Listen

Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

Think

“Be glad… always!” “Don’t be anxious about anything…” Paul is asking a lot. Can we be glad ALWAYS? Can we not be ANXIOUS? Maybe Paul was reading different news. But human worries and troubles have always been and always will be. What Paul is talking about is how we handle the times and troubles we are given. In fact, this is the only thing we can control, how we choose to respond. Paul says to start in how we pray.

We are told to give: Prayers (telling God how we see things), Petitions (asking for certain things or for a response from God), and Thanks (saying thank you even when things are BAD). Like I said, a tall order. But when we do this, we find as Paul instructs us, that God’s peace will “keep our hearts and minds safe.” That is quite a relief in anxious days, even days like these. Thanks be to God! “The Lord is near.”

Rock Higgins

Pray

Lord, when I look at the world, may I do so with your eyes. May I see the good, the beautiful, and the best in all situations. May each face be your beloved Child. And in the hard times, let me see where you are already at work and show me where to join in. Amen.

Go

What we see is a choice.

How we see is a choice.

Today I can choose to commit to see the good in God’s world and to work to make the bad better.