If there were ever times in my life when I felt the tapping of God’s finger on my shoulder, it was when He had to stop me in a moment and remind me, “You are worrying. That makes Me look bad.” And He’s right. He’s always right. When I allow myself to think in such a way that I’m actually stepping back from the peace I have in Christ, I’m honestly making my Father look bad.
Living with worry makes God look bad.
How does that happen?
It’s because when I worry, in my mind and in my heart, (which are the spiritual imperatives of my relationship with Him), I’m choosing to abandon what I HAVE been given – the mind and peace of Christ.
Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” And 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “But we have the mind of Christ.”
When I believe those two verses, I will act on those two verses by refusing to worry. I’ll lay it down using the instruction of Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
The power word in that verse is “thanksgiving.” Maybe not the key word, but it’s the power word! And here’s why….when you look at that verse in context, the thanksgiving is pointing us back to being thankful for our position IN Christ. To be thankful for our inheritance! Our salvation! Our residency is IN Christ and being thankful for that is everything to our living free of anxiety. Because when we truly understand where we live, we can’t even muster up a worry.
So, how does this work in our day to day life?
When we prayerfully take what is causing us to be anxious, (as scripture says, the anythings and the everythings), to God in prayer, we are instructed to do that IN THANKSGIVING of the fact that we are IN CHRIST. That is what Phil. 4:7 tells us. We are to thank Him for the joy of salvation. Thank Him for Jesus. Thank Him for grace, mercy and goodness that follow us all the days of our life. If we will take this one verse to heart and into our prayer closets…..
…then the beauty happens!
The beauty of His Word taking hold of our mind and our heart, and we become aligned with Truth! And when we become aligned with truth, our spirit becomes precious and beautiful in His sight. He calls a woman who lives with a quieted and stilled spirit, beautiful.
“Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious,” 1 Peter 3:3-4
When we refuse to worry, we live experiencing the beauty of His presence shining forth in our life.
“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth,” Psalm 50:2.
To dwell our minds in the “house”, the presence, of the Lord allows us to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house {presence} of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple,” Psalm 27:4.
As we gaze upon His beauty, we will reflect His beauty. It’s His promise.
To say that in a way of application:
As we trust in our God, we will reflect our God. And that’s when the beauty happens.
Worry makes Him look bad, which also makes us look bad. But trust is the door to experiencing the beauty in the promise of Philippians 4:7 – “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Let’s write Philippians 4:6-7 on a 3X5 card or store it on your phone wallpaper, desktop screen saver. Also, let’s do the same with 1 Peter 3:3-4. If we will choose to live believing and acting on those two scriptures today, I’m certain we will experience fresh energy, fresh dreams, fresh insights and most of all – a fresh encounter with “the peace of God.”
Pressing on in Peace,
lisa
