Worry About Nothing, Pray About Everything
Tom Shrader works through Philippians 4:4-8, showing that genuine joy is not circumstantial happiness but a command rooted in relationship with Christ. He calls the congregation to reject anxiety as a form of unbelief and to bring every concern to God in prayer, trusting His sovereign wisdom even when His answers differ from what was requested. The teaching closes with a call to dwell on what is true, honorable, and pure, and to pursue those habits within the context of real community and relationship.
“When I'm worrying I am demonstrating a lack of trust in God and who He says He is, because He says He's got it under control.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Philippians
Recorded: 2008 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 50 min
Themes: worry, anxiety, prayer, joy, peace, trust, contentment, thankfulness, struggling with anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, new believer, going through hardship, parent, young adult, dealing with fear, seeking peace
Scripture: Philippians 4:1, Philippians 4:2, Philippians 4:3, Philippians 4:4, Philippians 4:6, Philippians 4:7, Philippians 4:8, Romans 13:18, 1 Corinthians 13, Galatians 2:11, Galatians 2:14, Philippians 2:5, Acts 16:22, 1 Peter 5:7, 1 Peter 5:8, 1 Peter 3:7, Psalm 34:18, Psalm 66:18, Proverbs 23:7, John 14:27, John 15:4-10, James 5:16, Isaiah 48:22
Theological Themes: sanctification, union with christ, sovereign grace, philippians 4, prayer and petition, renewal of the mind, biblical joy, repentance and faith
Full Transcript
In the Lord: The Key to the Whole Book
If you have Bibles with you, open them to Philippians chapter 4. We looked last week at verses 1, 2, and 3. In my Bible, in verses 1, 2, and 4, I have a little phrase circled. It gives you the key, really, to this whole book. The book is about joy, and the key is found in the phrase "in the Lord." Verse 1 says to stand firm — how? In the Lord. Verse 2 says to live in harmony — how? In the Lord. Verse 4 says to rejoice in the Lord always.
This idea of being "in the Lord" means being in a right relationship with Him. It means believing in Him, coming to a point of repentance and faith. Paul uses this phrase throughout almost all of his writings — being in Him, or in Christ — this idea of through repentance and faith coming into a relationship with the Creator God of the universe. And he says: now I am ready for life. Now I can stand firm. Now I can live in harmony.
Living in Harmony — and Knowing When Not To
Remember we saw last week in verse 2 that Paul names two ladies in the church who are in conflict with one another. We don't know the circumstances or any of the specifics, but we're pretty sure the issue was not a doctrinal one. If it had been a doctrinal issue, Paul would have headed that off directly. Instead he says, as Romans 13:18 puts it, as far as it depends upon you, live in peace with one another — live in harmony with one another.
Many of you have been to weddings where someone steps up to the pulpit and reads from Paul: "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not brag. It is not arrogant. It does not act unbecomingly. It does not seek its own. It is not provoked. It does not take into account a wrong suffered. It does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in truth. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things." That is Paul who wrote that. And that is Paul's admonition to us as we begin to live together in this family called the church — to come alongside one another, to yield, to live in harmony.
The secret, again, is "in the Lord." The only way those relationships can be sustained is through the mindset described in chapter 2, verse 5 — the mindset that is in Christ Jesus. We begin to think like Christ. We begin to yield. And Paul is talking, remember, about matters of preference.
Yet this same Paul who wrote "love is patient, love is kind" — this same Paul writes in Galatians chapter 2, verse 11: "When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face." What happened to the love is patient idea? In fact, verse 14 says, "I said to Peter in the presence of all." Paul was right in his face, calling him out — not privately, not behind closed doors, but very publicly and on display for everyone to see.
Why would a man who urges harmony call Peter out so openly? Because the issue in Galatians chapter 2 was not some extraneous matter — it was the gospel itself. The rule of thumb Paul gives us is this: in issues that are a matter of personality and preference, yield and give way. But in those rare moments where the essentials of the faith are at issue, compromise is not possible. We don't want to be dying on every hill and arguing about everything, but when the core of the gospel is at stake, that is a line Paul will not cross.
Helping One Another and Rejoicing Always
In verse 3, Paul writes to someone specifically but to the church generally, and says to help these two ladies. He calls them godly women who struggled with him for the cause of the gospel. We need each other. We talked about it last week and will return to it again — the essential need we have for people in our lives who can come alongside us and share life with us, who can say, "I want to work with you, I know this is an issue, and I want to be part of whatever God is doing in your life."
Then verse 4: "Rejoice in the Lord always." And in case you missed it, he says again, "I say to you, rejoice." We talked about the distinction between rejoicing in the Lord and mere happiness. Happiness is a circumstantial thing — totally related to how things are going in your life. Things are going well, you are happy. Things are not going well, you are not happy. Joy is independent of that.
Rejoicing as a Command
This is a command, by the way. Paul puts this in imperative form. To rejoice is a command. Now, he would never say to you, "Be happy," because happiness is tied to circumstance. But this is not about circumstance — this is about relationship. He says, "I want you to rejoice, filled with joy." And the question is: how? How can you do that? The answer is that you are in the Lord.
I think it is really important to remember where Paul is when he writes this letter. He is in prison. He is telling them to rejoice, and he himself is rejoicing in prison. You might say, "That's just one of those things — Paul is having a really good day, even in prison." But no, we see this theme run through his entire life.
Paul and Silas in Philippi
Let me read from Acts chapter 16. In Acts chapter 16, Paul has come to this very town — Philippi, the very recipients of this letter — and he has begun to preach. People are responding, and then opposition rises against him. Verse 22: "The crowd rose up together against them" — that is Paul and Silas — "and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely. And he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in stocks."
Here is Paul, simply doing what God called him to do — preaching the gospel, people responding, moving obediently. Opposition comes, they take him, they beat him, they have him arrested. The jailer understands the seriousness of the situation, so Paul is not merely in jail — he is in the inner dungeon, the innermost part of the prison, with both hands and feet fastened. And yet: "About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them."
What an extraordinary response. Right in the middle of a beating received for being obedient, his response is not, "God, where are You?" or "God, why are You doing this?" or "God, I'm not sure about You." He is singing hymns of praise.
The Pattern in the Lives of the Saints
This is the very thing we see in the great saints throughout Scripture. We see it in Joseph's life as he goes into prison. He is obedient, Potiphar's wife makes her accusation, and off he goes — and yet what does he do? He rises up, and the Lord is with him. We see it in Peter as well. Herod launches a persecution against the church, arrests one of the sons of thunder, has him put to death, and seeing that it pleases the Jews, he arrests Peter too. Because of the feast, they do not want to upset the Jews, so they plan to execute Peter as soon as the feast days are over — which will be the very next morning.
Here is Peter, the night before his execution. And when we find him in Scripture, he is asleep. If you knew you were going to be executed tomorrow, what would your sleep comfort number be? How can you do that? How can you, Paul, be beaten and rejoicing? How can you, Peter, be there asleep knowing that death is coming in the morning? The answer is: "I am in the Lord."
Letters from the Congregation
I have a stack of cards written by people here in this church — unsigned. They have been sitting on my desk for about a year. I have thrown many of them away, but I held on to a few. I asked Neil about reading them this morning, not to embarrass anyone — I could not embarrass you because I do not know who wrote them — but as I was reading through all of this, thinking about Paul rejoicing in prison, I thought these were worth sharing.
Here is one from the 8:30 chapel service: "Very cold. We're dressed for warm weather. Too much standing — one can worship also sitting. Music too loud, too long, too much repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. You can do better. 'Amazing Grace' is a great song. Your changes are not an improvement — it's worse." Another: "I really don't like the audience spotlights at the six o'clock service — distracting and blinding. Too much standing." Another from the Conference Center: "Why is the music so loud?" Another: "For our children in this church who must be confused — even though parents at home teach them God's Word and to live in moderation, yet at church, along with the culture, they are drawn to programs that encourage the opposite. Should we just blast extreme?" And finally: "Please sharpen the pencils."
The Danger of Self-Absorption
I have had people say they would never share anything because it might become an illustration. I want you to know I do not know who you are, and I am not calling anyone out. I am not even trivializing these concerns. But can you imagine Paul in prison saying, "These chains are a little tight"?
Here is the problem I have with this kind of thinking: when you get to this level, you are so self-absorbed that there is no joy in your life. None. If you are worried about the pencils being sharpened, your whole experience is ruined. And then notice — "we have several families" — so now it is not just one person who is unhappy. Now we are developing a constituency of unhappy, grumpy people. We go to breakfast and talk about it, and now we pollute the kids and everyone else around us. Do you see how destructive this becomes?
I want you to know I am not saying this to get back at anyone — I could not care less about that. I am saying it for your own good. And as for the temperature in here — it is cold in the morning because at four o'clock in the morning, especially when it is hot outside, we do not know what the day will bring. We try to get the building as cool as we can early so that when you come in you will be comfortable. We are doing our best to get it right.
Perspective Over Grievance
That is why last week, when we were trying to figure out Ignite — where do we put the sixth graders — well, what is best for the sixth graders is the 10:30 service, but what is best for the church is the 8:30 service. Justin and his team moved to 8:30. There is the attitude. And you know why I react to this, maybe in the moment? Because I can do this. I live three minutes from here, and my day can be destroyed by that light at Elliot and McQueen. It can just ruin me.
Here is the problem: when you are writing this stuff, there is no joy in Mudville. Did you hear what was said about Paul? He is in prison, and the people — the prisoners — are watching him. They are watching you. And they are going, "You are all bent out of shape over standing too much?" You have music and communion as you commemorate the Savior — beaten, bloody, bruised, hanging on a cross — and you have had to endure that melodic music again. It is not to put you down, but really, as a shepherd, it is to say to you: you had better get some sort of perspective. You had better get it together on this, because without it your life is going to be ruined. No joy there. Nobody wants that.
You can go talk about Jesus all you want, but if on the piggyback of it are pencils that are dull, nobody is interested. How do I get over that? Because that is me naturally. I could write these things at the speed of light. The only way I can get over that is to get outside myself. This is completely self-absorbed — thinking about me, me, me, me. The only way out is to think about Him, Him, Him, and you, and others.
Rejoicing in the Lord
That is what Paul said: rejoice in the Lord always. How can that take place? I am in Him, in His work, in the knowledge of the Holy. A.W. Tozer writes this: "What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. For this reason, the gravest question before the church is always God Himself. This is true not only of the individual but of the company of Christians that compose the church. Always the most revealing thing about the church is their idea about God."
In another place, Tozer says this: "Here is the problem with our theology — it never ascends high enough or descends low enough. It has an elevated view of man that needs to descend, and a descending view of God that needs to be elevated." When I begin to think those thoughts about God and see Him for who He is, all of a sudden my heart is filled with joy and thanksgiving. I realize that He has delivered me in spite of me, not because of me.
John MacArthur writes: "Knowledge of God is the key to rejoicing. Those who know the great truths about God find it easy to rejoice. Those who have little knowledge of Him find it difficult to rejoice." My mind and my emotions are very closely linked. How can I rejoice even as things are not going the way I want them to go? I am in the Lord. I know Christ. I abide in Him and He in me.
In John chapter 15, Jesus — the night before He died, saying goodbye to the disciples — uses the word "abide" ten times in verses 4 through 10. Abide in Him, He abides in you. There is a relationship there. The picture He uses is that He is the vine and we are the branches, simply hanging there while He produces fruit. He said, "These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be made full." Where do I find that joy? In Him — abiding in Him, rejoicing in Him.
The Lord Is Near
Looking back at Philippians chapter 4, Paul says, "Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near." Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit." That is us. We talk so much about victors and victims, but we are broken-hearted, spiritually crushed people. That is where we find our strength. When we are weak is when we are strong, because when we are weak is when we are in Him. That is the whole message.
Be Anxious for Nothing
Now, if you want something practical — this is why we study theology for the practical side. It is not just so we can run the Bible category on Jeopardy. It is so that in the midst of our lives we can look at this and say, "This theology is really practical." It cannot get any more practical than verse 6 of Philippians 4: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Let me paraphrase: be anxious about nothing and pray about everything.
Ray Stedman writes: "Have no anxiety about anything. These are not just Paul's words — this reflects the position of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The entire Word of God is a constant exhortation to believers to stop worrying. It is everywhere forbidden to those who believe in Jesus Christ." Stedman continues: "I think one of the most serious areas of unbelief is our failure as Christians to face the problem of worry as sin, because that is what it is. Worry is not just something everybody does and therefore must be all right. It is definitely labeled as sin in the Scriptures, and the exhortation is to stop it. Have no anxiety about anything." Those are extremely powerful words — be anxious for not one single thing.
The Secret to Living Without Worry
So you want to talk about living supernaturally? Naturally, I would worry about a lot of things. There are a lot of things in life that are scary. What is the secret? First Peter 5:7: "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." In his paraphrase, Eugene Peterson renders that verse this way: "Live carefree before God. He is most careful with you."
When Jesus tells the story about the Word of God coming — using the picture of a seed falling on different kinds of soil — there is one soil where the seed begins to grow, and then the worries of the world choke it out. This is not some small thing, this whole idea of worrying. And this is not to say that the world is not a scary place.
Worry, News, and a Pessimist's Morning
I read the news every day, and that is very difficult for me. I wish it were different; I wish I wasn't this way, but I am. I am a pessimistic guy. I am a half-empty, leaking glass kind of guy. Here is how the day started — I believe it was Thursday this week. Oil today is at $120 a barrel. Gas prices are expected to reach $3.60 in a month. Food prices are up 18% in Maricopa County from over this last year. And that was just the beginning of the bad news — it just goes on and on.
And yet I don't worry. I'm not much of a worrier, even with all of that, even with everything else I have to think about. You know why? Because I know the cure for worry and anxiousness and anxiety and stress. It's right there in verse 6: worry about nothing, pray about everything.
Is it that simple? Yes. When I pray, what I am doing is casting my care on Him. God is a big deal, and when I don't know what to do, I don't worry about it — and I don't mean that in a flip way. It is putting my confidence in Him.
When I am worrying, I am demonstrating a lack of trust in God and in who He says He is, because He says He has it under control. He said He will never allow me to be tempted beyond what I can handle. He said that everything that comes into my life is within His sovereign care. So if I utter the words, "I can't handle this," I am calling God a liar, because He said to His people, "It's okay."
The Weight of a Single Thursday
I understand how tough life really is. Some of you have very difficult challenges, and I want you to know I genuinely get that. Last Thursday my goal was to leave the house by 5:50, no later, because I was driving to Central Phoenix to teach and didn't want to hit traffic.
I got up there, said hello to everybody, and taught a lesson. Afterward, a lady who is a friend of Susan's and mine came up and told me her husband had just been diagnosed with cancer. I left that and went to breakfast with a man whose mother had just died and whose father has Alzheimer's and is in a very severe state. I left that and went to meet with someone whose business deal had gone south — a deal he had really been counting on. Then I went and taught again, and after that I met with a wonderful man whose business had been sold and who was thinking about moving, with all the upheaval that brings with it.
That got me to about two o'clock, and then I came here. This is real. I get it. I understand it. But don't worry — God says He has it all under control. Trust Him. Cast your care on Him. He will take care of it. Worry about nothing, pray about everything.
What Prayer Actually Is
Now, that raises a whole bunch of questions, doesn't it? Does prayer really change anything? Does prayer change people? Does God change His mind when we pray? How does God move us to pray? What does it mean to pray without ceasing? Who can pray? How do you pray? Why should you pray? This is not the time to go into all of that — that is not the intention of this passage. Paul simply says: pray.
What does that mean in its simplest form? It means to be talking to God, speaking to Him, opening up my heart to Him, pouring out to Him as I would with my very best friend. I know that is somewhat of a trivial comparison, but the idea is to talk to Him, to open up to Him completely.
Now, Scripture does tell us there are things that can get in the way of that. David says in Psalm 66:18, speaking autobiographically, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened to my prayer." Sin is going to be a blockage. More practically, I think what that means is not that I won't be able to pray, but simply that I won't want to go pray. Why would I go pray when I am in the midst of that sin?
There are other practical factors as well. Stated negatively, 1 Peter 3:7 says, "You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, show her honor as a fellow heir of grace, so that your prayers will not be hindered." Stated positively, James 5:16 tells us, "The effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much." So the question is: are you a person of prayer?
Two Things That Struck Me About Prayer
Let me explain what I mean, because we can get all sorts of strange little ideas about what prayer looks like. I came from a background where our prayers were either rote prayers or memorized prayers — priestly, fairly mechanical. "Our Father..." That is how we prayed. I'm not putting that down; I'm just saying that is how we prayed, without a lot of thought going into it.
When I became a Christian, one of the big adjustments I had to make was praying together in a group, sitting around and praying — something I had never experienced before. Two things struck me about it. I have talked about one of them recently in here: the competitive nature of the praying. One person would pray, "God, You are really great, and You are going to do something really cool at East Valley Bible Church." The next person would pray, "God, You're not limited to East Valley Bible Church — You're doing something really cool in the whole valley, in Maricopa County." The next person would say the state of Arizona, then the United States, then someone would note You're not limited to the 48 contiguous states but also Alaska and Hawaii, then North and South America, then all the continents, and finally someone would say, "Oh God, You're not limited to this world — You've got a universe." And there was always one guy left who would say, "God, I just echo all that's been said." I was always struck by the competitive nature of the praying.
Here was the other thing that struck me — the small things people prayed about. Someone would say, "Father, I just got a call from my Aunt Mary and her..."
Pray About Everything
There is no thing too small for God, and there is nothing too big for Him either. What does He say? Pray about big things, pray about little things, pray about everything. That is what conversation is. That is what I do in conversation with someone I really know — I talk to them about everything. The more you know God, the deeper your prayer life will be, because you will want to speak with Him, talk with Him, and have a relationship with Him.
Think about if you are married. On your first date, you talked about how you were doing, where you were from, what your water bill was — that kind of thing. But by your first anniversary, there is a little depth there. Your souls have been knit together. There is something deep there.
A Morning on the Lake
I did something last Friday that I have never done in my life — I went fishing. I have been fishing at a pond or a lake, but I have never been out on a boat, where you go and crank it into the lake. I even went and bought a fishing license. I had to go to Walmart, which I had never been to in my life — and yes, I think it is great for America, I just had never been.
My friend Cal Jernigan, who is a pastor of another church here in town at Central Christian, wanted to go fishing. He said we were going to fish and talk, so I said okay. I suggested a Starbucks, but he said no, we were going fishing. When I asked what time, he said he needed to be at the house by 4:15. I said, "Cal, what time will we be home?" He said we would come home when I was tired. I told him I was going to be tired at 4:15 when we started.
We got up there and it was really windy, so it was hard getting started. I got my line caught in a tree and Cal was climbing through trees and down over rocks to get it out. I felt kind of sorry for him. I said, "Hey, I couldn't care less about the line — I'll just cut it." He said no, we don't do that. The lakes were at 98% capacity, just completely full, so we went way up into this little spot back in the cove. There was a big blue heron standing there, and Cal said, "You know what I love about fishing?" I said I didn't know. He said, "It's not catching the fish. I just love being here and talking."
We were on that lake from 6:00 to 1:30 — six and a half hours. There were about three times where we really went deep into some issues. I would not have been able to do that without a pre-existing relationship with Cal. There were just these sweet moments.
Prayer as Honest Conversation
I had been thinking about this lesson, and I realized that is exactly what I can do with God. That is what prayer is. I do not need to get up at 4:15. I do not need a license. I can just go to God and say, "Here is my day, here is my life, here is what I am thinking, here is what I am seeing." And God, You tell me not to worry about these things, so I do not want to worry about them — but they look like somebody needs to worry about them, so You worry about them. I think that is what it means to cast all your cares on Him.
That does not mean being cavalier. I am going to work hard. I am going to try to be wise and use my head. But I am not going to be anxious, because anxiety only complicates matters. So I tell Him everything — just throw it all up to Him, everything.
That is what prayer is. It is not restricted to thees and thous and those kinds of formal expressions. If you pray that way, that is fine — there is nothing wrong with it. But the point is honest, open communication. Not to inform Him — He is God, He already knows. But in that communication, He begins to shape my life, and I can feel the burdens lift. That is not denial. You were not meant to carry these things around on your own. You were not meant to worry about these things. You cannot handle them. I cannot handle them. We cannot handle them.
God's Sovereign Control
I did a talk years ago on five ways to eliminate stress in your life, and all five started with God: God is in control, God forgives sin, God causes all things to work together for good, and God is changeless. MacArthur writes that people become worried, anxious, and fearful because they do not trust God's wisdom, His power, or His goodness. They fear that God is not wise enough, or strong enough, or good enough to prevent disaster. Thankful prayer brings release from fear and worry because it affirms God's sovereign control over everything.
What the Text Does Not Promise
Now there is something really interesting to me in verse 6, and I think it is actually what is not in the text rather than what is. It says, "Be anxious for nothing," and pray about everything, and "let your requests be made known to God." It does not say He is going to do anything about it. It does not say, "Let your requests be made known to God — mission accomplished, it is done, He will handle it." That is not what it says.
What it says is, "Be anxious for nothing, pray about everything," and the end result — in verse 7 — is that you will have a peace of God which surpasses all comprehension. There will be a peace.
Praying Without Knowing What to Ask For
He doesn't say that if you ask for this you will get this, and there's good reason for that. Sometimes we're praying for the wrong thing. Sometimes we don't even know what to pray for. We say to God, "Here's the deal, we got this problem — I'm sure you're aware of it — and I've got it down to three possible solutions. I prefer A, but I'm alright with B or C." And God is saying, "No, it's Q."
I have a meeting tomorrow morning with a guy named Dave. Rebecca and Dave — Dave was a baseball player, and a good one. I was just going through some of his stats the other day, and his ERA was under 3.2 for his lifetime. He was a left-handed pitcher who developed a problem with his arm. It was cancer. First there was a surgery, and he came back and was on his comeback. A friend of mine who was playing in the infield told me that when Dave threw a pitch, it sounded like his arm exploded. They got in there and it was all cancer, so they ended up having to take the arm off.
Here's what I mean by praying. I always speculated about this, and then one day, after I'd told the story a thousand times, I finally asked whether it was true. Here's Dave and his wife praying: "God, I love Jesus, and I'm praying that You'd use this — use this in a powerful way. You've given us a platform. Use us." Then the cancer comes, and Dave starts praying, "God, heal this." And God says, "Wait — I'm getting conflicting messages. Do you want to be used, or do you want to be healed? If you want to be used, I'm going to need that arm."
We never prayed for that. We don't even know what to pray for. As a result, I turned on the TV one Friday night and there sat Dave and Jan with Barbara Walters, and millions of people were watching him share about the love of Christ.
Honest Prayer and Surrendered Desires
I don't mind praying. I'm really honest when I pray. I pray every day for Susan, and I know many of you do as well — you stop me all the time and tell me you pray for Susan every day, and I appreciate that. I'll pray something like this: "God, I wish You'd heal her. That would be my desire. But more important than my desire is Your will being done and Your being glorified in it."
The other morning I made it through the first three or four minutes of the news, and an ad came on that said, "85% of people who get lung cancer die." Well, that's not true — 100% of people who get lung cancer die. In fact, 100% of people who were born die. So all of a sudden I'm praying, "God, heal me of this," and even if He's answering all those prayers, you live forever. We don't want to suffer — I understand that. I'm not leading the charge here. I like my life. I don't want to be in prison. I don't want to be beaten. I don't want to deal with cancer or economic hardship. But God says that sometimes that's exactly what you really need. So when I'm praying, part of what I'm praying is, "God, give me the ability to see and understand what You are saying and doing."
The Peace That Passes Understanding
He says here's what happens when you pray: you are going to receive a peace from God that passes all human understanding. This is really important. In John chapter 14, verse 27, Jesus is saying goodbye to the disciples. He said, "Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled."
There is worldly peace, and then there is God's peace. Isaiah 48:22 says, "There is no peace for the wicked." We try to smoke peace, snort peace, shoot peace, sleep with peace, rent peace. We're looking all over for peace — if I buy that, get that, get rid of this, whatever it is. That's worldly peace, and what we really mean by it is circumstance.
We have some friends who let us stay up in Flagstaff, and it's one of my favorite places to go. In the summer, when it's a hundred and eighty-five in the valley and you're driving out, you start to calm down. I have a thermometer on my dashboard, so I'm watching it drop — a hundred and seventy-one, then down through Camp Verde, and Susan and I always have a contest to guess the temperature right when we pull up to the door. You get the car unloaded, everything inside, and then you go stretch out in the hammocks on the front porch. There's a little breeze, birds chirping. It is so peaceful. But that's worldly peace.
There is a peace from God that transcends all human understanding. It is knowing that He is in your life and at work in it — that He's not some abstract, distant, remote concept, but a real person. The Spirit indwells us. God is alive. Christ is not just an empty tomb but a risen Savior. Now we can live not naturally, but supernaturally.
Dwelling on What Is True and Good
Look at verse 8. He's winding all of this down: *"Finally, whatever is true and honorable, whatever is right, pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence or anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."*
Let's start at the end. That word — or phrase — "dwell on" means to think properly. It is a command. It means to evaluate, consider, calculate. We are people of thought. We are meant to think. That is what separates us from animals. We are human — we have instincts, feelings, emotions, intellect, and reason. Proverbs 23:7 says, *"For as a man thinks within himself, so he is."*
Thinking on What Is True and Good
MacArthur would say here is the modern counterpoint to this: garbage in, garbage out. We are to be dwelling on and thinking about not the junk that is out there, but on what Paul sets before us. Paul takes this idea of what we are to think about and turns it like a prism. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right — which we could also translate as righteous — whatever is pure, undefiled, and holy, whatever is gracious: think about these things.
What should I be thinking about? I should be thinking about those things, and the way I think will move my emotions. I remember a relative whose daughter got engaged. For the sake of illustration, it was around this time of year and they were going to get married on September 26th. Here is what she said: "I just know it's going to rain that day."
I come from a long line of people like this, so this explains a lot. I told her it was not going to rain, and asked what it mattered if it did. But all she thought about — all they thought about, and this is probably typical of weddings — was everything that was going to go wrong. The flowers are not going to be on time. The dresses are not going to be right. The tuxedos are not going to be there. Pretty soon your mind is absorbed in all of this and you start to worry about everything. That deal is never going to close. I do not think it is ever going to happen.
Paul says: think about these things that are true, right, and honorable.
Practice What You Have Learned and Received
Then comes the close. "Things that you learned, received, heard, and saw in me, practice these." The word "practice" carries the idea of repetitious, continuous action. And I want to make a strong appeal here: there is a skin-on-skin relationship in view. The things that you learned and received and heard and seen — I am sure the church at Philippi had heard what Luke records in Acts 16 about Paul being in prison right there in their city. Think about these things. Practice these things. We lived life together.
You need to be in this life with people around you. When we talk about area ministry, it is not simply that we are trying to keep five people busy on staff. We believe the best way for you to live the Christian life is in the context of relationship, and one of the best ways to accomplish that is area ministry. If you are new to this church, the fastest way to jumpstart relationship here is area ministry. It is skin-on-skin. It is doing life together.
A Night with the Newly Married
Last night, Susan and I joined a gathering that Neil heads up — the newly married ministry. Four times a year they hold these gatherings over in the commons. I am not entirely sure how I became part of it; I think I wiggled in and said I would be happy to host those evenings. Not to teach, but to work through a topic together. Last night we were talking about roles in marriage, so I decided not to teach but to interview Alan, Betty, and Paige — some of you know them — and then to interview Susan on the subject of roles.
They had cards where people could submit questions, but I did not really need them. Not because I am so smart, but because I have done this many times and I know what the questions are going to be. One will always sound like this: "How can I get my husband to lead? Why won't he lead?" And the answer, as the ladies in the room already know, is this: the best way to get him to lead is to follow. It makes leading a great deal easier.
Then comes the follow-up: "But what if he is making bad decisions?" Well, I can guarantee he is — that is part of the deal. He is not Jesus. And then: "What about submission? What if I submit to him and he is wrong?" Here is what I always say: I do not see the challenge of submitting to someone when he is simply right. You see, the command to submit and the command for a husband to love his wife are set right next to each other. And I have never — not once — had anyone say the husband's part is cultural or does not apply today, or that they want to love their spouse but only if the spouse is lovable. We love them anyway. That is the command.
Susan's Story: Strength Surrendered
When the evening was all done, I said, "This is tough." I had talked with Alan and Betty, but I talked a great deal with Susan about it as well. She said we are dealing with strong personalities, and when I asked whether she meant me or herself, she said, "I'm talking about me." She said she came out of the 1970s "I am woman, hear me roar" era not wanting a man and not needing one. There were no men around her house growing up. Her father had left and she had barely known him. One of the stumbling blocks for her was thinking about God as Father, because her own father had not been much of one. Her mother had been through divorce, and there were divorces all around them. She had heard her aunt say they did not need men. And yet here is what God did —
The Peace That Comes From Obedience
My wife said something last night, and I thought it was really good. She has some great lines. She was feeling good — you could tell just by looking in her eyes — and I knew exactly where to go. I knew the quality of the buttons to push. But here was the thing for me: all of a sudden, she said, "I realized God had a plan, and there was an order." This wasn't about one person being superior to the other. This was about God's order for the family, and how He designed it to work.
When we were done, here is what I said: "Guys, this could be tough for you. You know what you need to do? Look around the room for an older couple and connect with them. Go to them. You don't have to go this alone. You don't have to go home and argue about this, stew about this, and not talk." Talk to the people who are here to lead a group — whether that's area ministries, the newlyweds class, or whatever it may be. It's all designed to put people around you.
I said, "There are 94 of us here tonight. Go to these people. That's why they're devoting their time to this." And that is exactly what Paul is saying. The things that you have learned, received, heard, and seen in him — do them. And what is the result? The peace of God.
Wouldn't you love to have the peace of God? Then here is what he says to do: worry about nothing, pray about everything. Do the things you have been told to do, and you will have a peace that is inexplicable — because it is supernatural, not natural.
Looking Ahead: The Missing Ingredient
I am getting ready to speak at a men's conference in about three weeks or so. When I asked what I should talk about, they said, "Whatever you want." Well, that is perfect. If you asked me, "You get one shot to speak into our culture, our place, our time — what would you talk about?" — that is next week's topic.
I am really into this, and I will admit it is autobiographical. I believe the missing ingredient in most Christians' lives is something called contentment. We are going to look at that next week. A lot of people have done a lot of things with the subject of contentment, but God is doing something really great right now. He is bringing a lot of stress and strain on us, and it is as if He is wringing out some of those problems.
I have had a lot of conversations in the last week or so — a couple just today — where God is simply holding up a mirror and saying, "You know what? We got all screwed up with all this stuff." And God is just readjusting us. That is pretty cool, and I want to talk about it. We will pick up right there in verse 10 next week.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for this truth. For those right now who need a person or people to come alongside them, will You bring those people to them? Allow us to be people who can learn, receive, hear, and see. God, allow us to be mentors and protégés all at the same time. Bring us into relationship.
God, thank You for area ministry and the way You use it here. Thank You for the newly married ministry. God, I pray that You would raise up staff people for student ministry, for junior high and high school. God, we love You because You first loved us. Do this work in our lives. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.