Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!  Let your graciousness be known to everyone.  The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.    Philippians 4:4-7  HCSB

The phrase, “What’s your problem?”, is normally something we say when we are upset with someone.  We usually say it out of anger and not concern for that person.  You may say it when someone cuts you off in traffic or in a situation where you might say, “Are you nuts?”  or like my six year old niece likes to say, “Are you insane?”.  It’s not a phrase that we use to show genuine concern, in other words.  It is a phrase that indicates that we are agitated with this person.  We feel the need to point out the fact that something must be wrong with them to cause them to act in such a manner.

But as Christians, our scripture passage today tells us to do this a bit differently.  First it starts off by telling us to rejoice.  It doesn’t say when everything is going well, rejoice.  It simply says rejoice.  Psalm 118:24 says, This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  It doesn’t say, if everything goes our way, we will be happy.  It says that God has given us this day and has allowed us to remain here on this planet.  He’s given us another day to rejoice and be grateful for all the wonderful things He has done for us.

Then our scripture passage says to let our graciousness be known to everyone.  Yep! Even the person that cuts you off in traffic deserves your graciousness.  We are to love the unlovable. Now if you think about the grace that God extends to us, how can we not extend that to others.   Matthew 5:44 goes so far as to tell us to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us.  

The next part of this passage tells us that the Lord is near.  Now this could be taken in two ways.  First of all if you are cussing someone that has upset you, know that the Lord is near and is hearing every word.  But I like to look at it this way.  I like to think that because the Lord is near, we should have no fear.  Isaiah 41:10 says, Do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you; I will help you;  I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.  Now if you want to take the time to read the rest of Isaiah 41, it goes on to say that it’s not gonna be so good for those that mess with a child of God.  It says that those that come against us will be ashamed, disgraced and will become as nothing and will perish.

So if we know all this, then why should we worry?  So again I ask, what is your problem?  I am not asking because you have agitated me.  I am asking because I want you to know that whatever your problem is, it’s not too big for God.  God does not want us to live in fear and be filled with anxiety.  He wants us to come to Him.  He wants to help us in times of trouble.  Even when we come to God and He doesn’t work things out as we had hoped he would, we can be assured that if we truly love Him and are doing what He has called us to do that He is working all things out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28-30).

So if you feel that your problems are weighing you down, know this:  God’s got this.  He wants you to turn to Him.  He wants to walk through this with you and guide you every step of the way.  But you must let Him do it.  You must choose to turn to God.

There are many awesome stories in the Bible about how God took care of His people in some extremely dire circumstances.  Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:16-28), Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:13-30), David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-58), the battle of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles, chapter 20) are just a few examples of God taking care of His people.  God brought these people through some seemingly impossible situations.  He wants to do the same for us today.

If you are filled with worry and anxiety, know that you don’t have to be.  Whatever your problem may be, give it over to God.  Submit yourself to God and give all your trouble over to Him.  This frees you up to enjoy that peace and understanding that we are always talking about.

Have a great day!