Living While We Wait

Everyone wants joy in life. When we read these few verses, we could think that Paul’s mind was on heaven as he just finished talking about being a citizen of heaven. That thought in and of itself should energize any believer. Then we add that the Lord is coming soon, and we get even more excited. But how do we live while we wait for the Lord to come back and not lose our excitement?

There are distinct qualities that mark the life of those who expect the coming of the Lord and know themselves to be citizens of heaven, though resident aliens of earth.

Undaunted Joy (v 4)

It is strange that a man in prison would be telling a church to rejoice. But Paul’s attitude teaches us an important lesson: Our inner attitudes do not have to reflect our outward circumstances. Paul was full of joy because he knew that no matter what happened to him, Jesus Christ was with him.

Several times in this letter, Paul urged the Philippians to be joyful, probably because they needed to hear this. You see, friends, the joy of the Christian is not a passing quality. Rejoicing is not to be reserved for special times of worship or praise. It is to be uninterrupted and unbroken.

I know it’s easy to get discouraged about unpleasant circumstances or take unimportant events too seriously. If you haven’t been joyful lately, you may not be looking at life from the right perspective. Paul is saying to us, in spite of the circumstance—in spite of annoyance, disagreement, persecution—rejoice! This was a theme in his life.

This undaunted joy that Paul had comes from Christ dwelling within him. Must I remind you that you have Christ dwelling within you as well, thus, you should have undaunted joy.

We can have undaunted or ultimate joy because we know that Jesus is with us while we await his return. To rejoice is to appropriate and rest upon the redemption won by Him for us and to live in the freedom His redemption provides.

Gentleness (v 5)

The next quality that we should have is gentleness. Depending on your version, you may have a different word, for example, in KJV moderation, RSV forbearance, and NLT considerate.

Reflecting on these different translations and questioning whether the words describe us is a fruitful exercise. Ask yourselves, are you considerate in all you do? Do you have a patient mind? How often do you appear gentle and understanding?

When I reflected on these various words, I stood condemned. Patience is not my best quality.

The NKJV uses “gentleness.” I'm afraid it is a lost word as a description of Christians. Our way of relating is shaped by the blunt world in which we live—a world of assertiveness, curtness, and presumption. So many presume that someone or this world owes them something. God forbid we bring race up and what someone has done to someone else because of the race or their culture. Please listen to me on this, the bible describes only one race and that is the human race. No one is better than the other, treat one another as a human being and you will end racism.

Just think what a little yeast in the leaven we might become if we cultivated gentleness. This is not a “soft” virtue but rather a bent of character that controls our capacity for rage and activates our capacity to love. Gentle Christians are courteous and kind; they exercise restraint and practice restraint in speech, knowing that words can wound and silence may be more affirming than chatter. They do not intrude into another’s life but are available to and responsive to others’ needs.

As we live as lambs in a wolves’ world, let us be gentle. We must be considerate (reasonable, fair-minded, and charitable) to those outside the church and not just fellow believers. This means we are not to seek revenge against those who treat us unfairly, nor are we to be overly vocal about our personal rights.

Isaiah described Jesus and how the Messiah would offer his back to those who would beat him, who would pull out his beard. Christ did not hide his face from mockery or spitting. He was gentle like a lamb being led to the slaughter. We must be gentle.

Peace Through Prayer (vv. 6-7)

The last quality for us to have is peace through prayer. Paul writes, “Be anxious for nothing”—an admonition that touches the quick of every person. Anxiety, in the popular use of the term, is our most common problem. Worry, confusion of mind, pressures of daily life, uncertainty about the future—if we began to catalog specific aspects within these general categories, we would soon run out of space.

Depression is the most common emotional problem in America today and one of the most difficult with which to deal. Often the severity of depression requires hospitalization, but those who are hospitalized, even those who are under the care of a doctor for this sickness, represent only a small portion of our population who are functioning far below the level of effectiveness as persons, who are weighed down so oppressively by anxiety that they cannot even dream of taking themselves lightly.

Uncertainty and ambiguity—not knowing about the future, and a confusion about value and things as they are—are characteristics of life. We need to adopt Paul’s word, “Be anxious for nothing.”

Anxiety, in the way Paul is using the term and the way we most often experience it, is the pointless, frustrating, debilitating attempt to bear the burdens of life and especially of the future, ourselves, alone. The Christian answer to anxiety is confident prayer which issues in “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding” (v. 7).

By no means am I making light of this sickness of anxiety. I am not using a pious cliche. Remember, Paul was in prison. Ponder for even a minute the immediate circumstances out of which this word came, and let the movement of his life be flashed, however quickly, upon the screen of your mind.

At every step of his Christian journey, the hound of anxiety was snapping at his heels. And even when the hound was not in biting distance, its howl must have sounded loud in his ears. Fears, uncertainty about the future, persecution, physical disease, mental anguish—again, the list could become a catalog.

Paul’s word comes from the sweaty arena of life where his word needs to be heard and from a person who has experienced the answer he is offering. His offer of prayer is not an easy solution; no magic formula here, no bedtime or morning rote repetition of words that we have labeled prayer. He is talking about the serious business of bringing our lives before God, examining our dependence upon God, placing our lives in God’s hands to be used, remembering and celebrating what God has already done, confessing our needs and dedicating our gifts, committing ourselves and all that we are to make our common cause God’s kingdom, not our own kingdom.

When prayer is seen in that fashion, it is not shallow to say that anxiety is an attempt to carry the burden of the present and the future oneself; prayer is yielding it to and leaving it in the safe hands of God. Prayer, supplication, and requests are not to be separated; they are synonyms.

Jesus said we must become “like children” to possess the kingdom. The childlike capacity to trust, to trust God for the present and the future, is a characteristic of being a disciple of Christ. We cultivate the capacity to trust God through our life of prayer. As our capacity to trust in God expands, our tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity grows and our anxiety diminishes.

The peace of God then “guards [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” The opposite of anxiety is peace. Not numbness nor unconcern, not the absence of inner and outward struggle, but God’s peace, the peace that is from Him, giving us hope and confidence, strengthening us to carry on with joy when the burdens are heavy and the pathway rough. This peace has little to do with outward circumstances, which is why Paul said the peace of God would guard our hearts and minds.

God’s peace is different from the world’s peace. True peace is not found in positive thinking, in absence of conflict, or in good feelings. It comes from knowing that God is in control.

Let us all remember that our citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin. Let God’s peace guard your heart against anxiety.

I want to leave you all with this word from 2 Cor. 4:16-18, “Never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. Four present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

As we live while we wait on Christ, may we have these qualities to set us apart from the rest of the world. Renew your commitment to serving Christ faithfully today. Don’t forsake your eternal reward because of the intensity of today’s pain. Amen