Be happy, He is near!

Phil 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice! 5 Let everyone see your forbearance. The Lord is near! 6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds a in Christ Jesus.

Food for thought!

Many of us have heard of that famous song by Bobby McFerrin, BE HAPPY DON’T WORRY! 

This man says that the reasons why we should be happy is, as he says:

In every life we have some trouble/ When you worry you make it double/ Don't worry, be happy. Ain't got no place to lay your head/ Somebody came and took your bed/ Don't worry, be happy. The landlord say your rent is late/ He may have to litigate/ Don't worry, be happy. Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style/ Ain't got no gal to make you smile/ But don't worry, be happy.

What McFerrin says is true: In every life we have some trouble; also it is true that when you worry you make it double. However, we are not going to be happy just because every life has problems, or because when me worry we double our problems. There  has to be a far greater reason to make us happy. It is not enough to know that everybody has their own share of problems, it in important to know something more. There has to be another reason to make us happy despite our circumstances.

I want you to be happy not because everybody is struggling with some problem, which is true, but because of what Paul says. THE LORD IS NEAR!  This is the secret of living. It was Paul’s secret. When Paul wrote these words, he was in prison. When Paul penned these words, he was bound between two soldiers in a Roman prison; He himself was lying in prison with certain death awaiting him. Still, Paul knew that regardless of the circumstances of his life, God was near him; Paul knew that God never changes. That is why he told us to "rejoice in the Lord." People will change, circumstances will change and life constantly changes, but the Lord never changes! He is the same yesterday, today and always.

Some of us, whenever we happen to be going hardships, or suffering, we want all the world to know and stop to console us, sympasize with us. Paul is doing the opposite; in spite of being imprisoned, he urges us to be happy, to rejoice, to show our forbearance. It was during this imprisonment that Paul wrote his best letters, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Yes, something good can and must come from from our suffering, our problems, our prison.

The reason for our happiness is the presence of the Lord; we are never left to ourselves; God is near. This is the same reason John the Baptist is telling the people in the gospel reading. Because the Lord is near, "If you have two coats, give one away," he said. "Do the same with your food." 12 Tax men also came to be baptized and said, "Teacher, what should we do?" 13 He told them, "No more extortion-- collect only what is required by law." 14 Soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He told them, "No shakedowns, no blackmail-- and be content with your rations."

In other words, don’t cheat on your customers or your spouse because God is near and watching. Your customers or boss may not find out, your spouse may not know that you are cheating on her or on him, but the Lord sees and knows because He is near! 

It is one thing to know why one should not worry and another to know how not to worry. How could one keep from worrying when one is surrounded by apparently insurmountable problems and difficulties? Paul gives us an answer in the second part of the reading. "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (4:6) 

In every situation, in every difficulty or problem, in all circumstances, Paul knows one thing we should do rather than worry, and that is: take it to the Lord in prayer. Paul does not ask us to deny that we've got problems or to pretend as if they are not there. He urges us rather to face our problems squarely, not with worry but with prayer. Turn worries into prayers.

This is how we arrive at that inner peace which people around us cannot understand. "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (4:7). It is the peace that God gives, the peace that nothing in the world can give, and all because we have learnt to trust God in everything and in every situation. All because we have learnt to bring everything to God in prayer. No matter the magnitude of the problems facing us at this time, we can with the prisoner Paul pray with joy and confidence, because the Lord is near, as Dan Schutte taught us to sing:

Yahweh, I know you are near,

standing always at my side.

You guard me from the foe,

and you lead me in ways everlasting.

Lord, you have searched my heart,

and you know when I sit and when I stand.

Your hand is upon me protecting me from death,

keeping me from harm.

Where can I run from Your love?

If I climb to the heavens You are there;

If I fly to the sunrise or sail beyond the sea,

still I'd find You there.

You know my heart and its ways,

you who formed me before I was born

in the secret of darkness before I saw the sun

in my mother's womb.

Marvelous to me are Your works;

how profound are Your thoughts, my Lord.

Even if I could count them, they number as the stars,

You would still be there.