Philippians 4:4-7 (Anxiety)
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, 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 understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4–7).
We all struggle with anxiety to one degree or another. The real question is how do we overcome it?
For many people, anxiety is a security blanket designed to protect them from the unknown which is incontrollable. Granted, anxiety will never solve our questions and concerns, but fear, doubt, and worry are nonetheless familiar, reliable, and comfortable to those who crave something tangible to hold onto when the storms of life overwhelm their minds.
In many ways, anxiety is like a bad relationship which seems impossible to leave. No matter how hard you try or how often you rationalize letting go, you inevitably revert right back to the same dysfunctional relationship you long to escape from, simply because you cannot reconcile what lies ahead.
“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.”
However, there is hope! For in Philippians 4:4-7, Paul prescribes joy and thankfulness as the necessary antidote to cure our minds from the strongholds of anxiety, which subsequently enables us to effectively commune with God in prayer.
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4).
Supernaturally, joy overrides the circuitry of our brain and refocuses our attention on what God has graciously provided rather than what we selfishly lack. It prepares our hearts and cleanses our minds so we can freely cast our cares upon the Lord.
In the end, it is God’s peace we desperately need more than ever. Therefore, if we do not guard our minds from the dangers of worry, we will never receive God’s peace which surpasses all understanding and allows us to live free from the shackles of anxiety.
GENTLENESS:
However, if we are to rejoice in the Lord, where does “reasonableness” fit into the equation? Most Bible translations use “gentleness” in place of “reasonableness” which helps provide context to the passage, but what is Paul truly addressing in Verse-5?
If we filter Verse-4 through what we read in James 1:2, counting it joy when we face trials will likely perplex those around us. Therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised if people struggle understanding why we’d be thankful in trials when it appears on the surface there is nothing to be thankful about.
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Keep in mind, we should treat those who fail to believe nor understand the truth of God’s Word with compassion. For because they do not share the same standard of truth, we must show them grace as they consider how radical a response joy truly is in the face of anxiety.
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either” (Luke 6:27–29).
Therefore, it is critical we not gloss over the importance of gentleness with those who question how joy and thankfulness could be viable solutions for someone plagued by insurmountable stress and anxiety.
GOD’S PRESENCE:
When we read Philippians 4:4-7, we tend to jump to the punchline, “Do not be anxious about anything,” without taking time to consider why we should not be anxious: “For the Lord is at hand.”
Scripture is full of reminders pointing to God’s faithfulness in the midst of the storm, strengthening those who call upon His Name and delivering those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. However, it is critical we comprehend the gravity of God’s presence in the midst of our trials.
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).
God is not surprised by our anxiety. He knows we lack knowledge, wisdom, and understanding which help us discern our emotional response to trials in the moment. That is why He bestows grace when we fail to recognize how close His presence truly is when we’re anxious.
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).
That is why prayer is so critical to overcoming anxiety. It is the bridge which connects our hearts to God and allows us to release all our anxious thoughts back to Him so we’re no longer held captive by fear and worry.
Keep in mind, prayer does not necessarily solve our problems. It merely shifts our attention off our trials and refocuses them on the only one who can do something about them: God. For prayer enables us to break away from isolation and reestablishes our heart's connection to God, aligning our personal will with His sovereignty and replacing our anxiety with thankfulness.
“We are trying not so much to make God listen to us as to make ourselves listen to Him; we are trying not to persuade God to do what we want, but to find out what he wants us to do. It so often happens that in prayer we are really saying, ‘Thy will be changed,’ when we ought to be saying, ‘Thy will be done.’ The first object of prayer is not so much to speak to God as to listen to Him.”
TRUST:
When it comes to anxiety, peace is ultimately our pearl of great price, for nothing satisfies our hearts and minds more than relinquishing fear, doubt, and worry once and for all.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45–46).
Peace of mind is only achievable, though, when we relinquish control and trust God with our future no matter the outcome. That may seem easy to implement, but reality is completely different when the storms of life are raging about in our minds.
However, have we ever considered that anxiety exposes our lack of faith and trust in God’s sovereignty? Simply stated, are we so naïve to think God cannot handle our anxiety if we relinquish personal control and simply trust that come what may, His will be done?
“Think about it this way: Christians who worry believe God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, take them from hell to heaven, put them into His kingdom, and give them eternal life, but just don’t think He can get them through the next couple of days. That is pretty ridiculous, isn’t it? That we can believe God for the greater gift and then stumble and not believe Him for the lesser one reveals an embarrassing lack of faith.”
It is sobering to realize anxiety reveals our spiritual maturity, but that is the hard truth we must reconcile. For no Christian desires to be considered spiritually “shallow” in faith, but the more we succumb to fear and worry, the more we prove we do not trust Him unconditionally.
“Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).
Trust is the key to unlocking peace which surpasses all understanding. It personally removes us from the battlefield of spiritual warfare and substitutes Jesus in our place to fight our battles instead. Why then would we ever allow anxiety to have more power and control over our minds than God Himself?
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
BOTTOM-LINE:
Anxiety is a sensitive issue for many people, but Scripture is clear that it should have no place in the hearts and minds of Christians. Rather, our faith, hope, and trust in God must overpower our fleshly propensity to worry about things we have no power to control.
Only God is sovereign overall. Therefore, what need is there to fear the unknown and worry about hypothetical outcomes? Would we not be better served to simply trust and obey God’s Word, and allow His peace to become our strength rather than fear, doubt, and worry?
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34).
For none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, so why live consumed by the question marks of the future? Trust in the Lord instead and focus today on what is within our control, as opposed to future events which overwhelm our minds and may never come to pass.
“Future worry is overwhelming. There’s a reason. We don’t have grace today for tomorrow. One of Satan’s simplest tricks and most effective devices is to draw our attention to things we can do nothing about. There’s nothing worse than a crisis that can’t be fixed. If our hours are spent with thoughts of tomorrow’s problems, which are not accessible today and which we know we cannot touch with today’s resources, we are doomed to worry. And worry wears us out… [Yet] our calling is today. It’s not that we don’t think of tomorrow, but it must consistently be filed under ‘future grace.’ The tide of confidence in God’s sufficiency must wash out worry. In fact, it’s a command. ‘Do not be anxious for tomorrow.’ To go there is to disobey a directive from the One who holds every moment in His hand.”
