Shift from Fear to Focus

Bible Passage: Philippians 4:4-7

Summary: In Philippians 4:4-7, Paul encourages the believers to rejoice in the Lord, reminding them that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard their hearts and minds as they bring their concerns to God in prayer.

Philippians 4:4–7 KJV 1900

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Purpose: To let the believer know that no matter their present situation they do not have to worry if they trust in God and allow the peace of Christ to protect them!

1. Rejoice Relentlessly

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”

Paul is writes this letter to the church in Philippi from prison and yet his theme throughout the entire letter is for the church to rejoice. In this smail letter, he tells the church 16 times to either have joy or to rejoice

It seems to be a contradiction for a child of God to rejoice when trouble is around but yet, this is what Paul points out that we are to walk in.

Joy is different from happiness because happiness is derived from how you feel when your circumstances are positive.

But joy occurs when you remember that God is in control and no matter what is going on around you He has your back.

Joy encourages you that He died on the cross for you and the season you are in, whether good or bad, will show His glory in your life.

2. Gentleness Demonstrated

Philippians 4:5 “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”

That means that if you have joy, you walk in gentleness. That means you keep control of yourself.

As we grew up, we learned to respond to situations through our environment or our experiences. Those things are what shaped us as adults.

If your response was aggression because that’s all you saw, it moved into adulthood. If you learned passive aggressiveness you became a passive aggressive adult.

But the Bible says that we are to shake off the chains of our past and look to God to give us what we need to walk in His glory!

3. Pray with Thanksgiving

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

When you know that God is in control, you don’t have to worry about anything. That’s why Paul says be anxious for nothing. Nothing the enemy brings against you can stop you from doing God’s will!

Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”

When Moses told them to stand still, their focus shifted! They were no longer watching their past chase them down but rather watched what God was doing to open a path in front of them!

God wants to move your from fear to faith and that happens when He gets your attention!

Prayer is the key to shifting your focus from fear to faith! Paul says to through prayer and supplication, in other words, open your mouth and pray to God! When you pray you can ask God for what you need but when you supplicate, you remind Him of His promises to you! What did He promise you?

That He would meet your needs

That He would be with you

That He would comfort you

That He has saved you

And then once you have made those requests, you thank Him in advance for what He is getting ready to do!

Thank Him for being your keeper and your protector!

For being your healer!

For being your deliverer!

Thank Him that He is God!

4. Peace that Protects

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Once you have shifted your focus from fear to faith, then you let the peace of God cover you!

The world will not understand why you have peace in a chaotic situation! They won’t know why you are not afraid of the trouble around you, but something happens when you have peace.

You can sleep with lions and not worry about being eaten just like Daniel

You can face giants and not worry about defeat like David

You can be cast into a fiery furnace and not worry about being burned like the Hebrew boys

You can sleep in prison in the evening when they want to kill you in the morning like Peter

And you can sleep in the bottom of the boat in the midst of a storm...just like Jesus!