“Here’s a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note for note. Don’t worry, be happy!” That line is from a famous song that we have all probably heard before. If you aren’t familiar with it, perhaps you might be more familiar with this more recent line sung by a warthog named Pumba and a meercat named Timon: “Hakuna Matada, what a wonderful phrase. Hakuna matada, ain’t no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of your days!” Was this one more familiar? The messages of these songs are nice, but they aren’t exactly easy. They are certainly easier said than done. Someone can tell you, “Don’t worry, be happy!”, but does that really help? Does it suddenly make things all better? Does it make you no longer feel worried? No. Of course not! If Paul the Apostle were alive today, how would he rewrite these songs on worry? What would it look like? What would he say? As we finish our time in Philippians, we see that Paul gives us an answer. In our text, we see his “song” on worry, one could say.
As humans, worry seems to be a natural and normal thing. A recent study on worry has revealed some very interesting findings on the things that we worry about. Experts on worry say that 45% of the things that we worry about will never happen. That is roughly half of the things that we worry about! Is that true in your life? We might worry about what someone might say or do to us. We might worry about a chain of misfortune or of scenarios that might never come true. Consider the worry of a high school student. Tim worries that if he doesn’t get good grades that he won’t get into college. If he doesn’t get into college, he won’t get a good job. If doesn’t get a job good, he won’t be able to provide for himself. He also fears that if he won’t get into college, he’ll never meet someone. If he never meets someone, he won’t have a family. If doesn’t have a family, he’ll be all alone! Our worrying can spin out of control. We can worry about what might never happen.
We can also worry about the past too. That same study revealed that 35% of our worrying is about the past. We might worry about what we didn’t say in a conversation, or what we didn’t do at work. On the flipside, we might worry about something we did say to a person, and wonder how they took it. We might even beat ourselves up about it, or wrestle with regret. Coulda, shoulda, woulda are the words here. We can worry about the past.
We also can worry about what is out of our control. About 12% of what we worry about are about things that we have no control over. This can be things like politics, government, weather, or environmental issues. Things like the California forest fires, or the North Korean situation fit here. We have no control over these things, and others like them. We can worry about what we have no control over.
The study concluded that only 8% of what we worry about is actually legitimate. About 92% of our worrying makes no sense! Worry doesn’t help the situation. It doesn’t change the future nor does it change the past. It is like a rocking chair. You use your energy to go forward and back but you end up going nowhere! We need to hear Paul’s song on worry, don’t we?
The apostle says in verse six: “do not be anxious about anything.” Well that is easy for you to say, Paul, we might think. He is not in our circumstances. What does he know about worry? In fact, he knows a lot about worry. As he writes this verse, he sits and waits in jail for his upcoming trail. If he loses this trail, it could very well mean death for the apostle. On top of it all, as he waits, he hears that the Philippian congregation is fighting and that their unity is threatened! Paul doesn’t write, say, or sing this in a stress free circumstance. Paul has many things to be anxious about. How is it that he says, “do not be anxious about anything”? It is because of prayer.
His song continues: “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” It is in times of anxiety, angst, and apprehension that the apostle points us to prayer. In prayer, we bring our requests to God and put the problems and issues in His hands. Our Heavenly Father knows our needs, but He invites us to bring our needs to Him. As we are invited to bring Him these needs, we are invited to be specific, too.
Supplications are specific requests. Let your Lord know the exact problem. You can be specific about it. He listens, and He cares! Paul says do this “in everything”. We can go to Him at all times, in all places, and for all things! Whatever the issue may be, bring it! Tell Him! Whether it is something small like help me fall asleep or something as significant as healing for one’s diabetes, tell Him in prayer! Someone once said: “There is nothing too great for God’s power; there is nothing too small for His Fatherly care.” How true is that!
Nothing is impossible for our God. In prayer, we go to the One Who can do something about those situations that stress us out and those problems that keep us up at night. In prayer, we go to the One that can help, and put it in His hands! Are there any hands more capable than His? Our Lord also cares and loves us. This is seen in His Son, Jesus, Who took on human flesh and died in our place. If God took care of the biggest problem in our lives, our sin and separation from Him, won’t He help us with these smaller ones, as well? Prayer directs our sight and gaze to the God Who loves, helps, and saves us!
The apostle is not done on his point with prayer, however. He says that “thanksgiving” should accompany our prayers. In Christ, we always have something to be thankful for. God has given us our bodies, families, friends, home, and all that we need to support our bodies and lives. Giving thanks to God shifts our attention from our problems and focuses us on God’s concrete, specific acts for us. Thanking Him helps us to see God’s goodness and care in our lives in specific ways. What is just one thing that You can thank Him for? Thanksgiving also encourages us to trust in Him and His will. It recalls what He has done for us. Thanks expresses trust in Him and in His actions. It shifts our minds from the negative to the positive. Giving thanks helps us to see what God has done for us in Christ, and what He is doing, and what He will do for us. Just like in our world, don’t forget to say, “thanks!”
As Paul’s song goes on, he points us to peace. He says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Peace. Corrie Ten Boom was a Christian woman who lived in the Netherlands during World War II. She would shelter and provide for the Jewish refugees that came her way. Her family was later arrested for their actions, and put into concentration camps. Her time there was depressing, and among some of the darkest days of her life. While there, she would encourage the other prisoners with this saying: “Look around and be distressed. Look within and be depressed. Look to Jesus and be at rest.” In her situation, she looked to Jesus, and the peace that He brings.
Paul says that this peace “will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The word for guard is a military word, which means to stand guard or watch. This would have been a familiar word to the Philippians because their city was made up of ex-Roman soldiers. God’s saving peace that He has brought the world through Jesus’ death and resurrection will stand guard like a Roman soldier, guarding our hearts and minds in Jesus. Picture that image for just a second. God’s peace will guard us. For we are kept in Christ, Who is our peace. We have been forgiven and made right with God through His anything but peaceful death. Our circumstances and worries cannot change this. This peace, this right relationship with God, is not based on our mind, our heart, or what is going on. Rather, it is based on what Jesus has done for us. Nothing cannot affect the peace that Jesus has given us with God, nor will anything ever! The peace that Jesus has given us with God helps to dispel anxiety, and it sustains us during our time of worry and trouble. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That is a promise.
As we leave our service today, we go back into the world, and will face some problems, and will encounter worry. As we do, I hope a song pops into your head. One that doesn’t say, “Don’t worry, be happy” or “Hakuna Matada,” but rather, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God’s peace be with you. Amen.
