There have been many occasions I have been disappointed, or had expectations that were not met. Over the past few years, God has led me to some principles from His Word that has given me guidance.
Philippians 4:4 (NIV) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 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.
In this passage there are several things God lead me to understand.
1) vs. 4 - Rejoice in what God is doing. God is always at work. He is at work in my life, my church, my family and my community. There are times I see it, times I don’t. There are times I understand it, and times I don’t. There are even times I don’t like it – having God work in your life usually causes much pain and discomfort for a season – that is often very traumatic and difficult. But none the less, God is at work – are we are urged – even commanded to rejoice in that fact.
2) vs. 5 - Let your gentleness be evident to everyone. Interestingly enough, the Greek work for “gentleness” is also translated “patience” in other places. I often struggle with being patient before the Lord. But Paul says that I am to demonstrate my patience in such a way that it is evident to all who watch me. That patience is evident in the way I deal with people, with situations and even or perhaps especially, in dealing with disappointment.
3) vs. 6 – Go to God with everything. It seems in this verse that I face a choice: I can either take it to God in prayer or be anxious and feel that it is my job to solve or fix everything. I am coming to the conclusion that only God can change a person’s heart – and until that heart is changed, there is really nothing I can do. As pastor, I am called to preach/teach, model, lead and speak the truth in love – all to the glory of God. I have tried to get people to change patterns of life, change sinful habits, even modify responses to life’s situations – but ultimately, none of that will be lastingly changed until God changes a heart. So rather than fretting about it, if I understand this scripture correctly, I am to take it to Him in prayer and trust Him for the outcome. I still struggle with this one … (smile).
4) vs. 7 – Allow the peace of God to rule my heart and mind. When I do the things listed above, there is a peace that only God can give. Again, I would love to tell you that I experience this peace all the time, but I would be lying. (grin) However, I have experienced this peace often enough to know that it is possible – and that it is not something that I can find in any other place than total obedience to Him.
5) vs. 8 – Choose to focus on what is pleasing to God. On any given Sunday I can find what I truly want to find when I come to worship. It is totally and completely up to me what I choose to focus or dwell on. There are Sunday’s where people have been saved, baptized that I come away frustrated because I chose to focus and dwell on something other than what was pleasing to God. On those Sundays, those people were still saved, lives were still touched, God was honored, but I forfeited my right to experience the blessing because I was disobedient to God by choosing to dwell, focus or concentrate on something that might have not been to my liking or perhaps even to His liking. This is where I face a great challenge weekly – there isn’t a week when everything goes right and everybody is happy. So what do I choose to focus on? What do I choose to ingest into my heart? What do I choose to talk about? What do I choose to fill my thoughts with? It is totally up to me. And God will honor my choice with either a peace that passes all understanding or a heart and mind filled with turmoil, anxiousness, and misery.
Again – I wish I could tell you that I always get this right – I don’t. But when I don’t, it isn’t a problem with God’s Word, or even the situation that disappointed me, or the people around me, but rather it is an indication that I am knowingly choosing to disobey God and the principles of His Word. I have to remember to rejoice, for God is at work in my life.
