"The Daily Journey" (Philippians 4:4-9)

It’s 6 AM! The day is beginning.

Paul says here (Philippians 4:4) for us to, “Rejoice in the Lord”. Sometimes this is difficult, not just because it’s morning, but because of a variety of circumstances, some of them quite difficult. Life naturally brings all sorts of storms, pressures and trials. So to be in a position to “rejoice”, we sometimes need to gain some new perspective on our situation. We want to find some way of being able to start each day with a mind to “rejoice”. This might mean that we have to accept that life is fragile, and because of this, each and every one of us is vulnerable to whatever dangers and tragedies life throws at us.

Faith doesn’t mean we are exempt. A relationship with God, even a deep one, does not remove us from the frailty of a human body. Stuff just happens. There are risks and vulnerabilities in life. Faith is what happens in the midst of any such challenge. And dealing well with setbacks, hurt and disease, does allow for growth in our spiritual lives. Working creatively through challenges brings new possibilities … being wiser, better resourced, and more trusting of God. As we experience growth in our relationship with God, and in our effectiveness within God’s Kingdom, we can wake up rejoicing.

We don’t want to have to pretend. We should never feel we need to pretend. We should not promote any preference for people to have it all together, with their acceptance hanging on this … which means people tend to repress stuff or dress themselves with extra layers. In the church family we should be able to be real. So, when Paul says to “rejoice”, he means for us to openly follow the paths of healing … that ultimately allow for rejoicing. These paths will include receiving and giving forgiveness. This will likely mean allowing the Holy Spirit the space to complete the work of renewal in our lives. This will include getting counsel for those real trouble spots.

Paul suggests that a pointer towards our spiritual health, will be our ability to “rejoice in the Lord”. This doesn’t mean that we won’t have moments of doubt, or that some days will disappoint us, or that some illnesses will persist. It does mean that down deep we trust in God, and know that He has our best interests at heart. So if we start the day, and feel we can’t rejoice … the question would be – ‘How can I look at things differently, so I actually can rejoice in the Lord’? Here’s one answer: because God knows and loves us personally, and invites us into a relationship with Him, and Jesus has cleansed us, and the Holy Spirit is guiding us … we can “rejoice”! This sets us up well for the day, and we will likely be a good person for others to run into and connect with.

It’s 9 AM! I’m engaging with people.

As was just said, having started the day with a mind to “rejoice”, this may make a significant difference to how we are encountered by others. We may still have issues concerning us – but we can be encountered as grumpy and impatient, or rather, peaceful and considerate. Then of course, we may have started out with a rejoice-filled spirit, until something happened … some bad behaviour that impacted us and annoyed us. Annoyance and frustration is often just around the corner. Those tourists who don’t really care about this town can get right up our nose! How will we react?

Paul next talks about “gentleness” (Philippians 4:5) – a mind and spirit fully set on rejoicing in the Lord, can have this gentle appearance. This is to be open, welcoming, hospitable, kind, unruffled and self-controlled … even under duress. We, although still disappointed and concerned, are not personally disrupted by the bad behaviour of others. And, in conversation, we are relaxed enough to hear points of view that are different to ours, while still able to respectfully share our thoughts (according to our values). When we feel that we need to say what we think, or strongly advocate for a person or a cause, we do so in such a way that won’t inflame situations or unduly cause conflict.

There is here, a humble confidence and a settled spirit, on show to the world – some might even conclude, “The Lord is near”. This is like when the powers that be (in Acts 4:13), concluded that the disciples, Peter and John, were like they were … because they had been with Jesus … they were “recognised as companions of Jesus”. The Lord can be “near”, when we have been with Jesus sufficiently, to model his sort of life attitudes. That is why I am currently doing a verse by verse study of Mark’s Gospel – to try to get more inside the mind and heart of Jesus … as he interacted with community. Jesus was both gentle, and wholly committed to a cause.

We can actually be gentle, because the Lord is near. God is our witness – our life is hidden in God – God knows who we are in Christ. Our value and credibility rests in Jesus. God gives us the measure of strength we need. When we are weak, we can still be strong. It’s what the Lord has done in me. We don’t need human aggression or competitiveness or drive, or to exert ourselves over others; we just grow in the assurance that God is working in our lives (to His glory). That’s why a part of the prayer dynamic that follows later is “thanksgiving”. As we are thankful, we are acknowledging our trust in God’s wisdom – that God will never do anything adverse to our welfare (Matthew 7:7-11). This then helps puts worry aside. And this is good; and this is necessary!

It’s now 2 PM. A lot has happened!

I’m actually starting to worry about a few things! My mind is getting a little frayed! There are some relationship tensions in the air! Some days start out alright, but then certain things come to our mind or start to overwhelm us, or stress builds up, and we start to think negatively again. As normal as this may be, this is never going to help us! For Jesus said, “Who by worrying can add a single hour to your life” (Matthew 6:27)? The scriptures continually draw the worried person to prayer. God knows that our worries can involve deep concerns, so the Bible doesn’t say, ‘just get over it’; rather the Bible has a solution for worry, and that solution is to ‘pray’ (Philippians 4:6). And we should note that this prayer is not in a void or vacuum, but is firmly directed to God!

{The story is told of a woman who rushes to answer the home phone only to hear rustling noises at the other end. On returning to her desk where she started out, she found that she had accidently dialled her landline from her own mobile – she was calling herself. Sometimes we think we are praying to God, but we are only talking to ourselves. We haven’t fully focussed our prayer – “Our Father who art in heaven …”. Sometimes this might be because we just want a quick fix … we are not truly seeking out God, because we are not necessarily looking for answers different to the ones we want.}

We do have the promise, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8a). Prayer should be an open two-way conversation with God … our Creator and Saviour … who loves us immensely and is completely faithful. In prayer, we get to express verbally our concerns, and then let our faith, God’s Word, our encouraging brothers and sisters, and the presence of the Spirit, all do their work on us. We can then know the presence of God in all the situations for which we were worrying. We no longer need feel alone!

Thus, prayer is the antidote for worry! In “thanksgiving” we affirm that God listens to every word of our prayers (and our wordless groans as well), draws alongside, meets us in that place of need, acts on our behalf (and on behalf of the others that we have remembered before his throne). God’s answer … the right answer … is close! We can remain concerned, without worry, because we care; but the outcome IS in hand. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The weight of what we have been carrying has eased.

Worry would be such a negative distraction for us, especially because we tend to worry about the wrong things – sometimes our worry can be attached to our priorities being askew. Jesus also said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) i.e. get first things first. When we get things into the right priority, then life looks different. When we pray, having put aside worry, and give first thought for the growth of God’s Kingdom, then we can be more clear about our requests. And God already knows what we truly need. That text, “Seek first the Kingdom … and his righteousness”, goes on to say, “and all these things will be given to you as well”.

So, don’t worry; rather pray, and think Kingdom’!! Then we will experience “peace” … the “peace of God” … the “peace” that only God can give (Philippians 4:7). Our experience of salvation starts with God’s gracious invitation, then comes our repentance, God’s forgiveness, our commitment to follow Jesus through the Holy Spirit, then our participation in making disciples. In living this way we find a “peace” that is so reassuring, and such a blessing, that we can only describe it with a ‘wow’! Challenges might remain, but we just see them in a different light; and they don’t have the same power to make us anxious anymore! We have been with God, and God will keep us calm.

This “peace” is so protective (of our minds and hearts), that we would not want to move away from it (or move out of its realm). This peace is so radically good, because it means that we don’t have to strive for acceptance, or ever feel we aren’t clean enough, or have to work to make things up to God. God’s forgiveness means that we are no longer captive to guilt or shame or negativity or anyone’s else’s judgment. God (through Jesus) has set us free from all this; and replaced it all with His peace!! As we might cheer for our favourite sports team, except a whole lot more – God is cheering for us! When playing the game, if we happen to drop the ball under an opposition tackle, we can quickly rebound for the next contest.

It’s 8 PM now! I’m getting weary.

Towards the end of the day, we may get a little weary. We think we’ve done our bit, and we can let our resistances down. We may let our mind wander a bit. It doesn’t matter so much now … what we watch or read or do or say … or so we may think! This might be a time we consider more private. But Paul has other ideas; we might say … very high standards (Philippians 4:8). Yet, some things are always destructive or wasteful.

We are to limit our thoughts, or maybe better, continually lift our thoughts, to … whatever is true [contains truth and sheds light], honourable [builds respect in people], just [works towards fairness and integrity], pure [is untainted by corruption], pleasing, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise [things that work well for others and can be rightly and roundly applauded]. Quite a list!

How we think … what we think about … is very important, because our thinking, and our belief system, determines our actions. And it is our actions that describe our character. And it is our character that we have to live with. And it is our character, that others have to live with.

It’s 11 PM. Coming to the end of the day.

We get to the end of the day. We want to “rejoice again” next morning! As we go to sleep committed to another day of following Jesus, we will have that “peace” which will allow us to rest well. “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep”*.

Verse 9 begins, “Keep on doing …”, meaning … as one day follows another, this is our daily journey. “Keep on doing …” what? The Philippian congregation are here referred back to those things they have learned, received and heard from Paul, and seen Paul doing (Philippians 4:9). However we know that these very things are the things Paul is teaching and doing … as he seeks to emulate and point to … Jesus. Paul previously said to the Galatians, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). So it is, that we “keep on …” living for Jesus. Jesus is the One we seek to make known.

And God’s peace will roll on with us – “and the peace of God will be with you”. Thomas Kelly, the Quaker philosopher, talks about the quiet centre that each person can have inside them … that nothing can disturb. Christian mystics talk about the ‘throne of God’ existing in our innermost heart … which no storm nor temptation could disturb. This is our nightly prayer*. Amen! And in the morning, we will rise with the words, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice”! Off we go again!!

* Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
May angels watch me through the night,
And wake me with the morning light.