Don't worry, be happy.....

I wanted to look at a favorite verse Philippians 4: 6 & 7, which was pointed out to me that it's a command, not a suggestion! "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petitions with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses every thought will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." It's funny we start there because the verse right before it states, "The Lord is near." Of course we don't need to worry with Him near! But to deal with the worry, because we're all tempted to do it, we need to pray and petition our concerns. No, wait, we pray and petition with thanksgiving. There's a big difference there. What have we to be thankful for if we're worrying? That He'll answer! We can pray with confidence and therefore with thanksgiving. Do we really need to make our requests known to the God that knows our hearts already? Of course we do. He knows it, but how often have you expressed what you were thinking only to find what you express puts into focus what you thought you were thinking? I have found that when I verbalize my thoughts, either what I thought sounds silly out loud and I can adjust my thinking to be more in line with my real concern, or I find that it's not such a concern after all. Sometimes in expressing my thoughts I find that there is a deeper need in my heart that only surfaces as I express the layers hiding it. So we make our requests known to God to help ourselves find our true need and concern. I love how Holman's translation expresses God's peace "surpasses every thought." We can get pretty imaginative in what worries us and all the "what ifs" we can think up. There's nothing we can dread that God's peace can't surpass. The peace of God surpasses our worries right on to guard our hearts and minds from any more of those fiery darts Satan has to torment us with. No more torment when our minds are fixed on God. One way to help us focus is the next verse, Philippians 4:8. God shares with us what to think about instead. And He doesn't want us to have just passing thoughts, but to dwell on these things! Sit down and stay awhile thinking about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable and all things of moral excellence or praiseworthy. That leaves no room for worry or imagined fears. What beautiful verses. What a mighty, loving, wise God. What He expects of us, He makes possible through Him.