Growing in Joy and Peace

August 22, 2010

Background Scripture: Philippians 4
Lesson Passage: Philippians 4:1 – 14

Paul closes this letter by reflecting on the Christian’s need to think of his heavenly citizenship and anticipation of Christ’s return. This frame of mind will aid the believer in standing firm in times of difficulty. The first step is to get believers to live in the moment and not get lost in nostalgia. Looking back tends to hold one back. Allow “now” to be fully accepted, fully appreciated, and fully experienced. That will free us from the tyranny of the past. The next step is to live in anticipation of the future; not just any future but the future that God promises the believer. When the believer embraces the promises of God, then the anticipation of the future will be of greater value than present circumstances. When believers embrace the future that Christ promises, then the realization of heavenly citizenship will cause us to wait with anticipation for Christ’s return. With this attitude why complain about situations and circumstances today? If we are living for the future, it should be easier to handle today’s problems. With this in mind, Paul encouraged peace between two Philippian women who he named without necessarily offering them a solution to whatever problem they might have had between them. The nature of the problem is not the issue but the absence of peace. Harmony is achieved when Jesus becomes the center of thinking for all parties. Paul went on to request an unnamed fellow laborer of his to help to establish peace among them considering that they had been supporters in the cause of the gospel along with Paul. In other words, those who have been a part of the building process will sometimes more readily seek to fix problems than those who have not labored in establishing the ministry. This observation of them as fellow laborers is of note because of the circumstances that led Paul to Philippi in the beginning. God gave Paul a vision of a man in Macedonia requesting him to come and help them. However, when Paul arrived he only found a group of women praying by the river. He labored with them and through his ministry, Lydia and her household were saved. Lydia represents the type of person that very well could be considered a fellow laborer with Paul in Macedonia. She was part of the original prayer group by the river. She knew that God had brought the Philippian believers a long way from that prayer band to a functional church with bishops and deacons. Sometimes those who are not likeminded need help from other mature Christians to assist in bringing about reconciliation.

Again Paul could rejoice as he reflected on the generosity of the Philippians in providing for his needs. Believers should rejoice in God’s provision not as a sign of approval but as an act of true thanksgiving. Contentment should not be dependent on having material goods but it should be independent of them as one learns to depend on Jesus for all things in every situation. Christ gives us the strength to handle all situations and to do all things.

Robert C. Hudson
August 14, 2010