Article for December 15, 2024
Philippians 4:4–5a 4Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
The age of reason was supposed to be an insurmountable success for mankind. But the truth is that our reasoning also set us back. Not that we did not gain from our reasoning, but that we also lost reasoning at the same time. It seemed like we traded reasoning with God to reasoning without God.
We could look at our reasoning as a scientific method or means of evaluating. This indeed was a breakthrough to mankind as we put our education to good use and test. But using reasoning to explain faith and Christianity set us back and harmed many people in its wake. Especially today as we have many churches now that rely on man’s reasoning rather than relying on faith in our God or in God’s word.
Maybe what is being said here is not to rely on your own reasoning but rely on the reasoning you gained through faith in God and God’s word. This would seem to make more sense as we know our own reasoning is interwoven with our own sinful nature. This would give way to having a reasonableness that trusts God’s word over that of mankind.
Think of it this way, we rejoice in the Lord because our faith is in the Lord. Nonbelievers rejoice in themselves but not for long as they try to put their trust in themselves not knowing that their sinful nature has rusted their reasoning.
Philippians 4:5b–6 The Lord is at hand; 6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Don’t we find ourselves suffering more anxiety when we try to trust ourselves or others? Of course, most of our anxiety is caused by our impatience as we seek instant satisfaction. Nevertheless, mankind puts too much faith in those who claim to be experts and truly those who glorify themselves. But those who put their faith in God and His word might learn patience through trusting our Lord, as our Lord gives us good things for all.
We build our trust in the Lord through prayer and through waiting for the answer to our prayer. We should look for the answers to our prayer or at least trust that God heard our prayer and will act upon our requests. When we realize our prayer is answered we then should and willingly thank and praise God for the answer whether it was a yes, no, or not yet.
For all the things that go on in our lives and in our world, we should always let our requests be known to God. Praying much should be one of our greater priorities. Though God knows our hearts better than we do, God can mend and revise our hearts by listening to our requests. God wants us to grow our hearts for Him and for each other that we to might have a better understanding of our hearts for our sake too.
God’s mission for us is to keep us growing in knowledge and maturing in our faith. God gives us hopes that we might be His children forever. We are His children adopted through Jesus Christ. We have a Father in heaven who is also our teacher. What we learn from God grows our knowledge and our faith. We would do well then to let our reasonableness be in line with the Father’s and the Son’s and the holy Spirit’s.
Philippians 4:7 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
How can anyone say it better? The peace of God comes from His Word, and God’s Word is Jesus Christ, and the understanding of God’s Word come through the Holy Spirit.
We know Jesus suffered and died for our sins, so peace is given to us all. We know that Jesus on the cross prayed to the Father to forgive us, so peace can abide in our heart. We know that Jesus went to the grave as we all will, let our rest give us peace as well.
We know Jesus was resurrected, so peace can thrive in our resurrection. We know we have a God who loves us to life, so peace will abound in all believers now and forever. Amen.
Written by Pastor Curtis May
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