Tag Archives: Philippians 4

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A Prescription for Anxiety

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A Prescription for Anxiety (CaD Php 4) – Wayfarer

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

According to the news, a record number of people are struggling with anxiety, especially teenagers and young adults. Teens are experiencing a mental health crisis. Wendy and I were talking about this recently as we read the latest statistics. We discussed how teens today face a daily paradox. Never have teenagers had so much information instantaneously at their finger tips, and at the same time our culture is telling them to question the most basic of truths. In addition, a teen today has to constantly monitor their words, thoughts, and opinions in school, in public, and on social media to avoid the threat of being socially attacked and cancelled. Add a couple of years of quarantine and isolation into the mix and there’s no wonder anxiety is rampant.

Philippians 4:6-7 were among the first verses I memorized when I was a teen. I would would quote it to myself all the time. I sometimes wrote the words on a piece of paper and stuck it in my pocket, so that whenever I reached into my pocket and felt the paper, I would be reminded of them. To this day, I have the words hanging on the wall inside my office.

One of the things I came to love about Paul’s words to the Philippians is that it doesn’t simply say “don’t be anxious.” Paul provides both a prescribed process and a promise as an antidote to anxiety.

First, Paul prescribes that I talk about my anxiety with God. I learned that I need to get things out. My favorite method of dealing with my deepest anxieties is to write my prayer as a letter to God. I pour my concerns, worries, and anxious thoughts onto the page. I hold nothing back. I plead for my needs and ask for the Spirit’s peace and protection over my mind and soul.

Next, I take up Paul’s reminder to be thankful no matter my circumstances. I am blessed in so many ways. I have so much for which to be thankful. Anxiety leads me to focus myopically on my troubles. The conscious act of counting my blessings and specifically being thankful for them gives me much needed perspective.

If and when I follow this prescription on a regular basis, I experience the promised peace. It causes me to shift-focus from my circumstantial anxieties to God’s sufficiency.

In the quiet this morning, I am thankful for these verses and how they have helped me navigate many, many times of anxiety on this life journey. I feel for young people today and the anxieties we as a society have produced for them. It saddens me that our go-to answer is always a medication. I am glad that I learned a prescription for anxiety as a teenager that cost nothing, didn’t require insurance, and had no negative side effects. All I had to do was faith-fully follow the prescription on a regular basis, and it began with me memorizing these words until they became a part of me:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Coffee and Contentment

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Coffee and Contentment (CaD Php 4) – Wayfarer

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV)

Wendy and I have acquired a plethora of coffee mugs along life’s road. There are at least large drawers full of them, plus a cupboard with more. That’s just the kitchen. There are more downstairs in the pub and of course there’s a bunch at the lake. We have mugs from different plays we were in. There’s a mug from the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Pella Opera House. We have one coffee mug emblazoned with quotes of love from Shakespeare and another one with Shakespearean insults. I have diner mugs with various iterations of our company’s logo across the years. There’s a mug from a coffee shop in Kauai and others from various places we’ve visited. Far-side mugs, hobbit mugs, and flower mugs. Small mugs, medium mugs, and huge mugs. I believe Wendy and I could have the army of Guatemala over for coffee and still not be in want for mugs.

Come to think of it, I can’t think of one mug in our warehouse of coffee mugs that has a Bible verse on it. It’s possible that there’s one buried in there somewhere, but if there is I can’t picture it.

I’ve always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with popular Christian culture. All through my high school and college years I worked for a chain of stores that sold pretty much anything on which you could print a bible verse. There were frisbees that “rose on the wings of eagles” and flashlights with which to be “the light of the world.” There were pewter bread trays branded for “the bread of life” and water bottles for your personal “spring of living water.” Of course, there were coffee mugs to help believers praise God “from the rising of the sun.”

Hawking the Christian tchotchkes helped put me through college, and for that I’m grateful. Even then, however, there was a catch in my spirit with Jesus junk. Part of my personal hesitation has to do with the fact that Jesus Himself said He wanted His disciples’ love, kindness, and servant-hearted acts to mark them as His followers. Walking around in my “saved by grace” t-shirt feels a bit like a shortcut that cheapens the whole thing.

The other thing that bothers me is the fact that reducing the Message to a pithy painted trinket sometimes profanes it. I’m sure theres a power band or set of dumbbells you can buy that comes with “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” printed on them to inspire your holy workout.

When Paul wrote “I can do all things through him who gives me strength” he wasn’t talking about lifting heavy weights, running a marathon, or even doing spectacular miracles like raising the dead. He was specifically talking about being content whether he was living in wealth or poverty, whether he was healthy or sick, whether he had full pantry or didn’t know where his next meal was coming from. I know, contentment isn’t as inspiring as moving mountains, but to my mind it might be more difficult. After all, we live in a world that is fueled by discontent. What Paul was really getting at by saying “I can do all this through him” was about walking away from the end-cap full of exercise gloves with Philippians 4:13 stitched on them. I don’t need them. I can be content with plain black ones I have at home.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself contemplating contentment. I’m still shocked by the fact that I never hear it discussed in a serious way. I wonder if discontent and the desire for more is so embedded in our cultural DNA that we can’t even fathom the contentment that Jesus expected of His disciples when He sent them out in pairs to neighboring towns and told them to take nothing but the cloak on their backs. Somehow, I think that I need a lot more contentment and a lot less of everything else. It’s at least worth some serious conversation over a cup of coffee.

Feel free to stop by. I’ve got a coffee mug just waiting for you.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Pomp and Circumstance

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I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV)

We are all suckers for a Pinterest-worthy phrase. The Bible is full of them. The stuff of inspirational bookmarks, posters, desktop backgrounds, and cheap commercial trinkets sold at your local Christian bookstore.

As I’ve journeyed through God’s Message for almost 40 years, I’ve observed that it’s quite common for that inspirational, scriptural quote to be taken completely out of context. Text that is actually profound, mysterious, and/or challenging with eternal, Level Four spiritual meaning is screen printed, replicated and dragged down to self-centric, ego-pleasing, Level One interpretations. I’m not pointing fingers, by the way. I’m as guilty as anyone.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I’m sure there are many young followers of Jesus who are receiving graduation gifts from well-meaning grandparents with that phrase printed on a greeting card, key-chain, or bookmark. On the surface, it seems to flow right along with all the pomp and circumstance of your boiler-plate commencement address:

“Chase after your dreams.”

“You can be anything you want to be.”

“Make your mark on this world.”

“The world is yours for the taking.”

“All your dreams can come true if you work hard enough.”

I noticed as I read the chapter this morning that preceding Paul’s inspirational statement is a rather sobering message:

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Paul, who was stoned and left for dead outside the city of Lystra. Paul, who was shipwrecked three times in the Mediterranean and once spent twenty-four hours floating on debris in the open ocean hoping to make it to shore. Paul, who was bitten by a viper. Paul, who five times was given 39 lashes (because 40 was considered lethal). Paul, who traveled some 10,000 miles largely by foot. Paul, who was beaten with rods three times, went hungry and found himself cold, naked, and alone. Paul, who was writing those words from prison.

“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

The secret of being content in any circumstance is the “all things” Paul was referencing with his inspirational phrase. He wasn’t talking about grabbing the world by the tail, achieving his personal dreams, and moving up in the world. He was talking about being perfectly content being cold, naked, hungry, bloody, bruised and shackled in a first-century dungeon. Ironically, that is not the stuff of inspirational commencement addresses.

Along my life journey, I’ve observed that it is discontent that often fuels personal dreams, aspirations, ambition, economics, and the American dream. Paul’s faith taught him contentment in the midst of unimaginable suffering. I struggle to be content with my iPhone 8 when the iPhone X hits the market.

And there’s the disconnect.

This morning I find myself challenged to restore the meaning of the words “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” to its profound, mysterious, spiritual meaning in my own heart and life.  Being content no matter my current situation and circumstances. I confess that it’s easier said than done for me, and I’ve got a long way to go in learning the secret Paul discovered. Which is why this is a journey.

Time to press on. Have a good day, my friend.

 

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Super Tom! (Not)

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I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV)

When historians look back on these times that we are living in, one of the major themes that they will address is how social media has changed the world. Society has changed dramatically in the past ten years and I’m not sure we can fully realize in the moment the breadth and depth of the change.

We live in a Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook culture in which thoughts are reduced to 140 characters or a 400×400 pixel image. Please do not read in this post what I am not writing. This is not a judgment on social media, merely an observation.

One of the things I observed is that in reducing the message to fit the medium, the context of the message can change dramatically. Take Paul’s words to his friend in Philippi in today’s chapter. The more well known translation is ” I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Talk about Pinterest quote material.

Yet, in isolating and reducing the message of the verse it appears to be a promise of unlimited potential. I might as well photoshop your face on the body of a comic book superhero to use as the background of my Pinterest post. SuperMe to the rescue. I can do all things!!

But when I read Paul’s words in the context of the previous sentences, the message of that phrase takes on what I believe is a significantly different meaning. Paul’s life journey has taken him to high mountaintops of earthly success and deep valleys of death. He has experienced “the good life” and he has found himself shipwrecked on an island like a real life episode of Lost. When he writes, “I can do all things” he is saying, “I will survive. I will be okay. Whether it’s a good day or bad, I can be content and trust that God will give me the strength to get through.”

Today, I’m thankful for context. I’m glad that Paul was not writing an empty promise of superhumanity which does not fit my reality. I may be typing this post in my Batman boxer shorts, but that’s where my super hero capabilities end and I know it. To hear Paul’s encouragement to walk today’s journey knowing that whatever comes my way God will give me the strength to endure…well, that’s a message my heart can really use as I begin my day.

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The Call to Contentment

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Not that I was ever in need,  for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. Philippians 4:11-12 (NLT)

Jesus never told poor people to seek after earthly riches.
Jesus told certain rich people to give up all their earthly riches.
Jesus told all people to seek after heavenly riches.
God’s Message tells us all to learn to be content.

I have come to believe that God’s call to contentment is one of the most critical spiritual concepts we have most consistently ignored.