Daily Thoughts from Philippians (20): Protection From Worry and Disunity – Philippians 4:4-7

The Power of Joy: How the Deliberate Pursuit of Pleasure Can Heal Your Life, by Christiane Northrup, claims that “When you move toward that which is most fulfilling and life-enhancing—with joy and pleasure—healing follows.”  She asserts, “Life is meant to be joyous! We are pleasure-seeking creatures by nature. Joy makes you younger, smarter, more intuitive, and healthier . . . with better hormonal balance and immune-system functioning. Joy even positively affects your metabolism.”  Are you sold?  I am sure what she is saying is true, but the search for joy cannot be accomplished directly, only indirectly.  Joy is the by-product of being in line with the One who made us and pursuing His agenda.  Listen to Paul.

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, ESV)

Rejoicing is, again, an antidote to division and conflict.  When we recognize that nothing is more important that our relationship to Christ and the proclamation of his gospel, all of which brings joy, there is no room for fighting each other.

And if the Philippians are anxious about Paul’s situation, or about Epaphroditus’ situation, their love needs more knowledge for sure, but they can also bring their anxieties to the Lord in prayer with thanksgiving and they can experience His peace. 

It is a supernatural peace He gives that does not make sense to us given our circumstances but that is the protector of our hearts and minds.  Anxiety is a fear generated by our valid belief that we cannot finally protect ourselves and our misbelief that God cannot be trusted to protect us.

Praying, for the believer, assumes we believe that God is listening and that He will answer.  It is the antidote to our anxiety because we know He cares for us and because He responds to our prayers with the provision of His peace.  It is not the case that God will always remove the danger from us or deliver us out of our stressful circumstances, but He will always be with us in these situations and His presence is peace.  We are able to recognize that even the pain in our lives can bring about the progress of the gospel and our own growth in Christlikeness.

I used to have a recurring dream that I was asleep in bed and someone broke in and was coming into my bedroom and I couldn’t move.  All I could do was try to yell at the intruder.  My wife would wake me up and tell me I was moaning.  When I finally faced the reality that I cannot finally protect myself or my family, but that God is watching over us, I stopped having the dream.  I knew that if God wanted to He could stop such dangers, or if the dangers were somehow in His plan then they would work for good.  His peace became my protection from worry.  It also became a protection against disunity with my family.  Nothing they did, like forgetting to lock the doors at night, could become a source of conflict because my agenda wasn’t that I had to keep everyone safe.  That was God’s agenda.  I just had to do my part and encourage them to do their part.

For the Philippians, not worrying about Paul and the gospel surviving kept them from fighting over how to rescue the gospel.  And for those who were worrying about their own financial distress, they could leave that in God’s hands.  What they were worried about was God’s job, not theirs.  Worry was driving disunity.

Discussion Questions for Small Groups

1. Have you experienced joy this week, and if so, what led to that experience and how did it impact you?
2. Does it seem reasonable that Paul can command his readers to rejoice?  Why or why not?
3. Do you agree that joy is the antidote to disunity and conflict?  Why or why not?
4. How have you experienced God’s peace over your anxiety as a result of prayer?
5. What were the Philippians anxious about and how was each side in the conflict trying to overcome that anxiety?
6. Where today do you need the peace of God that passes all understanding?