LENTEN READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

DAY 32

Reading: Paul's Letter to the Philippians and Colossians

If only I could have the freedom from anxiety that Christ promises through Paul in his letter to the Philippians. Paul is under house arrest, preparing for his trial before Caesar. He may or may not live to see the Philippians again. He does not know.

In situations like this I spend so much energy manufacturing fear.

What will tomorrow bring? What if this happens? What if that happens?

By the end of the day I have worked myself out of the Lord's peace.

I once read that most of our days are lived in the future or in the past. We worry about what the future will bring and we worry about the things we have done or said in the past.

Jesus was very clear about this. In Matthew 6, he tells us not to worry about tomorrow because each day has enough troubles of its own and no one by worrying has ever added an hour to his life.

He was trying to tell us to live each day, each hour, each moment at a time, not letting our anxious imaginations conjure up and dwell on future disasters that in all likelihood will never take place.

But how is this possible?

Paul was anxious about many things too. He was human. And yet though he worried and fretted about his churches and his friends and his own future, he had learned to deal with anxiety.

In fact, he tells us that he had learned the secret of being content in all circumstances. What is that secret?

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13)

Did you catch the secret? I can do all things through him who gives me strength. The “him” of course is Christ.

Rather than fretting about tomorrow, focus on Christ.

“Do not be anxious about anything but in everything 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.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

Give your anxieties and your worries to God in prayer, asking him for help, thanking him for his help in the past, laying out your worries for the future and leaving them in his hands. Then focus your mind and your heart on Christ.

The promise is that if you do this consistently, you will have freedom from anxiety. You will have the peace of Christ because you will have the mind of Christ.

The problem of course is that this is far easier said than done. Sometimes I feel this is impossible.

But think about it. Paul had an enormously stressful life by any standard and yet he came to the point where this was in fact possible. He learned the “secret of contentment” by passing through the vail of anxiety.

I think this is going to be true for me and, likely, for you as well. Contentment is a secret to be “learned.” That means we must be taught.

This teaching involves being thrust, like Paul, into circumstances that demand trust in Christ and trust in Christ alone. It is in the furnace of these circumstances that peace is forged as we learn to seek the face of God, pour out our anxieties and fears, and trust in his provision and his providential love.

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