Being thankful in tough times

(This is a message that was preached during our Zoom gathering by Michael Larsen, on May 24, 2020.)

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 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.

(Philippians 4:4-8)

When you are healthy and have a good job and happy relationships, it’s easy to rejoice.  How do can we rejoice and be thankful in tough times?  In this short passage today we have the four keys feeling joy rather stress.

1.  WORRY ABOUT NOTHING

“Don’t be anxious about anything."

That’s easier said than done.  We have small personal worries, like about gaining weight or the car needs washing, and then we have big worries, like about the pandemic and our health and jobs. Unfortunately, worrying doesn’t change anything.

Jesus says in Matthew 6:34,“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough troubles of its own.”   

The key to reducing stress in your life is live one day at a time.  Don’t worry about tomorrow.  Just focus on today.  Focus on today’s issues and problems.   Whenever God tells us not to do something, He always has a positive replacement. Whenever God has a “don’t” He always has a “do”.  Anytime He says eliminate this from your life,” He adds something in and that’s the second step.

2.  PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.

Verse 6 says, “but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Next time, when you feel yourself worrying about something, pray about it instead.  God says “in everything.”  Not just some things but everything you can pray about it. It says  “by prayer and petition.”  What does petition mean?  A petition means a specific, detailed, direct prayer.  Most people pray too vague so they never get any answers.  They pray such a general way.  Things like, “God, bless me.”  What is a blessing?  Can you define what a blessing is?  Sometimes a problem is a blessing.  Is that what you’re praying for?  You need to be specific.  Use petition. 

1 Peter 5:7 “Unload all your worries on Him since He is looking after you.”  We have to learn to unload our problems instead of worrying.  Prayer is a tremendous release valve.  People ask me, “How do you handle the stress?”  I just turn it over to the Lord.  Dump your worries on God. Unload them.  Learn to unload your stress through prayer.

James 4:2 says, “You do not have because you do not ask God.”  Just ask God to help you with those worries, those problems, those stresses.  Here’s the insight: No problem is too big or too small to pray about.  

Paul says if you want to relieve stress here’s what you do: Worry about nothing and pray about everything.  Simple, but it’s something that you have to learn over and over.

3.  THANK GOD IN ALL THINGS

The bible also says in v.6, “with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  

The healthiest human emotion is not love but gratitude.  It actually increases your immunity toward illness and viruses. The best way to fight the pandemic and reduces stress in your life is to have a thankful attitude. Two weeks ago, I spoke about 1 Thessalonians 5. I’m reading this chapter every day for a month. Verse 18 says “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  It does not say “Give thanks for every circumstance.”  You don’t have to give thanks for evil and suffering in the world.  The Bible says “In every circumstance give thanks.”  Not for every circumstance.  What’s the difference?  Even out of bad God can bring good.  In every circumstance, no matter how bad it is, you can give thanks to God because (a) I know He has a purpose bigger than the problem and (b) He will give me the power to overcome the problem, and (c) I will grow through the experience if I allow it to help me grow.  In every circumstance.  Even in the evil that happens in the world I can be thankful because I know God is greater than the problem.

4.  THINK ABOUT THE RIGHT THINGS

Verse 8 says, “Finally brothers, whatever I true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”  The fourth point is this: If you want to be more thankful and reduce the level of stress in your life, you must change the way you think. The way you think determines the way you feel.  And the way you feel determines the way you act.  So he says if you want to change your life, you need to change what you’re thinking about.  

It says think about the things that are true, noble, right, lovely, admirable.  It says fill your mind with those things. You choose to think about the right things.  Focus on the positive and on God’s word.  Why?  Because the root cause of stress is the way I choose to think.  Why is it that you can take two people, put them in the exact same circumstance?  One of them falls apart emotionally.  The other handles it with no problem.  Obviously, the problem is not the circumstance.  It’s your response.  It’s how you’re viewing it.  Your perspective.  How you're interpreting life.  And that’s your choice, how you’re choosing to look at the problems you’re going through right now is the source of your stress.  Your problem is not your problem.  Your problem is how you choose to respond to your problem.  You’ve got to think about it in the right way.  

Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  What do you think about most?  What dominates your mind?  Whatever you think about the most is what you’re becoming.  We always move toward what we’re focusing on.  If you want to become like Christ, you think about Him.  Fill your mind with the Bible.

What is the result of doing these things?  Worry about nothing, pray about everything, thank God in all things, keep my mind on the right things.  What’s the result?

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What a guarantee!  He is guaranteeing peace of mind.  

The key is the last phrase of that verse. “in Christ Jesus.”  It’s a relationship.  The Bible says it’s only for those who have a relationship with Christ, who put their faith and trust in Him. Then “the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds.”  God says when I trust Christ, He puts a guard on my mind.  He keeps me at peace when everything else wants to make me stressed out.  That’s the way you do it.

What’s got you worried today?  Your health?  Your finances?  Your relationships?  Follow the steps from Philippians 4:4-8

1.  WORRY ABOUT NOTHING

2.  PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.

3.  THANK GOD IN ALL THINGS.

4.  THINK ABOUT THE RIGHT THINGS.

And God’s peace will guard your hearts and minds.