Rejoice and Praise The Lord Regardless
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
–7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -ESV
Everything around you might be chaotic and falling a part but God offers you peace of mind and joy in the midst of it all. One can live in full confidence and faith that everything is going to turn out for the best for you and yours (Rom 8:28) in Christ Jesus.
God the Father personally offers to give you His peace and joy—a peace that the world outside of Jesus does not understand or comprehend. It is available to you for the asking, no matter what your circumstances.
You may be engulfed in a nasty divorce and see no daylight at the end of the tunnel. You may have lost a child and you are even blaming God for it. That good job that you had for years is gone and you can’t seem to find another. You may be behind in all of your bills and the family car was just repossessed. It doesn’t matter—God promises you peace and joy in your life regardless.
You say Michael that is just crazy—there is no way that I can have any peace while I am going through this or that.
That is the point of course, God the Father offers all Christians a peace that doesn’t make sense in the ways and understanding of this world.
Here’s how it works. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit actually living inside them even though most of the time we ignore that presence. How incredible it that? The creator of the universe actually has placed a part of himself inside of each one of us. It is that Spirit which can transform our lives and bring us peace and joy, faith and confidence, in the midst of sorrow and chaos.
It all begins when we choose to worship and praise God no matter what—in bad times and good. The Holy Spirit will flood our lives with peace and joy if we choose to take everything to him in prayer and then praise and thank him for everything regardless.
I once read a book that demonstrated this principal in the life of a prisoner who was transformed by the power of God and later became a minister that touched the lives of millions: Prison to Praise by Merlin Carothers. I highly recommend the book.
Point is, all of our lives can be transformed for the better by praising God and receiving His peace that can only come to us by His Spirit which is given to us through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
If you’re reading this and not sure whether you have His Holy Spirit within you, sort of always believed in Jesus but never fully committed your life to Christ, now is the time. Pray to God right now:
Father God I need and want your Holy Spirit in my life, I believe in and fully commit myself to your Son Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive my sins, help me with my unbelief, and help me to change my life. I want to receive your joy and peace in my life through your Son Jesus and by Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.
This completes our study on Philippians 4:4-7.