“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 4:6-7
In closing the Epistle to the Philippians, in chapter 4, Paul makes some “bullet points” (summarizing statements) that flow logically from the preceding lessons developed in chapters 1-3.
Accordingly, our text summarizes the principles introduced in Philippians 1:6, 21, 29; 2:12 and 3:8-11. Therefore, to gain some insight into our text, Philippians 4:6-7, we will consider a few of those preceding passages.
“Be anxious for nothing”: Spiritual Security
In Philippians 1:6 we learn that since God is the originator of salvation, He must also be the finisher of our sanctification.
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”
Philippians 1:6
Consequently, Believers have no reason to be anxious about any aspect of their salvation or spiritual growth. God is on the job, He is developing each one of His (adopted) children into the very image of His only begotten Son.
To be clear, children of God are marked by their desire to please God, not to wallow in sinfulness. Therefore, Philippians 1:6 is not a license to live as we please.
“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.“
John 3:19-21
The children of God don’t live in the darkness, they come into the light fully willing for their deeds to be reproved by God so that they can live in obedience to Him.
“Be anxious for nothing”: Somatic Security
Having shown us that God is in charge of our Spiritual life in Philippians 1:6, Philippians 1:21 teaches us that God is in control of our physical life as well. However, it makes that point in a way that might seem unexpected.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Philippians 1:21
It says that physical life is singularly/completely about Christ. And that, for the Child of God, the loss of physical life is NOT a negative but a positive.
Based on this truth, we can deduce that nothing can come into, or out of, the life of a Believer that will hinder in any extent the ability of God to work out Christ in that Believer’s life.
In the Gospels, we see (e.g., John 7:30, 44-46) that no one could harm Jesus or even arrest Jesus before the time appointed by God for His sacrifice on the cross.
Therefore, as God works Christ’s ministry through Believers, the same is also true. Indeed, Paul asserts in Galatians 2:20 that “Christ lives in me” (and in every other child of God).
Since no external event/influence can hinder God’s purpose in a Believer’s life, it means then that the Believer has nothing to worry about. The Believer will ALWAYS, in every circumstance, have everything he/she needs to accomplish God’s will: i.e., for Christ to continue His ministry through him/her.
Believers don’t have to worry about money, about food, about housing, about clothes, about disease, about death. God has already made provision for all these things, and more.
Clearly, this does not mean we don’t work. Rather, it means that in whatever employment God has provided for us to do, He has also provided fully for our sustenance, so that we can fulfill the work He has already ordained for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Paul’s business was making tents (Acts 18:2-3). And through that job Paul had all he needed to minister the Gospel.
Why is it so hard to trust God?
Finally, we can see in Philippians 4:11-12 why many of us still struggle to trust in God completely.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”
Isaiah 26:3
First, it is something that has to be learned (“for I *have learned*”). We don’t automatically and immediately demonstrate total faith in God. But God will teach us, even if it means He will put you through some hard challenges.
Second, the underlying problem we have is not being content with what God provides us (“therewith to be content”). We don’t just want enough to serve Him. We want extra stuff, extra money, extra health, to serve our own desires/appetites. No, we don’t just want “manna”, we want “meat”. But our discontent with God’s provisions creates a stumbling block that many of us struggle to surmount (Psalm 106:13-15).
Learning to be content with God’s provision will only come when our focus is exclusively on accomplishing His will for our lives.
“Let your requests be made known”
To understand this section of our text, it might be helpful to turn to Philippians 2:12b
“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling“
Philippians 2:12b
Philippians 2:12 reminds us that we “see through a glass darkly” and we only “know in part” (1 Corinthians 13:12). In other words, neither our understanding nor our faith is perfect. It also reminds us that there are and will be issues we need to wrestle with because we are human. Our human frailties mean that things don’t always come easy for us. Not even when we know God has everything perfectly and completely in control.
To illustrate this, consider Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-44). Jesus asked God, if it was possible, to let His sacrificial payment for the sin of mankind to pass away. Indeed, He prayed so intensely/intently that His sweat became blood!
It was difficult! It was a struggle!
Accordingly, God invites us to battle through life’s issues with Him in prayer, in supplication and with a thankful heart/attitude. Though we know He is in control, we also know that we often struggle with the issues that confront us everyday.
“The peace of God”
Very often we long to experience supernatural/miraculous manifestations of God in our lives. But here is one that we somehow miss/overlook. When we place our confidence in God to provide all we need (bothspiritually and physically), He promises to give us His miraculous peace.
God promises that the yielded, trusting, soul will have supernatural, miraculous, rest and calmness of heart (emotions) and mind (thoughts). And this peace is so great, that no one can understand it.
When God wrote this Epistle through Paul, Paul was in prison and knew that he was likely to be executed. Yet, throughout the letter, Paul seems completely unconcerned about his fate. Rather, he was enthused about the preaching of the Gospel and the faithfulness evident in the Philippian church. Indeed, Paul never even asked them to pray for his situation.
Instead, chained night and day to Roman guards, in a Roman prison, Paul wrote,
“But I have all, and abound: I am full…“
Philippians 4:18a
Surely, Paul had “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding“. It was that supernatural peace that was keeping his heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
That same peace awaits each and every Believer. But first we have to learn to trust God completely. We must learn to be content with everything He provides for us and everything He withholds from us. Because we know He is our Good Father and we are safe in His hands.
