I were to end up marrying this young man, I would find myself in a very difficult situation when it came to what we would teach our children. 

God graciously  removed me out of that relationship, but I was left severely wounded and full of questions.  That fact, combined with a growing desire within me to get a better foundation in Scripture knowledge so that I could teach my future kids someday, made me ripe for the picking when the Frontier Carolers came to my church and spent some time at my house.  They talked about the intensive Bible training they received at school and about the fact that it was very inexpensive.  It sounded to me like it was close to heaven (little did I know, La Grange is not close to anything).  As I was getting ready to graduate soon from NJC, the opportunity couldn’t have been more perfect.  I was so excited when I found out that I was accepted to Frontier School of the Bible that I read the school’s handbook from front to back multiple times.  I only planned on attending for one year, but that turned into three years as a full-time student and one year as a part-time married student ( they offered a few free credits for spouses of full-time students, and they allowed me to continue taking classes even after I had graduated while my husband finished up his senior year).

FSB Graduation

I learned so much at school, and I cannot fully express how thankful I am for it.  The truth that it is impossible for me to lose my salvation was reinforced, and I learned how to defend that truth in Scripture.  I gained a new understanding of the incredible hope we have as believers who are in Christ.  I learned the freeing truth that the power of sin is broken in my life so that I do not have to constantly fight it anymore; not that I never sin any more, but Galatians 5:16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”  I have a choice.  I could go on and on about all that God taught me through school, but I think one of the most important tools I received from school was how to read and study my Bible in depth.  Before school, I often used the “open your Bible and point” method, which is shallow and unreliable at best and dangerous at worst.  When all else failed I went to Psalms, Proverbs, or James because I knew I could understand those books fairly easily, and I neglected a huge portion of God’s Word.  At school, I learned how to read verses in context – taking into account the verses surrounding a particular verse as well as the historical setting and grammatical factors.  I discovered how correctly-used cross-references can open up a passage like you would not believe.  Not only did the teachers tell us how to do all this, but they demonstrated it for us class after class.  In teaching us how to study on our own, they enabled us to glean from God’s Word vastly more truth than what they could ever fit into a three-year program.  I will be able to use the skills I gained at FSB for the rest of my life as I continue to dig into God’s Word on my own to learn directly from Him.

 

Maturing

            In the years since school, God has continued to teach me several hard lessons.  As I partially described in my series, “A Life Unexpected,” we have gone through many trials in the past few years, and we have also had many sweet moments with God.  Though I sometimes backslide, God is continually molding and shaping me into the woman He created me to be.  I hold fast to the promise in Philippians 1:6 that the One who started the work in me will continue until it is finished.  I am so thankful that He doesn’t give up on me, and I am so thankful that He knows me.  He knows intimately every detail of my story from beginning to end.  One encouraging truth that has been brought to the forefront for me in the past week is that He knows my sorrows.  In the past week, Psalm 56:8 was discussed both during the sermon on Sunday and during the lesson at youth group.  It says, “You keep track of all my sorrows.  You have collected all my tears in your bottle.  You have recorded each one in your book” (NLT).  He knows all that weighs on my heart, and none of the tears I have cried have escaped His notice.  There is a great comfort in truly being known and seen by God.  I am so grateful for the breath He gave me twenty-seven years ago and for the new life He breathed into me just a few short years later.  Knowing Him brings meaning to my story, and I sincerely hope you know Him too.       

Stability in Shifting Sands

            Bounce houses were never overly appealing to me as a child.  They were okay until  some of the older, bigger kids joined in, and I found myself struggling to stay upright for more than a millisecond.  With a perpetually and dramatically shifting surface underfoot, I would get tossed around, stuck in the side crevices, and then inevitably end up emerging a little motion sick.  Sometimes life feels like a bounce house.  In the midst of ever-shifting circumstances, surroundings, relationships, and feelings, we can come out feeling bruised, leery, guarded, and cynical.  When nothing seems certain or unchanging, we start looking desperately for something steady and reliable to hold on to.  It's as though we are being swiftly carried away by a river, and we desperately need a rock or a branch to grab onto before we drown.  At times, we may think we have found security in something or someone, but eventually it always dissipates like sand through our fingers.  In other moments, we give up and just try to find ways to numb ourselves to the pain, disappointment, and disillusionment. 

We can find true, perfect, and complete stability, security, and peace in only one place, which is described by two of my very favorite verses.  Isaiah 26:3, 4 says,

                        “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,

                        Because he trusts in You.

                        Trust in the LORD forever,

                        For in GOD, the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.”

               

He is our solid ground, our steady hand, and our unchanging Father.  I love how much verse four emphasizes the eternity of God.  The Hebrew word for “LORD” refers to God’s self-existence, and “GOD” is simply a shorter form of that same name.  He always has been, He is, and He always will be.  If you include the word “everlasting,” that makes four times that the writer emphasizes God’s self-existence and eternity in this one verse.  These terms don’t just refer to the span of His existence, but to the steadfastness of His very character.  Unlike we humans who are constantly changing, He didn’t used to be a different person, and He isn’t becoming a different person.  He is.  What a secure and steady Rock He is in whom we can wholly place our trust! 

As we trust in Him and let our minds rest and lean on Him (the KJV, NKJV, and ESV all translate the phrase in verse 3 as those whose minds are “stayed on” You), He keeps us in “perfect peace.”  I have only climbed a rock wall a handful of times, but this concept of leaning and trusting reminds me of the trip back down the wall with a belayer.  I remember having to lean back in my harness and trust both the equipment and the belayer to bring me back to the ground safely.  I had peace because I knew that the equipment was sound and the belayer was experienced.  Though equipment may brake and people may fail, our God never fails, and He offers us a peace to which nothing in this world can even compare.  He is the safe place.  Though life may try to fling us around, we always have this anchor to which we can cling if we would only choose: our everlasting Rock.                           

Shattering the Shackles of Stress

Trim Castle, Ireland

“Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths.”

 – Charles H. Spurgeon (qtd. in Harves)

“Worry drives the dagger of slander under the fifth rib of God’s character.”

-John Edmund Haggai (qtd. in Harves)

“Worry is sheer hypocrisy, for it professes faith in God while at the same time it assails the reality of His truthfulness.”

-John Edmund Haggai (qtd. in Harves)

“Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster, and belief in defeat.”

-William A. Ward (qtd. in MacArthur)

Confessions of a Stressaholic

       Dealing with anxiety has always been a struggle for me.  My mom often tells stories about how I used to get frequent stomachaches in elementary school.  She and my dad eventually figured out that one of the causes of my stomachaches was that I was stressing myself out over lunchtime.  I was a picky eater, but the cooks would always make us take some of everything that was offered, and then the lunch monitor would come down on us if we didn’t eat it all.  My parents came up with the solution of sending a lunch with me to school every day (weird fact: during this phase, all I really liked and wanted for lunch was the plastic-y American square cheese on a hot dog bun along with Sun Chips and pudding).  When the stomachaches continued, they discovered that the children with “cold” lunches weren’t allowed to go through the lunch line with their class, so I would end up having to sit with the older kids whom I didn’t know and who terrified my painfully shy little self.  After ironing out several other lunchtime hiccups, the stomachaches gradually went away. 

Europe Backpack

            The stresses of middle school, high school, and college only got worse.  Between the unrealistic standards I put on myself, a ridiculously busy schedule, and the difficulties that come along with simply growing up, I often worked myself up so much that I felt physically sick, I couldn’t sleep well, and I couldn’t hold back my tears of frustration.  I cried over a single question on my biology homework that  had kept me awake long past my bedtime even though my mom tried to convince me that getting one question wrong wouldn’t really hurt my grade and that it wasn’t worth everything I was putting myself through.  I was pushed over the edge and all the stresses of my busy schedule were brought to a head when the two boys who teased me relentlessly on nearly a daily basis stole my books AGAIN the moment I opened my locker (my very literal and gullible self didn’t totally pick up on the fact that this is how middle school boys flirt).  Many years later, I nearly gave up in the same exhausted despair trying to figure out how to stuff five weeks worth of belongings into an oversized backpack for a mission trip to Europe after already having just spent two weeks in Canada (this was the first time that Jon became my hero by taking over and packing my stuff for me – I will be forever grateful for his ROTC training and Tetris skills).    

Bought in 2014, Sold in 2016

            Since then, of course, the sources of stress have become much more significant.  Dating, planning a wedding, moving twice across state lines, buying and selling a house, changing jobs multiple times because of circumstances beyond my control, fighting for a wounded marriage, and undergoing fertility testing have all made the stresses of the past look comical.  However, the older I have gotten and the more I have had to face the serious issues, the more I have also learned  that even though there are times when life is completely chaotic and out of control, I don’t have to be.  Even when a million circumstances are pulling at my heart, a billion tedious tasks are demanding my attention, and a trillion voices are telling me what to do and how to do it all, I can have peace.  I just have to choose it. 

            Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not perfect in this area.  There are times when I still choose worry over peace.  However, I now know that I have a choice.  I don’t have to be helplessly tossed around by circumstances, to-do lists, or the expectations of others.  God has given me a way out, and He offers it to you too.  He shows it to us in Philippians 4:4-9, so take a moment to check it out, and then we can dive in together to see the four check-ups that He has given us in this passage for self-evaluation so that we can make adjustments and prevent or dispel anxiety.

“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.”

-Philippians 4:4-9

Check Your Attitude (vv. 4, 5)

Rejoicing

            Verses 4 and 5 reveal our first check-up, which is to check our attitudes.  Paul’s initial instruction  in regard to our attitude is to rejoice.  How many Christians do you know who walk around with sour faces all of the time?  I must admit, my thinking face often looks super grumpy.  As believers, we are supposed to be characterized by joy, not crankiness!  Paul tells us to rejoice in the form of a command, and he emphasizes the importance of that command with repetition.  My heart wants to argue, “What if I don’t feel like rejoicing?  How can you command me to manufacture something that is not there?” This thinking is flawed.  Pastor Tom Harves, one of my professors, used to say that rejoicing is a thermostat, not a thermometer.  Instead of serving as a reading of my ever-changing feelings and circumstances, rejoicing sets the right attitude within me.  This is possible because we are not commanded to rejoice in our circumstances, but in the Lord.  Good circumstances are fleeting, and bad circumstances in and of themselves are not much of a reason to rejoice.  However, we have every reason to rejoice in the Lord at all times regardless of our circumstances, not only because of the immeasurable work He has done for us, but also because of who He is.  Such an attitude of rejoicing in the Lord repels an attitude of anxiety.

Gentleness

Photo by Kyle Sheppard

            Concerning our attitudes, Paul continues, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.”  Our demeanor should be that of kind and considerate yieldedness as opposed to stubborn and unyielding willfulness (Harves).  Paul is not saying that we should all be doormats.  Neither is he saying that we should never stand up for Biblical truth or for our Biblical convictions (Harves).  Rather, we should have an attitude that is willing to sacrifice personal preference if necessary and that is willing to treat others with kindness, friendliness, and love regardless of whether or not they agree with us.  We will not have peace if we always have to have our own way.  Conflict and anxiety are bound to follow a stubborn and willful spirit. 

Spirituality

            The last part of this attitude check-up is to cultivate a spiritual perspective instead of a worldly perspective.  At the end of verse 5, Paul reminds us, “The Lord is near.”  This statement can be interpreted in a couple of ways (Harves).  First, it could refer to Christ’s present nearness to us.  In Hebrews 13:5, He promises us, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”  Between His resurrection and ascension, Jesus assured us, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20b).  John 16 makes it clear that though Jesus is now physically absent from this world, we still have the Helper (the Holy Spirit) to “convict the world” (v. 8), to “guide [us] into all the truth” (v. 13), and to “disclose to [us] what is to come” (v.13).  The second interpretation of Philippians 4:5 is that Paul is referring to the imminence of the second coming of Christ.  We know from the rest of Scripture that either interpretation could be justified.  Jesus is near to us now – so our attitudes and conduct should reflect that belief.  Jesus is coming back soon – likewise, our attitudes and conduct should reflect that belief.  For those who want to dive into this point a little deeper, Colossians 3 provides more detailed and practical explanations and applications as to what this type of life looks like.  Living in light of these truths with a spiritual perspective brings us comfort and peace in the midst of our chaotic lives.                                    

Check Your Communication (vv. 6, 7)

The Diagnosis

            When we are worried about something, how often do we talk about it with everyone else except God?  Yet, verses 6 and 7 of Philippians 4 are abundantly clear that the way to peace is by talking to God.  Before we examine the specifics of what that looks like, let’s take a closer look at the problem of anxiety.  Paul gives us the direct command not to worry about anything.  Literally, the word “anxious” in verse 6 carries the idea of being pulled in different directions (Bagley).  I’m sure most of you are very familiar with the sense of being torn apart inside and distracted by worries.  Our English definition for anxiety is “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome” (Google Search).  Essentially, it is a form of fear that stems from the unknown or the uncontrollable.  Warren W. Wiersbe defines it as “wrong thinking (the mind) and wrong feeling (the heart) about circumstances, people, and things” (131-2).  If we are worrying, we are missing some aspect of truth in our thoughts or feelings. 

For example, if I am overcome with worry that my husband will die in a car crash when he leaves to go out of town for work, I am forgetting the truth that God will always take care of me.  Even if that were to happen, worrying would not prevent it, and God would be there to provide for me and to give me the strength to heal over time and to keep living.  If God is really all I need (as we so often sing in so many worship songs), then I should have no reason to fear any loss.  This is not to say that He won’t allow us to experience loss and the suffering that goes with it, but that loss is bearable because we will always have Him.  Another more lighthearted example would be that of my worry over that one Biology question that I mentioned earlier.  At the time, I didn’t see the truth that in the long run, my ability to get that one question right would not matter  years later, or even weeks later.  Now, I don’t even remember what the question was.  I am glad that I strove to do my best in school, but I would have been saved a lot of emotional turmoil if I had kept everything in perspective of what really mattered.

Worrying often seems like such a small issue in our eyes in comparison with other temptations that we face, but we have to realize that it is a sin, and all sin is serious.  There is a reason that God, through Paul, gives us such a direct and firm command.  Anxiety is both unprofitable and ungodly (Harves).  It is unprofitable in that it is physically unhealthy.  Worry affects every system of the body (Bagley).  Have you ever noticed how excessive worrying can cause your eyes to twitch, your digestive system to revolt, your muscles to tense up, your head to hurt, your hands to turn cold and clammy, or you name it?  Over time, constant worry, anxiety, and stress can wreak havoc on your body.  Not only that, but worrying is ungodly because it “dishonors God and His Word” (Harves).  Worrying calls both God’s character and His Word into question because it causes us to doubt His goodness and whether or not His promises are true.  Worry is closely tied with fear and disbelief, neither of which should characterize a believer. 

The Antidote

Thankfully, God didn’t just command us to put away worry without giving us a replacement for it.  Instead of worrying, He invites us to come to Him in “everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” (v. 6).  Prayer refers specifically to our response to God out of devotion and worship, and supplication s are requests or urgent pleas for a particular need (Strauss 223).  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 is very similar to the passage under consideration: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  This concept of praying “without ceasing” is so challenging to me.  God doesn’t want to just hear from me occasionally at mealtimes and before I go to bed.  He wants me to talk to Him all day long!  This truth makes me think about dating.  When you date someone, you talk to them  constantly.  Even when they are not physically present, texting has made it so that you can have ongoing conversations that never really end.  God wants us to do that with Him, not only when we need something, but also when something made us smile, when we are surprised, when we are bored, and so on!  This is what Paul means when he says that we are to talk to God about everything.  We let ourselves worry about everything, so why wouldn’t we pray about everything?  We also need to be thankful as prayer draws us closer to our Father and helps us recognize everything He has done and is doing in our lives.  We need to be thankful for the very opportunity to be able to come to God in prayer on the basis of Christ’s blood (Heb. 4:14-16).  As we focus on being thankful and constantly taking our every thought and concern to God throughout the day, the promise in verse 7 of Philippians 4 will become true of us: “And the peace of  God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

John 12:46

One particular experience comes to mind as I contemplate the peace that prayer brings.  In a land and culture very different from my own, I have a vivid memory of sitting with a young girl as my brother-in-law (though he wasn’t my brother-in-law at the time) shared the Gospel.  The week before, I had shared the Gospel with her, and she had said that she hadn’t believed in Jesus, but it was obvious that the story was new to her and that her mind was busy mulling it over.  She was normally very attentive, calm, and easy-going, but during this particular lesson given by my brother-in-law, I could tell that something was bothering her.  She couldn’t sit still, she wouldn’t listen to me, and she seemed incredibly distracted.  When I took her aside to ask her if she was okay, she started crying and told me that she was hearing voices.  Immediately, I grabbed my (now) father-in-law, and told him what was going on because I knew he had handled similar situations in other spiritually sensitive cultures before. 

As my father-in-law calmly and gently spoke to her, I held her close and prayed fervently for this little girl who, as it became very evident, was hearing and seeing demons.  Normally, I would have been freaked out, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I felt an acute alertness and an intensity that cannot help but accompany spiritual warfare.  Yet, as I prayed and listened to the truth coming from the mouth of my father-in-law, the peace of God settled like a secure and cozy blanket around my heart.  He made me steady and strong so that I could help her to be steady and strong.  She trusted in Jesus that day, and for the remainder of our time there, she was no longer oppressed by the voices and terrifying visions that had haunted her and tried to keep her from the truth.  I was able to sleep throughout the rest of the week even though we kept having instances of spiritual warfare.  Now, the only way I have peace after leaving that little girl in an unstable home and a dark culture is by praying for her and knowing that God loves her infinitely more than I do.  I sincerely hope that in times of struggle and worry you will remember to pray and experience the same peace that I did at that time.                                                          

Check Your Thoughts (v. 8)

The Power of Our Thought Life

           

At first glance, it appears as though Paul is changing topics in verse 8.  On the contrary, our thought life has everything to do with the subject of worry.  Our thoughts are where our worries originate and reside, but they are also the place of transformation (Rom. 12:2).  Warren W. Wiersbe uses the following commonly used saying to illustrate the power of a single thought: “Sow a thought, reap an action.  Sow an action, reap a habit.  Sow a habit, reap a character.  Sow a character, reap a destiny” (135).  Therefore, it makes sense that our next check-up should examine our thought life.   One study conducted by Dr. Walter Calvert revealed that “only 8 percent of the things people worried about were legitimate matters of concern!  The other 92 percent were either imaginary, never happened, or involved matters over which the people had no control anyway” (Wiersbe, 135).  Why do we waste so much time and emotional energy dwelling on concerns that may never happen or that we cannot control or change?  I’ve been guilty of using the excuse, “I just can’t stop thinking about it!  I can’t help it!”  Another one of my Bible school professors, Dr. Richard A. Seymour, addressed that excuse by telling us that you can’t help it if a bird flies over your head, but you can keep it from making a nest there.  We can’t help it if worrisome or tempting thoughts pop into our head, but we don’t have to set up camp with those thoughts.          

The Positive Thought Life

Alternatively, God tells where our minds should rest in verse 8 of Philippians 4: “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.”  This verse gives us a pretty extensive list of ideas as to where we can let our mind sit for long periods of time.  We just have to choose to change our perspective and our focus by refusing to let our worries take over our mind and instead filling our mind with those thoughts that fit the description that God gives us.  For example, instead of constantly dwelling on the issues of homosexuality, abortion, government corruption, and so on, we can dwell on the Gospel’s transforming power, the gift of life, and the fact that God is the ultimate authority.  This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be aware of the things that are going on in our country, but we shouldn’t dwell on them to the point that we become fearful, worried, and depressed.  Essentially, if we want to combat worry, we need to discipline ourselves filter, restrict, and control our thoughts as opposed allowing ourselves to be carried away in every tidal wave of pessimism.                         

Check Your Obedience (v. 9)

The Route of Obedience

            Our fourth and final check-up is to check our obedience.  Here in Philippians 4:9, Paul echoes a common theme of Scripture.  We can study and gain knowledge until we feel like our brains will explode, but it won’t do us any good if we don’t do anything about it.  James 1:22 says, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”  We are fooling ourselves if we think that our lives are on track simply because we have heard and know truth.  Hebrews 5:14 describes the characteristics of the spiritually mature: “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice [emphasis added] have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”  We cannot expect to win the battle against worry if we keep choosing to live joyless, self-willed, worldly-focused, prayerless, and negativity-saturated lives.  We have to choose to change to align ourselves with what God teaches, even if it doesn’t feel natural at first.  Back in Philippians, in addition to exhorting his readers to live out what they are learning, Paul also encourages them to do what they have heard and seen in him.  Not only has God given us His Spirit to change us from the inside out, but He has also given us other people we can look to so that we don’t have to try to figure out how to live godly and obedient lives on our own.  We need to look to more spiritually mature (not necessarily in age, though maturity often accompanies age) believers and mimic their Biblical behavior.  If we know someone has followed Christ through the jungle before, why would we not seek to learn from and follow them?        

The Result of Obedience

           

            When we do choose to obey and live our lives according to what God has revealed, we can claim the promise at the end of Philippians 4:9: “the God of peace will be with you.”  God doesn’t try to withhold Himself or keep us from experiencing peace.  He offers Himself and His peace to us with open hands, and He tells us exactly what we need to do to claim it.  On the other hand, if we choose to live how we want apart from His instruction, we will not experience His peace.  For a while, we may enjoy a counterfeit and temporary peace, but ultimately true, deep, and lasting peace only comes from living in obedience to the God of peace.    

In a Nutshell

            It has always been amazing to me how much truth is packed into a single passage, or even a single verse, of Scripture.  There is so much more that could be said about Philippians 4:4-9 and about anxiety, but seeing as how my word count is already through the roof, I better wrap up this post.  We looked at four check-ups that we can use to get ourselves back on track when we find the chaos on the outside taking over our hearts and tempting us to worry.  Those check-ups included: checking your attitude, checking your communication, checking your thoughts, and checking your obedience.  For those over-achieving study-lovers out there, I have provided a short list (which is by no means exhaustive) of verses that relate to the subject of worry.  God has given us all we need in His Word.  We just have to be willing to change and to do what He says.                                       

Additional Verses for Further Study 

 

Psalm 38:18 – Anxiety Due to Sin

Proverbs 12:25 – Weight of Anxiety

Matthew 6:25-34 – God’s Promise of Provision

John 14:25-29 – The Peace Jesus Offers

John 16:33 – Peace Because Jesus Has Overcome

Galatians 1:10 – People Pleasing

Colossians 3:12-17 – Letting Peace Rule Your Heart

1 Peter 5:7 – Casting Your Anxiety on Him

Works Cited        

Bagley, Bill, Jr.  “Joy in Hard Times.”  Living with Contagious Joy.  Cedar Mountain Retreat.  Chapel, Cedar City, UT.  4 July 2013.  Lecture.   

Google Search.  Google.  Web.  24 February 2017.    

Harves, Thomas.  “Philippians: A Lesson in Joy.”  Philippians.  Frontier School of the Bible.  Student Center, La Grange, WY.  2011.  Lecture.  

MacArthur, John.  Overcoming Materialism.  Word of Grace Communications, 1986.

Seymour, Richard.  “Your Mind – The Real Battle Field.” Victorious Christian Living.  Frontier School of the Bible.  Administration Building, La Grange, WY.  2011.  Lecture.    

Strauss, Lehman.  Philippians.  Loizeaux Brothers, Inc, 1959.

Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Joyful (Philippians): Even When Things Go Wrong, You Can Have Joy. David C. Cook, 2008.