“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God.” Philippians 4:6
Beloved,
Have you ever gone through a
difficult season of life and someone handed you a cliché like, “Don’t worry
about it, just trust in God?” In moments of sorrow and sadness, Christian
clichés are not balm for the soul, but salt in the wounds. Clichés rarely
produce their desired effect, but that does not mean there is not powerful
truth tied to their message.
God says that we should not be
anxious about anything, but to share everything with God in prayer with
thanksgiving. Philippians 4:6 is a
profound verse, because of the totality of space it covers. We are not to be anxious in
anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. How can God tell us not to be anxious about
anything? Aren’t there things that we have the right to worry about? Doesn’t a lack of anxiety often show a lack
of love?
God is not asking us to live
without anxiety, but rather to take our anxiety to God in prayer. Prayer is an
act of love and trust in our God. God loves us and He is in control. Spurgeon
says, “If I cannot trace his hand, I can always trust his heart.” We may not
always understand the situations in our lives, but we can always trust that God
will work in the midst of it for our good and for His glory (Romans 8:28).
Prayer is a gift we must preserver
to pursue. Persevering prayer allows us
to refocus our hearts off of our problems and on to the God who is bigger than
our problems. Prayer helps us notice the sparrows who are not forgotten by God
and reminds us that we are much more valuable than they (Luke 12:31). In moments of sorrow and sadness, God does
not give us clichés, but He gives us Himself.
Let us go to Him with love, perseverance and gratitude.
______________________________________________________
image credit (http://robonwriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cliche.png)
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