Philippians 4: 6,7  – 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. 

Greetings in the matchless name of our savoiur Christ Jesus !!! We all have anxieties, tensions, and concerns regarding our lives ,our jobs, our kids, and all that we call “ours”. Especially due to the current situation of Covid -19 ,we are forced to think about what will our life be post Corona. Amidst of all these thoughts wandering,  people give upon their lives without thinking what god had prepared for them. Christ through the scriptures comforts us to believe in him to have a peaceful life.

What do we need to have a peaceful life? The scripture above starts with the sentence ‘ do not be anxious about anything’ . How can we stop being anxious , right ? The author of this book Philippians was Paul. He was a disciple of  christ and was often put behind bars for proclaiming the Word of God. He wrote the book Philippians when he was in prison.

Even when in prison, with all the physical suffering he received, he advises the church to be anxious free. In verse 4, he says ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!’ .

Can we keep ourselves at Paul’s place for a moment and think if we could say the same ? What an immense  mental strength he had !!! With all the pain( pain in his hands and legs due to the huge chains he was tied with, pain on his body due to the beatings from the soldiers) he endured , he comforts his fellow believers to Rejoice in christ , and Do not be Anxious.   Anxiety in a person leads to wrong decisions,  negative thoughts and sin. We, as children of God should keep ourselves away from the sins. Praise the lord !!!

lets understand what Paul has tried to share with us –  He has advised 2  very small but Powerful words  to overcome Anxiety.

1. Pray – The greatest gift god gave us is the free access to Pray. In the old testament people worshipped & asked forgiveness to god through sacrifices and burnt offerings , but through Jesus Christ we have received the spirit of sonship whereby we can call him our father . A father to whom we can pray and cry out our pains, ask forgiveness for, directly. 

We are blessed to be his children, as we are offered this great sonship because the Jews dint respect. So Paul asks us to pray to God . When we place our burden before the Almighty, he listens to us and gives us his eternal peace. Jesus said to his disciples through a parable  in Luke 18 to keep praying and never give up. When we sit before God, all kind of negative forces take a step back.Pray to God for his will not your wish. It may happen that what you wish may not be granted, but whatsoever God gifts turns out to be the best for you. Pray with a faithful heart. Pray.

2. Thanksgiving-  Paul says to be always submissive before God and thank for all that God has done for you. Thank God for all that he has given in your life, be it sorrow or happiness.  Do not thank him by counting the happiness but also the sorrows as only God can lead you peacefully through tough times. Do not thank him because you want a favourable answer for your prayers, but thank him for leading you victoriously all the times even when you made wrong decisions and asked God to fulfill them.

Now , what do you we get when follow these two powerful weapons?

When we ernestly pray to god whole heartedly keeping everything aside, God gives us the peace ; this peace is not the peace that we get when we receive any wordly goodies, but is the eternal peace from God. The peace from God makes our hearts and mind calm, gives us security that whatever will happen , will be taken care by God himself.

This eternal peace allows us to face the tomorrow without anxiety.  This peace helps us to rejoice in whatever situation we are.

Let us be submitting ourselves towards the Word of God. Let the Peace of God comfort us and strengthen us to be tomorrow’s rising star for Him.

Amen!!