Insecurity is the general unease we experience when we lack certainty and confidence in life. Today, I want you to see how a big God secures your peace, composure and happiness. The Bible shows us where the inner springs of joy and harmony are found in a believer’s life. Find Philippians 4 with me. One of our believers here today told me that this was his favorite chapter of the Bible and I think you’ll understand why in the next few minutes.
Today’s Scripture
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Philippians 4:4–20)
The Bible commands us to be joyful and happy in the Lord. It’s a double command to be happy in verse four – twice we are told to rejoice. Now, we scratch our heads when we are given a command to be happy… … “how can I commanded to feel anything,” we ask. But the Bible goes a step further to show us the steps to joy: “do not be anxious about anything…” (Philippians 4:6a). If you are bewildered by the Bible’s command to be happy… If you are bumfuzzled by this command, you are not aware of the resources that are yours.
On January 19, 1901, few knew the future of the Texas economy was about to experience a seismic shift forward. In a matter of days, the oil geyser in the little Beaumont, Texas, called Spindletop, produced more oil than the rest of the world’s oil wells – combined. In fact, everything that runs on oil in our day, from cars to jet fighters – all of this began at Spindletop. The wildcatters who discovered oil made a lot of money. They collected airplanes, ranches, and worlds of are like they were candy. Texas is legendary with the stories of big oilmen with even bigger money. These men had so much money … obscene amounts of money, one would use a $100 bill as a bow tie while another rode a pet lion in order to meet his mailman. One Houston oilman’s wife even wrote the Smithsonian to ask if the Hope Diamond was for sale. Hitting a gusher was hitting the mother load.
Now, what if you owned the land and the mineral rights to Spindletop but didn’t know what was under the ground? What if I said to you, “Go down to car dealership and pay cash for Lamborghini,” when you didn’t know how you are going to pay for next month’s rent. You would be bewildered because you’re not aware of the tremendous resources you possess under your property. This is exactly how it is for believers. Most believers have yet to tap into the resources they have at their possession.
1. Capture Real Peace Through Prayer
2. Combat Your Worries by Mind Control
3. Crush Your Worries Through Contentment
4. Curb Others’ Worries Through Compassion
5. Calm Your Worries Through Praise
Listen to one believer’s account of this: “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Psalm 4:7). They are not aware they have their own Spindletop.
1. Capture Real Peace Through Prayer
When we lack peace in our lives, we don’t laugh as much. We don’t sleep well because we fret about terrorists or bull markets that may go into bear market. What comes to mind when you think of experiencing peace? You may think a tranquil place near a flowing stream with peaceful music in the background. Some people experience peace of mind because of their bank account. Others get a sense of peace because of their family (mother, father, husband, or wife).
You will really have inner peace and power to live life when you know God well. And to know God well is developing an improving prayer life.
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7)
Prayer cures anxiety. Say that with me, “Prayer cures anxiety.” When you become a follower of Christ, you experience peace with God (Romans 5:1). Now, serious prayer directed to the Father will result in divine peace. When the check engine light comes on my dashboard of my car, I know I need to take my car to the mechanic. When the stress light comes on in my mind, I know I need to take my worries to the Lord.
I like how author Max Lucado spoke of the worry and anxiety recently:
Anxiety is a meteor shower of what-ifs. What if I don’t close the sale? What if we don’t get the bonus? What if we can’t afford braces for the kids? What if my kids have crooked teeth? What if crooked teeth keep them from having friends, a career, or a spouse? What if they end up homeless and hungry, holding a cardboard sign that reads “My parents couldn’t afford braces for me”?
Jesus spoke about the big items in life that we most often worry about – our food, our future, and our care for ourselves. Jesus tells our heavenly Father who provides food for birds and clothing for flowers. We, who are more valuable to him, are therefore to trust him for the necessities of life (Matthew 6:25-34).
Again, prayer cures anxiety. Prayer relieves the problems of anxiety. The result of prayer with thanksgiving is a peace: “which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7b). Let me offer you a practical tip on how to pray: “Lord, this is your problem, not mine. I’m bringing you the problem and I wait for instructions from you or I will watch you do something. I leave this with you.” The Bible promises a peace that not only exceeds your ability to understand but also a peace that acts like a military guard watching over both your heart and mind. Somebody please say, “Thank you, Lord.”
1. Capture Real Peace Through Prayer
2. Combat Your Worries by Mind Control
We think of mind control like alien force that exerts its influence over my mind in some way. But the Bible calls on us to control our mind by focusing our minds on a litany of virtues: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9). The Bible warns against worry, anxiety, and fretting when it says: “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil” (Psalm 37:8).
Anxiety and worry are evil for they steal our sleep and rob us of much-needed energy. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are reaching epidemic proportions. In a given year nearly 50,000,000 Americans will feel the effects of a panic attack, phobias, or other anxiety disorders. Our chests will tighten, we feel dizzy and light-headed. Anxiety disorders in the United States are the “number one mental health problem among . . . women and are second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men.”
The mind is a muscle that must be trained. And when the mind is focused on the things that are “true, … honorable, … just, … pure, … lovely, … commendable, … excellence, [and] … anything worthy of praise” you will on your way to experiencing peace. Paul says in verse nine: “You’ve seen me do this in my life. You know how much I had to fret about, yet I controlled my mind. I focused my mind on matters of truth, purity, lovely, and excellence. Now, do the very thing you’ve seen me do.” Paul says part of the solution to find lasting, real peace is focusing your mind.
Back in 2011, college kids are feeling unusual levels of anxiety in our day. In a study that involved more than 200,000 incoming freshmen, “students reported all-time lows in overall mental health and emotional stability.”
Here’s a practical tip: rather than focusing on the constellation tree of what could go wrong, I make my mind remember promises of Scripture to counter my worries. Worry is meditation, only it is negative meditation. I find myself thinking about all that could go wrong. Instead, focus your mind on those promises in Scripture where God says, “I’ve got this. I can handle.” When I focus on the promises of God, this is a powerful positive meditation tool to counteract the negative aspects of worry. Here’s a promise about God’s care His children we should all memorize: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they” (Matthew 6:26)?
Combat Your Worries by Mind Control
Combine the first two: focus your mind on God’s time-tested promises to His children and spend time in prayer.
3. Crush Your Worries Through Contentment
Philippians 4:13 is a favorite among young Christian athletes. I have seen this cited by high school athletes all the way to professional athletes. But this verse isn’t talking about my ability to lift 500 lbs. No, this verse is speaking of an inner strength.
3.1 Tim Tebow
Back in the 2008 college football season, Florida QB Tim Tebow place Scripture in eye black right under his eyes during the games. When he placed John 3:16 in eye black during the BCS championship game that year some 94 million people googled the verse. As psychologist Robert Leahy points out, “The average child today exhibits the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the 1950s.” Kids have more toys, clothes, and opportunities than ever, but by the time they leave home, they are wrapped tighter than Egyptian mummies.
But throughout the regular season, Tebow placed a different verse, Phil 4:13 under his eyes. I like how Tebow himself said it, “The verse is actually about contentedness in all circumstances. It’s not about being able to throw a better pass or make a better play on the football field. It’s about being content with the victory secured through Christ whether you can even lift a football, much less throw one fifty or sixty yards like me.”
Philippians 4:13 is speaking about the strength the Lord gives His children to be content. See the thought from verses eleven through twelve carries through right into verse 13: “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).
God gives me the ability to be content in every kind of life situation and I do this by the strength God gives me.
3.2 John Lennox and Mathematics Teacher from Hungry
Many years ago, John Lennox, an Oxford Professor of Mathematics, was in Hungary where he met a man whose demeanor impressed him greatly. In John’s own words, he said he was “…a humble man of great grace and warmth.” Eager to hear his story, John relates the following:
In the communist era he had been a village-school mathematics teacher, but he was also active in the local churches in the area, much in demand as a teacher of Scripture. One day he was summoned to the police station and questioned about his employment.
“You are a math teacher,” they said, “but you are also a Bible teacher, is not that so?”
“Yes, indeed,” he said, “I do that in my spare time.”
“And you get paid for it?” they asked.
“Not at all,” he said, “it is my contribution completely freely given.”
“We do not believe you,” they replied. “You must therefore choose. Either you continue as a school teacher or as a Bible teacher but not both, and you must give us your decision very soon.”
He went home that night to his family with a heavy heart. He had a large family, and it was not easy to feed them all, yet he decided to discuss the matter with them. He called them together and said, “I never want you children to be able to say that they were not consulted by their father in big decisions affecting family life.” So he outlined to them the choice he faced. What should he do?
The youngest boy in the family said, “Dad, I cannot imagine you without a Bible in your hands.”
The decision was made and he had to leave the school. Finding work was difficult, and in the end he had to content himself with the backbreaking work of lifting and carrying heavy slates in a quarry. The slates had sharp edges, and his wife told me that many an evening she had to dress his hands with bandages so that the blood from his many abrasions would not drip onto the Bible he was using in the pulpit.
One day he was called into the manager's office. “I hear that you once taught mathematics?”
“That's right.”
“Well,” said the foreman, “I am under qualified for my job, and under new regulations we all need basic qualifications in mathematics. How would you like to teach me, instead of working in the quarry?” He jumped at it and discovered to his joy that his pay was more than he had received as a teacher in the school.
Here is a man who discovered contentment in a remarkable way. God’s peace reigns over those who have ordered their lives to live out God’s will. The truth is knowing God gives you confidence and contentment: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Even if an earthquake shakes up your life, you’ll have composure because of the security God gives you: “Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea…” (Psalm 46:2). The people who know God shall be strong. When you know God, you can move forward with confidence and contentment. Nothing will give you more day-to-day confidence and contentment in your life than knowing God.God gave Elijah the confidence as he faced the evil treachery of King Ahab and Jezebel. God gave Daniel the confidence to fearlessly confront the pressure of Nebuchadnezzar. And God gave the Apostle Paul the confidence to face the persecution for sharing Christ.
1. Experience Real Peace Through Prayer
2. Stop Your Worries by Mind Control
3. Crush Your Worries Through Contentment
4. Curb Others’ Worries Through Compassion
You’ll never truly find happiness until you are concerned for other people’s joy. “Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again” (Philippians 4:14-16).
Philippians is a thank you letter for a gift from a church concerned about their former pastor because he’s been jailed for his faith. I’ll be brief here but we can relieve someone’s anxiety by showing we care. We can relieve someone’s anxiety by showing compassion in times of need: “I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18). Take careful note in verse eighteen that God Himself is pleased when we give to others in need. God loves it when His children are so sure of Him that we risk what we cannot lose in order to see God work both in our life and others’ lives.
God is a big God. Giving to others in a time of need works like the super moon I keep talking about. Like a Supermoon, the moon doesn’t grow larger from one night to the next. No, we witness simply a full moon when the orbit of the moon is closest to the earth. And giving to others when you need the funds, makes God grow bigger. In reality, our faith in God grows and increases because we move close to God. God loves it when His children are so sure of Him that we risk what we cannot lost in order to see God work both in our life and others’ lives.
1. Capture Real Peace Through Prayer
2. Combat Your Worries by Mind Control
3. Crush Your Worries Through Contentment
4. Curb Others’ Worries Through Compassion
5. Calm Your Worries Through Praise
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Philippians 4:19–20). Somebody needs to memorize Philippians 4:19 here today. Fellow Believer in Jesus Christ, you have the equivalent of Spindletop underneath you. You do not understand all the resources God has placed at your disposal when you fully rely on Him in prayer, a focused-mind, contentment, compassion, and worship.
When you worship the Lord, the result is you are CALM. Celebrate God’s goodness: “Rejoice in the Lord always…” (Philippians 4:4). Ask God for help: “…let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Leave your concerns with him: “…with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6b). Mediate on the Right Things: “think about these things” (Philippians 4:8b). The acronym is Calm. Again, when you worship the Lord, the result is you are CALM.
Be confident that God hasn’t leveraged tomorrow’s blessings from your banker. Not the big God of the Bible. Remember, God owns every cattle on a 1,000 hills. I didn’t say He owns 1,000 cattle on a hill but cattle on a 1,000 hills (Psalm 50:10). God doesn’t say, “Be anxious on Mondays,” “Be anxious in times of drought,” or even “Be anxious on test days.” He owns all and he tell you to be anxious for nothing. Instead, the One who owns all things and controls all things, commands you to rejoice and be happy in Him.
You have a Spindletop underneath you, believer. The Holy Spirit is present to calm your anxiety so you can experience the rich grace of God.
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