In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes encouragingly:

“Rejoice in the Lord always!
Once again I want to emphasize: Rejoice!
Let your liness be known to all people:
the Lord is near!
Don’t worry about anything,
but let your requests be made known in all
be made known before God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
Then the peace of God, which is superior to all sense of thought,
your hearts and your thoughts
as in a feast keep in Christ Jesus”.
Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice!

Rejoice! This is an invitation. This call is not in a vacuum; it is a perspective. Paul shares a view and confidence here. Rejoice “in the Lord” reflects the context.

Joy has a point of reference. The joy is in the Lord. Joy is the expression of a relationship. To rejoice at all times is based on this relationship, which may be quite transverse to my current sensibilities. Perhaps there are many things that I actually cannot be happy about. Paul invites a change of perspective. Twice he emphasizes that. We will see below that he does not mean a denial of the current need.

The Lord is near

This Lord now “is near”. This is an expression of trust and familiarity. We are standing near Him. The keywords are leniency, mercy and warm-heartedness. Why is that? Perhaps we can think of it like this: If we feel supported in a relationship, then that holds the world together. If we are carried ourselves, then we can continue to look, to bear, to love.

This promise is especially true when we see our lives sustained by Christ. In Him, God Himself meets us. The Lord is near, and in this nearness of my Lord I also recognize God’s action, recognize the Son of His love, through whom God holds the world together and once leads it back to Him (Col 1:13-20).

This perspective from God’s point of view changes my understanding of the world. I can now imagine this closeness for other people I am close to. That’s why it fits together. My trust in God is sustained and formed from Christ. He is the image of the living God. Certainly, this is not about pious words. As we encounter God through Christ, so we can encounter others in the same measure. One logically leads to the other.

Do not worry about anything

Whoever may live full of confidence out of the encounter with the living God does not have to worry. Once again, it is a call! Do not worry about anything! It is as if Paul is promising the Philippians to trust God in consequence. However, that is only one side.

The other side is that we all face challenges in our daily lives. Major and minor concerns are what keep us busy, shake us up and unsettle us. The need for life is often real. What does the apostle say about this?

Paul shows an alternative: Do not worry about anything, but . .. Here is the change. We should not worry, but instead do something else. We should make all our desires known to God. This does not mean that we have no worries. Paul talks about dealing with worry. Instead of worrying, we should make all hardships, all joys, simply everything known to Him. So we should not remain alone with this, but bring things before Him who holds heaven and earth in His hands. In this way, we give a different context to our concerns.

We should make our desires and requests known to God “in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,” Paul writes. These three belong together. Prayer and supplication may always be combined with thanksgiving. This has meaning. We do not merely tell God our wish list, but give thanks for what we already have. We do not “claim” prayer fulfillment, but are thankful to Him. In giving thanks, every requirement disappears.

Giving thanks protects from wavering

There is this saying: “Giving thanks protects you from wavering”. In the New Testament we can read how Paul begins all his prayers with thanksgiving. Prayer and supplication, then, for all that troubles me. This expresses what is important to me, and I always combine this with thanksgiving.

It is about the attitude of faith and trust. For: we do not know what to pray, and can only trust His Spirit to intercede for us, with unspoken groans (Rom 8:26-27). Gratitude is the key word here.

The peace of God

What Paul has just written in a few words is an attitude of life and attitude for everyday life. He gives practical advice. Do this! Do this! And when we do, we will experience something!

“Then the peace of God, which is superior to all sense of thought, will keep your hearts and minds as in a firmament in Christ Jesus”.

To experience the peace of God, that is the promise. This peace is superior to all sense of thought. It is of a different quality than thinking. It is superior to thinking. It is superior to worries.

Just there, where worries turn endless circles in our minds, just there we may experience God’s peace. This peace will keep our hearts and minds “as in a firmament” in Christ Jesus. The visual language is clear: we are in good hands there. Where. In Christ Jesus. When we stand in God’s perspective, we see the world and ourselves with different eyes.

When we stand in God’s perspective, we see the world and ourselves with different eyes.

From this experience Paul has now written. “Rejoice in the Lord always! Once again I want to emphasize: Rejoice! The apostle knows what it is all about. He is concerned with the whole reality of God in our existence.