The Lord is At Hand

Journal 10

Philippians 4:4-6

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:5-6 is many people's favorite verses in the Bible, and I really like it as well, for the comfort and encouragement it brings.  However, my ESV Bible gave me another insight when I was reading it this time around, that the part in verse 4b "The Lord is at hand" is actually connected to verses 5-6.  When you look at vv 5-6 by themselves, it almost sounds like a conditional promise, like "do this, and then God will ___."  Often time my response is to put the pressure on myself to not be anxious, and if I do, I feel bad that I don't trust God.  However, it's liberating to notice verse 4b and be reminded that the reason we can not be anxious and give thanks to God is because the Lord is at hand.  There is a reason for us not to be anxious and we need to remember why we don't have to be anxious about anything.  Instead of telling myself not to be anxious, now I just need to remember and trust that God is really at hand and with me, and therefore, by praying to him and thanking him, I will naturally stop worrying as a result of my trust in him.  It's still going to be tough to live out these verses every day in every situation, but at least now the focal point is on trusting the Lord rather than on trusting myself to "stop it!"