Today, we will talk about Philippians chapter 4, which is the last chapter of the letter written to the church of Philippi by Paul while he was in prison. Overall, the chapter spoke to me about the peace of God. Let’s start with the first verse which is:
“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!” (Philippians 4: 1)
In the bible, every small word and punctuation has a meaning. In the above verse, Paul started with “Therefore” which shows a continuation of the two previous verses of chapter three. In those verses, Paul was telling the Philippians that their citizenship is in heaven, to wait eagerly for the Savior, who will transform their lowly bodies to be like Jesus’s glorious body (Philippians 3:20-21). Paul wanted them to keep their mind to Jesus and be reminded that Jesus will come back to get them and all the suffering, the tears, the fear, and the tiredness will all be done. At the end of the verse above, there is an exclamation mark to show the strong feeling, the major significance, and the interest Paul puts on what he was telling the Philippians; to stand firm!
There is a huge importance in standing firm in the Lord because that is where we will get the strength to face everything the devil is throwing in our faces. Whether you are going through hard times in your marriage, in your parenthood, at your job, in your church, or waiting for your promises, stand firm! Whether you have been waiting for years to get pregnant, or for your kids to be saved, stand firm! Be encouraged, STAND FIRM! Our God is real, He doesn’t lie, and He keeps His promises (Numbers 23,19). He is the same God who blessed Abraham and Sarah in their old age (Genesis 18: 11-14). God doesn’t have a timeline, He is always on time and when you will see His promises, you will see why you have been waiting for so long, and why you went through struggles. But in the meantime, stand firm! The Savior, the King of Kings is on His way to you.
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”. (Philippians 4:5-7)
We should ALWAYS, go to God no matter the situation we are in. Praise Him on your good days and bring Him your requests on your bad days. However, on top of those requests, we need to add our thanksgiving too because we need to remember that He is still God during our dark days, He deserves all the thanksgivings. When doing that through prayers, God will grant us His peace that surpasses our human understanding, to go through everything. Do not be anxious! Worry and anxiety do not add anything to our situation but they add a toll to our shoulders while the bible tells us to bring all our burdens to Him. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast our anxiety to Him because He cares for us and Matthew 11:28-30 tells us to go to Jesus with our heavy laden and He will give us rest. I encourage you all to go to Jesus whenever your heart is heavy. Jesus will give you rest and His peace.
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. ” (Philippians 4: 8-9)
We need to fill our minds with godly thoughts and the God of peace will be with us! God is holy, we shouldn’t expect Him to live in us while our mind is filled with dark thoughts. We cannot hate someone and have God in our hearts or even love Him, we cannot keep gossiping about someone and have God in us. Our minds should be filled with true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy thoughts. This is the only way God, the God of peace, will be with us.
” I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4: 11-13)
Paul finally shares where he had been getting the strength when going through life in prison and everything the apostles were going through during that time. He was getting his strength through Jesus. Jesus is the strength. He is the strength that will help you go through divorce and keep a smile on your face and peace in your heart. He is the strength that will help you to keep going when you feel like giving up. He is the strength! Reach out to Him through prayer and supplication, add thanksgiving, and He will give you rest and peace that transcends all understanding. You will be amazed at what He can do.
I need to tell you, this does not mean that you will get everything you need. Your requests need to be aligned by the word of God and the closer we align ourselves with His will, the more we will see our prayers answered in the affirmative (John 15:7). This is the reason our prayers should end with “But not my will, but thy will be done”. We can’t live our life satisfying the desires of our flesh and run to God when difficulties happen expecting that everything will turn out to be perfect. Even though He is quick to forgive, He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) He wants you to be His own, Him alone, because He cares about you. Let us serve Him alone, live a life that worships Him and He will do wonders in our lives.
Prayer: Father God, thank you for caring about us, thank you for loving us unconditionally. We ask you to help us live a life that worships you, to keep you as the King of our hearts. Help us to always be content in any circumstance we are facing. Always reminds us to bring you our burdens and to always praise you because you are worthy of all our praises. And then, we will expect to get the peace that only You give, and rest during our hard times in Jesus’ name. Amen
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