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

I often read this passage and think the Apostle Paul is telling us to do a couple of things that seem next to impossible: always be glad and do not ever be anxious.

Can we always be glad? Certainly not if we’re focused on our circumstances. But certainly so if we’re focused on our relationship with God. That’s what it means to “be glad in the Lord.” Some translations read “rejoice in the Lord always.” We’re not always going to be outwardly happy and full of joy, but even in those more difficult times, we can still remember what God has done for us and the promise of what God will do for us, and be inwardly glad about those things. And to not be anxious? That may seem even more difficult than always being glad. But we can try to turn our anxiety into time with God by bringing our worries to God in prayer, and God promises to be the presence of peace in those anxious moments.

Chuck Powell

Question to Ponder:

How can you be glad in the Lord and turn your worry into prayer in the most difficult times you face this week?

Pray

God, even in my most stressful and anxious moments, I know your peace is with me. Help me today to experience what that peace means. Amen.

Go

Go, always remembering what our faithful God has done.