Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I am aware that by simply reading the title and opening scripture of this article, your heart and mind will possibly tense up and experience the opposite of peace. Maybe you immediately think of the things that you are anxious about. I know you are thinking, “That sounds nice, but you don’t know what I am going through,” or maybe you simply think that this life of peace is not available to you. We are starting a month-long series where we follow different perspectives that you might be able to relate to. People that are possibly walking a similar season or have experienced similar things in their life. The point of this series is not to give you something more to read and then move on; it is to point you to the God who helps us get through what we are walking through. We also want you to know that you aren’t alone. Our hope is that by the end of the month you will be able to see God at work in your situation.
Walk a mile in my shoes.
I haven’t always walked around with the peace of God that Philippians 4:7 talks about. I remember being a young mom with three kids under the age of five and literally just trying to survive each day. Each morning, I decided that I was going to be the best mom in the world and I was determined to do it all in my own strength. I would wake up and be ready to conquer the day. I would have confidence in my abilities and feel qualified because I read the latest book or read a really inspiring quote from social media from a fellow mom who was “killing it” in the mom world. In my mind, I was also “killing it.”
Until I was in fact, NOT KILLING IT! I was drowning and feeling all the feelings of defeat often by 8 a.m. My shoes walked in this reality for a while until I realized that my priorities were out of line. Let’s go back to the scripture and highlight some keywords that I often left out when I read a scripture like this.
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
“…in every situation…”
In EVERY situation? YES! While that does not seem possible at first, it is so encouraging to know that this very heavy thing you are carrying (anxiety), God invites you to give to him in prayer. By breaking this scripture down before the first sentence is even over, God invites us to share our anxieties with him. It is so comforting to know that we worship a God who knows that we have anxieties, but he wants us to give them to him and not carry them alone.
“…by prayer and petition…”
How many times have you had a situation that was causing anxiety, and you brought it everywhere EXCEPT to God in prayer? We have many reactions. Some want to stay to themselves; others feel the need to blast their anxious thoughts on social media or to a friend. While all of these things are tempting, God wants us to be trained to bring the anxiety to him.
“…with thanksgiving…”
Let’s stop right there. WITH THANKSGIVING…
I wasn’t thankful for the sleepless night or the bags under my eyes. I definitely was not thankful for the constant mess that my house was. My reality did not include gratitude. This scripture, however, is very clear that in order to have the peace that is promised that we have to have gratitude. This required a shift in my perspective. I had to slow down and see all the things in my life that I did indeed have to be thankful for. There is always something that we can give back to God in gratitude. I was given the book “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp and it challenged me in this “giving thanks.” In fact, I learned that before Jesus had the last supper with his disciples (before he was crucified) he gave thanks. It is not by accident that the scripture mentions these words.
We often feel like giving thanks in the middle of our mess is impossible, but it is actually the lifeline we need.
Ok, back to the scripture.
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Now to the good part. When we place proper order to giving our anxieties to God in every situation and with thanksgiving, THEN we experience the peace that doesn’t make sense. THEN we have a guard over our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. What an amazing exchange!! We give him all the hard things and he gives us peace. You should try it. The alternative of trying to hold all anxieties in my own strength is not fun. Give the Lord what you cannot carry, and he will be with you on every hard day, in every hard conversation and you will walk in peace that you won’t be able to comprehend. It is truly a win win.
Written by: Taran Nelson. Taran is the Executive Director of Fathom Family Foundation and serves in ministry with her husband, Kyle, and their three children in Jacksonville, FL.
