Always Be Joyous, Whether In Times Of Prayer Or Praise
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’ (Philippians 4:6)
The gist of Paul’s epistle or letter to the church of Philippi is to think beyond what you see and experience, and live for a life beyond what is facing you this day. Paul exhorts the Philippians to be humble in this approach, to live as Paul does in following the precepts Jesus provides in the Gospels. As it was back then, the people faced the ups and downs of life; there was illness and injury, financial woes, unemployment, and transportation hurdles just as we face today.
There were those who discriminated against, due to being a woman or being in a ‘wrong’ ethnic group. Communications were slow, often waiting for a boat or a caravan to come with someone carrying letters from a distant friend or relative. Food sources were not always reliable; fishing was sporadic and vegetable crops were dependent on the weather. But there were good days as well; young couples getting married and later having their first of many children. That friend or relative who had left a long time ago comes back to visit or settle down and stay at home.
All of us, whether Christians or not, go through these things today. Our problems are similar as they were back then, only now with a bit of modern technology. We still have discrimination and sexism as before, and communication issues may no longer be letters getting lost in the mail but waiting for our internet or cell service to come back from a major outage somewhere on the net. Our food sources are much better and reliable, but there are still recalls and the weather can interrupt both delivery and reaping of harvests. We have cars and planes that can take us to distant places in mere hours, but those same cars and planes can break down and make us frustrated. Still we are joyous over weddings and seeing our children provide us grandchildren, especially when we can spoil them and then hand them back to their parents.
We look at things in today’s terms in today’s perspective, as they did in Paul’s day, but remember we should see things through the prism of the Bible and what God has provided us, and we should pray for the Lord’s healing when we or a loved one is ill or injured, and we should also praise Him for the modern capabilities for the advancements in medical treatments He has provided. Give thanks to the Lord for providing the automobile we have that can take us quickly to distant places, and thankful that we have that car when it breaks down, and thankful if we have the means to have it repaired.
Our society tells us to be frustrated in failures, but Paul’s point is don’t be frustrated but be joyous in the Lord at that moment – be instead prayerful and in thanksgiving that the Lord has given you this exact situation to be in. If you’re not in a frustrating situation and things are going well, be prayerful and in thanksgiving that has given you this exact situation to be in. In every situation, be prayerful and thankful to Him! It is an easy concept, but being human it is hard to apply. However, we must sometimes look at the things failing us not as a frustration but the Lord providing us opportunities to practice our Faith. What good is Faith if everything is blue skies and sunny days?
Be joyous and savor those sunny, blue-sky days! Praise Him for those days when the prayer list is empty and instead full of praise! When those days become overcast or stormy, Praise Him for the chance to use your Faith, and pray for Him to lead you through the storm and out the other end of it. If you’re having the sunny day, pray for those who are going through storms, and allow yourself to be used by God to perhaps help those in storms to pull through them. Always pray to Him, and always give Praise to Him as well.
