Think on These Things

“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.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”

Phillipians 4:6-8

Yes, it’s been a rough season. It may still be rough. This pandemic keeps stretching on. More and more people keep getting sick, and life keeps happening. We can’t control many things, but we can control our responses to our circumstances and our minds. This week, these scriptures came up in one of my devotionals, and it was striking to me the order in which they came.

First, don’t be anxious. Realize that everything is taken care of BEFORE it’s taken care of. You know this and you thank Him–not just with your lips, but with your heart. Our God has a history of being able to work things out, and we should realize that. I believe this is so important–the knowing. When Jesus was in his home town, He did not perform many miracles, because of their unbelief. When we don’t believe, we place limitations on God that aren’t naturally present. Not because He can’t, but why should He? Our unbelief is why our mountains don’t move. Knowing that things will work out, will change, that we will be victorious before we even ask, this is important. Our God is mighty, but our faith is an important part of what He requires from us.

Next, pray, humbly, giving thanks for what you know He will do. This will give peace that won’t make sense given your current situation. Your heart and mind will be guarded. BUT IT DOESN”T STOP THERE!

The next step is so important. Because now that you have removed the worries from your mind, you must fill that space, or an idle mind will be filled with negativity again. So what do you do? Focus your mind on positive things–pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy things. You meditate on positivity.

So, I will be the first to admit that I am not necessarily an optimist–I call myself a realist. But here, it is telling us to focus on those things that are good. Additionally, many people find meditation and mindfulness uncomfortable topics, but this is one example that it is not necessarily something to be fearful of. Meditation has been shown to have health benefits, and meditation on the correct things will keep your heart and mind at peace after the appropriate steps have been taken.

I can’t tell y’all how much I have seen this at play in my own life during this pandemic. Positive thinking, thanking Him in faith, rejoicing before it’s done, gratitude and focusing on positive things, meditating on His word and my spiritual growth. I have found myself more peaceful than I could have imagined through some extremely difficult periods this year. Reading these scriptures truly hit home, because this year has been hard. My patients are sick and anxious and some have died and are dying. I’ve lost friends and loved ones. I’ve had struggles that aren’t pandemic related. But through it all, I’ve had so much to give thanks for, so much to smile about, so much light! If you know where to focus, there is so much peace in the midst of a storm. (Peter found that if you know where to focus, you, too, can walk on water! Just don’t get distracted. Matt 14: 28-29)

This too shall pass. But in the mean time, you can have peace. You can smile. You should rejoice and give thanks. Because of what you have today. Because of what will be done. “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds.”

Provision–Holiness, Not Happiness

My preacher did a sermon last week talking about our new theme. One of the words is provision. Its such an important word–and one I’ve been focused on for this past year. It’s one I’ve focused on as we approached and entered 2021. Everyone was so focused on 2021 being better. But the interesting thing was was that 2019 for me had been so hard, and 2020 was supposed to be my year. So when 2020 was what it was, I learned something: I learned that you don’t ever expect for things to magically get better because human time is hitting some milestone. I learned that things can get worse and drag on, but at the same time, things give and shift, and God has prepared you for what is coming–He has given provision.

You see, I read a book a while ago called Sacred Marriage: What if God Created Marriage to Make us Holy Instead of Happy. And good gracious–while I don’t have time to delve into ALLLLL the growth that that book gave me, it was eye opening, and the concept definitely applies: God’s purpose for our life is peace and holiness, not necessarily happiness in the human sense. Now, the more in line we are with His will, the “happier” we are. And honestly, there are happy times. But we have to get out of this mindset that God is concerned with our happiness, because truthfully, we don’t necessarily grow when we are happy. We don’t stretch when we are happy. And if you are not where you need to be, God’s main concern is getting you to that place–not keeping you happy. This is hard, but Proverbs 3:5 tells us we should “Trust in the Lord with all [our] heart and lean not unto [our] own understanding.”

So….2021….in America…may continue to be a little rough. But let me tell you what my God promises.

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Phil 4:19

“I have been young, and now I am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.”

Psa 37: 25

What does this mean? It means that no matter what you are going through, no matter what we are going through, God is going to make sure we have just what we need to get through it.

When we walked into COVID after I had just experienced the 2019 I had experienced, I learned to pray differently–Lord, give me what I need to encounter whatever you have next for me. Help me to learn whatever there is for me to learn from this. Help me to grow in the ways you see for me to grow. Stretch me how you need to stretch me. Use me how You need to use me. Because I know You have me. I know it.

And He does–Every. Single. Time.

Provision. He’s got us. We just have to trust it, put on our armor, and be ready for the amazing growth he has in store. He wants to see us at our best, not our happiest. Get ready to GROW!!

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