Through * For * By: Frankly Friday

Last night, as I was trying to get to sleep I began to preach these verses to myself.

These are verses that I keep close. It's a truth I am never done with.

"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 4:6-7

I'm pretty sure these are what Matt Chandler would call "coffee cup" verses.

Just reading them makes us "feel" better. Right?

Sort of.

This morning as I sat down to write this, I decided to read Philippians 4. Go and read it for yourself. CLICK HERE or grab your Bible.

What stuck out to me today was what comes right before verse 6.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;"

Philippians 4:4-5

THE LORD IS AT HAND;

If I would dwell on that, I would truly be anxious about NOTHING and praying and supplicating with thankfulness for EVERYTHING.

Almost everything in life is a circular cycle.

If you're mad, you're grumpy and impatient. You start to rush around and things only get worse. Which makes you even more made. Which makes you even more grumpy and impatient.

If you get the giggles, everything is funny. You try to control yourself but that only makes it worse. Which makes you laugh even harder. Which makes everything that much funnier.

If you start training for whatever, you get stronger. You find yourself having more energy. Which makes you train more. Which makes you even stronger.

Well, so it is with JOY.

I believe that joy is basically the opposite of anxiety.

So, let's get on the circular cycle to joy shall we?

Don't focus on NOT being anxious.

Don't focus on BEING filled with joy.

The Lord is at hand!

Knowing and believing and focusing and trusting in that will fill you with rejoicing. Which will chase away your anxiety. Your life will be full of praying and thanking. Which will lead you to know and believe and focus and trust in Him that much more. It's a pretty amazing cycle if I do say so myself.