Cold, dark, damp, lonely, hopeless. Those are all good descriptions of the dungeons we saw on a recent trip that included castle tours. Not the ideal place to write letters from. If I were in chains in a dungeon, I would probably have the tendency to dwell on my dwelling place, my predicament, my health, my mental and emotional state and if there was any chance that somebody, somewhere, somehow could rescue me from my plight.
But the Apostle Paul was different, despite his grim circumstances, he was able to write one of the most encouraging messages in all the Bible to the Philippians in chapter 4.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I come from a family of worriers. I can picture my grandmother literally wringing her hands, worrying about all the things that might happen to all the people in her life. Which is why I was drawn to these verses and especially verses 6 and 7, which have become my life verses.
I think Paul was able to write these words because he was full of joy, which unlike happiness, is possible regardless of your circumstances. Paul also understood JOY, putting Jesus first, then others, then you. You may be reading this and thinking “But you don’t know my circumstances…” and I probably don’t. But God does and He knew Paul’s circumstances as well and He also knows the rest of the story. Let’s rejoice, be gentle, stop worrying, pray with thanksgiving and ask God for what we need. His peace will protect us in Christ.
