Philippians 4:1-8

"Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you." Philippians 4:1-8 NIV

It is so easy to let worries and stress completely take over our thinking. Some days we do everything but rejoice in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ because our minds our consumed with worry... worries about our finances, worries about loved ones, worries about a situation at work and on and on.

I tend to let a bad or worrisome situation replay in my mind over and over and over and over. It will keep me awake at night, it will cause me to be distracted and irritable. In general, it can be make a very unhappy and unpleasant person. I hate to admit it, but many times I go way too long in this mode before I slow down and remember that if I would just turn it over to the Lord, I wouldn't have to deal with the misery that I put myself through.

Verse 4 tells us to "Rejoice in the Lord always". How can we truly rejoice in the Lord when we're worried and troubled? For me, it is downright impossible. The worries and the troubles overshadow all that I know to be true and right and worthy of rejoicing. It gets in my way of rejoicing in the Lord.

My daughter is 3 yrs and recently has been having nightmares that frighten her to the point where she comes flying to Mommy and Daddy's room for the rest of the night. One evening just before bedtime she was worried about having these dreams again that night. Her big brother, who is 6 yrs, walked up to her, put his hand on her shoulder and said (in the sweetest big brother voice EVER), "You don't need to be scared, 'cause God is with you. ALL THE TIME!"

When our worries get the best of us and we can't focus on anything else, we should do the same thing. Remember that God is always with us -- we don't need to worry. He will take care of it all. In verse 6, Paul tell us to "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God". We can never truly rejoice in the Lord if our focus is on the worries and difficulties in our lives. For only when we completely turn them over to God in prayer will we find the peace of God that frees us to truly rejoice. Instead of worries, we should focus our minds on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things" (vs 8).

In closing, I want to share a song that I think of whenever reading verse 4 of this scripture passage. I learned it in my church children's choir as a child. We would sing it in a round and loved to do so over and over and faster and faster. It still brings a smile to my face and rejoicing to my heart!


Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice,
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice,
Rejoice, Rejoice,
Again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, Rejoice
Again I say rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.