Experiencing Peace Series

Say "No!" to Anxiety,

Philippians 4, Acts 16

December 11, 2022

For the past couple of weeks we’ve been talking about being at peace with others and with God. It’s not always easy, especially when we have to deal with people. Because people can bring on peace-less-ness as well as high anxiety. After talking to some folks about last weeks message when I said we’re called to bless those who want to chase us down . . . I thought about getting a little more practical and talking about peace.

Because we don’t want the grinch to steal our peace!!

Do you ever get anxious? Maybe, you have to give a talk in front of people and the nerves kick in. Your boss calls you in for a meeting, and your mind starts racing. You drive past a police car and your stomach drops. You get a letter with the return address being 3 letters - - - I-R-S

It’s easy to get stuck on being anxious. More people have panic attacks than we would imagine. Sometimes, they make no sense, it just hits and away we go. Others have phobias. It can be easier than we think to get stuck on feelings and thoughts and have difficulty overcoming them.

As we’ve been looking at peace, what does it mean to experience it and how can we experience God’s peace. Today, we’re going to see an example from Paul and look at some very famous words from him as well.

The Bible speaks very clearly about some ways to overcome anxiety and actually how to find comfort in Christ. To get there, let’s look at a story from Paul’s life.

Paul, Silas, Luke and Timothy reach European soil for the first time, and move quickly to the largest city of the region, Philippi. Philippi was a major and strategic Roman city. When Paul came to this city, they met Lydia and other God-fearing women, who became followers of Jesus, and a new church was born.

Things were going along well, then in Acts 16, Paul was becoming annoyed by a fortune telling slave girl, so he heals her in the name of Jesus. The owners of the girl became furious because their source of income was gone. This is what happened next - - -

19 When her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”

22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. - Acts 16:19-24

Paul and Silas were severely beaten, then put into an inner cell, and their feet were fastened in chains. All this for healing someone and advocating strange customs.

Think about who you are, and the way you react to high unexpected stress situations. Personally, I’d be freaking out and in lots of pain. I’d be angry, confused, anxious, frustrated! All of this for healing a girl? Maybe I’d be crying out, kind of loudly . . . “Come on, Jesus, what are you doing?”

Now, look at how Paul and Silas react.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, - Acts 16:25

Can you imagine that? They were praying and singing hymns to God. They weren’t crying about what happened, they were praising God. AND . . . catch this, and it’s true today as well . . .

People were listening to them as they sang and prayed to God. Talk about a testimony. Then the amazing happens in the next verses as Luke tells us, there was an earthquake and the chains fell off of all of the prisoners and the doors opened to all the cells . . . and the end result is salvation for the guard and his family. What a night!!

All of this came from the fact that Paul and Silas didn’t sit in the corner and curse their luck. Instead they did the first thing we need to do when feeling anxious, as we seek to experience peace.

When Paul wrote his letter to the people of Philippi, they would’ve remembered what Paul did when imprisoned. This is why his words carried so much weight. There was value to his words, because he lived out his faith. It was evident. Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians from a Roman prison. This 4 chapter letter has been subtitled, ‘a letter of joy.’ Listen to these words from chapter 4 - - -