Philippians 4:4-7

Verse 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

We talked yesterday about how hard it is for us to trust God even though we know He is perfectly trustworthy. Paul said we are not to be anxious about anything and continues by giving some alternatives to worry. He also talked about the frequency with which we should be using these alternatives.

Paul says, “…but in every situation,” before listing the things that could help us fight our tendency to worry. Why would he slip in this little phrase? Paul knew that the real battle against the sin of worry is not a once in a lifetime, once a month or even a daily danger, it is a moment by moment fight to trust God.

This battle against worry is one that every one of us deal with. Yes, some of us are more prone to worry than others but none of us need to worry. None of us are without a God to trust. So why do we still worry? One reason is because we are not always on guard against it as we should be. If we focused on Him more than on the things going on around us, we wouldn’t stumble into worry.

We need to be on the lookout every second of every day. That means we need to be thinking about God and His trustworthy nature more than 86 thousand times a day. That’s right there are over 86,000 seconds in a day and if we were thinking about Him and His character during those many seconds we would be so sure of Him that we wouldn’t doubt that He will take care of what is on our heart.

Whether it is a change in life that we see coming but don’t understand how it will work out, or those scary words the doctor told us, we can know that not only is God near, He is in control. The victory over this battle of worry begins with the thoughts that consume our 86,000 seconds that make up each day. If we allow those moments to be plagued with thoughts of what could be instead of the God who holds us in His hands, we will not be winning the battle of worry. We need to be intentional about what we think about all 86,000 seconds. Let’s use those moments for looking to God. He is our solid foundation.

Making It Personal

What are most of your thoughts about? Do you monitor your thoughts? How can you be more intentional about your thinking?

Making It Personal Kids

What do you think about a lot? Are those things that Jesus would want you thinking about? What does Jesus want you to think about the most?

Closing Prayer

Father, we confess that we don’t monitor our thinking as well as we should. Please give us gentle reminders that we need to focus our thoughts on You. In Jesus’ name, amen.