Wednesday, July 21: Philippians 4- What are you thinking about?

The word from the Spirit that spoke most clearly to me today concerned what I spend my time thinking about. Paul speaks a powerful promise to his friends at Philippi when he writes in verses 8-9: Finally, brothers, 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. ... And the God of peace will be with you.

Read that again… God promises His peace as we think about things that are true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. I know I appreciate peace in my life.  Here is a recipe for peace… pay attention to what you think about!

One day traveling on my recent trip to Nigeria, I was traveling in the morning and it was clear I was going to get back to campus late for my 1pm class. For a while I sat in the van fretting about the traffic, road conditions and the weather.  Rain was coming and that would only slow us down more! I could feel anxiety rising within me. After a time of fretting, I recognized that there was nothing I could do. I sent a text to a student telling him that I would be a few minutes late.  I then began to think about what I would teach, about each of my students and the privilege I have to teach.  I also thought about the wonderful greenhouses I had just visited that were producing excellent food as a source of income for Nigerian orphans. Without trying to produce peace, my shift of focus to things that were good, pleasing, excellent and gifts of God, brought peace.

I lived the promise of this verse! And it was only this morning during my daily scripture reading that I realize what happened the other day in the van.

Meditating on these verses, I noticed that it is what we ‘think on’ that brings or blocks God’s peace. We cannot often control what happens to us but we can control what we think upon. That, it seems, is the message of the text.

Before prayer, I allowed myself to meditate more on this text, giving me more practical ways to live this text… may God bless your meditating, too.

Lord, I confess that living the truth of this text is not natural to me.  Help me by your grace to incorporate this truth into my life so that it becomes more and more natural for me to live this way. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.