Day 22: Joy in the Lord

"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, Rejoice! 

Let your gentleness be made known to all men, the Lord is at hand. 

Be anxious for nothing, 

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 minds through Christ Jesus." 

(Philippians 4:4-7)

Many people would class this well-known text as one of their favourites. It was one of the first bible texts I learnt off by heart; and I've never forgotten it.

The main theme of this text, and the whole of Philippians, is joy. It is so easy to have a lack of joy in our lives. Though we may not be down or depressed, we are likely to have no time for true joy. We are too busy worrying, making sure this and that is going to turn out right. We are anxious about what the day will hold. We worry about the weather (is it going to rain or shine, windy or humid); we worry about how we scored in the latest assignment; we are anxious about the health of our grandparents; we worry. Well, I know I worry.

But Paul tells us 'Be anxious for nothing'; that is, nothing.

And how can we do this? By giving all our worries to the Lord. I read in a book recently about a woman who kept a box with a slit in the top underneath her bed, and she labelled it 'God's box'. Each time she had a worry or concern she would write it down on a slip of paper and put it in that box. She put all her worries in God's box. In a similar way we must cast all our cares upon Him. Let God deal with them, He has the power to influence the concerns we have, we can't, but He can. Let God do His job; we don't have to worry trying to do it for Him.

After putting our concerns in God's hands through prayer, we can be assured that He will hear us. Although we won't necessarily get what we asked for, God will answer in His way, and in His time. But one answer to prayer is immediate; and that is the peace of God which we receive after committing our worries to the Him. He will give us the strength, the perseverance and the patience to get through our situations. Then we can have peace.

And when we have peace, we can also have joy. Then we can have joy in every situation that live presents to us. For then our joy is not based in favourable circumstances, but is 'in the Lord'.

That is a great comfort.