Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
I read a story once of a man that was standing on a busy street corner in a large city cracking open peanuts and spreading them on the street. Someone stopped and asked why he was going to all the trouble of cracking hundreds of peanuts and throwing them on the street. He informed the passerby that he was doing it to keep the lions away, “there are no lions running loose in the city” he was told. He then replied, “it works pretty well doesn’t it”.
When we spend our time in worry, we are doing the same thing,
wasting an excessive amount of our time on difficulties and troubles that do
not even exist. This is not to say that we do not face real quandaries and
uncertainty each and every day of our lives. There are times, however, that we
invent dilemmas and focus on tribulation and predicaments that may never
occur. For a chronic worrier, it is easy to carry our burden to the
Lord the hardest part is when we try to leave them with Him. There are many
explanations as to why a person would live in unnecessary fear or worry. but
whatever the reason there is hope. The teachings of the Apostle Paul from Philippians
4:6 is not some kind of magic formula. It is a tried and true
genuineness of the gospel of Christ Jesus and one of His wonderful promises (Philippians
4:12).
The last phrase in this verse is the key that unlocks the door of
a life of peace and serenity. Some people think that we should present our
request to God and thank Him once He has answered our prayers. That is not
faith, that is gratitude which is a quality we should possess as children of
God. However, true faith is giving thanks to God when we make the request because we are confident that He will answer our prayers and provide for our
every need.
We can avoid the misery of anxiety by placing our troubles in
God’s hands and walking away with faith that He will answer our prayers. There
will be times that the Lord will remove us from the problem straightaway and
then other times He will let us ride it out to help us learn to trust Him more
and more as time goes on.
Paul writes in verse 12 that “I have learned the secret of
being content in any and every situation.” It is an ongoing process that
takes time walking a path in which we try and sometimes fail but through
perseverance, we continue to trust in God’s faithfulness, His grace, and mercy.
I praise God for His patience with me when I sometimes unnecessarily crack open
peanuts and spread them around to keep the lions away.
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