I have been in a deep study of Philippians. I have enjoyed it and I have been so thankful for the structure of the If: Rooted In The Word study. It has basically been a study on how to study the Word of God. So simple and helpful. Lots of me having to get past my frustration and push through, reach out, search for answers and truly learn. I have a feeling I am not the only one who struggles with studying the Word of God, especially when it gets hard or confusing.
There are so many things about Philippians that I love, but there is one verse that stands out to me. The simplicity of it, the placement of it. There are so many things that I dug into because of it and I am so thankful for it. One sentence, "The Lord in near." It is the end of verse 5. The entire verse is, "Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."
Do you ever flip out? Like flip the heck out? It could be over something big or something small and petty. The other day, we got Sonic drinks after school. Ava made an attempt to take the receipt off of her cup. You know, that stupid long receipt with the sticker on it attached to your cup. BLAST. I hate that whole concept. I don't need the receipt for 3 drinks. Anyway, she tried to take it off and took the whole lid off her drink with it. She didn't spill the whole thing, but is sloshed around and got her pants, the console, etc all sticky. I wasn't mad at her, or really mad at all, but I just flipped out with annoyance.Please tell me somebody gets it. I didn't really need to flip out. I know that, you know that. It just happens. Sometimes it looks a lot heavier than a sonic lid debacle. Sometimes it is us flipping out at our children.
Sometimes it is us being irrational at our spouse. On occasion we can lash out at the pastor or a small group leader because we don't agree with someone and have been hurt. There are times when we freak out and flip a lid because of an inconvenience, a valid emergency, a sudden turn of events.
Philippians 4:5 is saying this, "Let your calmness be obvious to those around you, The Lord is at the ready" Ok, that is my version.
5 Let your reasonableness[a] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ESV
5 Let your graciousness[a] be known to everyone. The Lord is near. CSB
5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. KJV
reasonableness, graciousness, moderation...this should be our aim. This should be our response. Why? Because the Lord is at hand, the Lord is near, the Lord is at the ready. We don't have to have it all together, because the one who does is NOT ABSENT. He is actually with you. He is ready and mighty to save. We tend to quote the next verse quite a bit, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus."
I think sometimes we struggle with this verse because we are still in freak out mode. We seem to gravitate towards freak out mode because we crave to be in control. We long to have it "all together" and when we don't, well, we flip. When our focus is on the fact that "the Lord is near", we can respond to anything life throws at us with gentleness, moderation. This is our witness. Our testimony to God's character and goodness.
Now, this doesn't mean that situations, seasons, events of our life do not initiate valid anger, responses, confusion, and sorrow. Please do not hear me saying that you should always be ok, never having emotion, reactions, responses. No, that is not it at all. God is large enough and God enough to handle our true feelings and emotions about things, but we can move from our initial emotions to a place of peace and readiness when we remember God's place and our own.
What I desire to take away from this particular part of Philippians is that I don't have to flip out, freak out or outburst at every little thing, every annoyance, every time my child does something frustrating or wrong. I can actually respond with gentleness because I don't have to prove anything. I don't have to serve justice in the moment. I don't have to even explain or make sense of what has happened. I can breathe deep and know that whatever is at hand can be handled and taken care of in the presence of God, through the Holy Spirit.
So, maybe we can all take a deep breath, scroll past that opinion someone declared on social media, click past that thing you disagree with, not be so dramatic when your kid spills the milk, even being calm when your spouse does something obnoxious the next time. Frustrating things happen, often, but we can learn and be trained, by the Word of God, to respond with gentleness.
Gentleness is a fruit of the spirit, not a fruit of our effort. We must allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and do his work, daily, so we can live with these fruits. It is possible! The Lord is near!
Much love!
SW
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