I can do all things through Christ .. VII The process of pressing in II.

Last day we were talking about rejoicing in the Lord. It is the first verse in the “pressing in” passage Philippians 4:4-7 which says “4. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God; 7. and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”.

I wrote earlier about working these verses as one might work the 12 steps in a 12 step program. Part of what I mean by this, is that our progress through the steps will be progressive and cumulative, getting stronger as we go. We do not strive to perfect the previous step before working the next step. What we do do, is to revisit the steps over and over, until we receive the promised peace.

Note that the command to rejoice is repeated. Repeated commands are obviously important. Note too that our rejoicing is to be in the Lord, in our relationship with Him, in the comfort and the strength He brings (2 Corinthians 1:3,4; Psalm 27:14 NKJV). There is more, but I will not repeat last day's post.

Next we are to let our gentleness be made known to all because the Lord is close. I don't know about you, but my response has not always been gentle, and I have not always responded in love! But we cannot be full of God's presence (and or peace) and full of negatives! We may need to repent, we may need to mend some fences, to apologize for the wrong on our part, even if the other party does not do their part. There is great strength in gentleness, a soft answer turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1), and His gentleness makes us great (Psalm 18:35).

Next we are told not to be anxious about anything. Stop it, right now, stop being anxious, stop worrying, stop fretting, it only causes harm (Psalm 37:8). “Easier said than done” you might be saying, but He has already equipped us to do this. We need to take authority over our thought life. He has given us weapons of warfare to do this (2 Corinthians 10:4,5 – I probably need to do a post on this one!). Jesus tells us “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28), it also comes as the promise at the end of the passage.

Another aspect of this not being anxious is learning to sort out what is my responsibility from His (see March 17th). I need wisdom to know what I need to let go of, to know when to speak in love and when to ignore the offense. I need to know when to speak what to speak and what not to speak. I have often prayed “Lord I do not want to speak one word more than you want me to speak, but also not one word less". I also need to know when to speak what He wants me to speak, so I need to learn to wait on Him (another post?). I also need to stop beating myself up betimes, and to learn to enter rest. I need to remember and live the truth, that He is in control.

Coming to the next point, they say nature abhors vacuum. I mean how do you get the air out of a glass? Answer you fill it with something else (milk, beer, wine :) ). The simple answer to getting rid of anxiety is to be filled with Him. This is where the “prayer and petition” comes in. Prayer is much more than a grocery list of “I wants this, and I wants that”. Certainly, as James tells us, “We do not have many times, because we do not ask” (James 4:2b), this is "the petition" part. We do need to tell Him our needs (even though He knows them). But prayer is much more than petition. For me part of this is that with King David “I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble” (Psalm 142:2). I find the Psalms helpful here, as so often the Psalmist starts with his problems and ends up praising God. We are back to rejoicing again already.

We also need to consider the “with thanksgiving” part of verse 6 in our passage. How easy it is to forget the good and concentrate on the bad. How easy to forget God's faithfulness. His mercies are new every morning. When was the last time I stopped and just gave Him thanks for the good. If all else fails, I can thank Him for writing my name in His book, and for the hope that setting my heart on Him brings. I can thank Him for His promises. I can thank Him that He is in control, that I do not need to be God, because He is. Hooray!

Part of what needs to happen in prayer, is that we learn to “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). He will have His way in the end. When we stop and allow Him space to speak to us, He brings His peace. It is a peace the world does not understand, or know. Jesus tells us “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). When we sit in His presence, the joy starts to bubble up, and this helps us to “sharpen the saw” as we work the process. The joy is there by the way, waiting for us to allow it to surface. Yes we need to rejoice, but joy is also part of the fruit of the Spirit. It comes as we rest and abide, and we abide as we rejoice and rest. It is a divine circularity, but He has provided everything we need to enter in and be at peace, even in the midst of the storm.

May the Lord bless you as you press into His presence. You can do this, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. It is just one of His exceedingly great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4).