Trust God's Process
How often do we use Scripture to “fix” things? I do. Even though I know better, it’s really easy to find a verse to make it fit my situation, or maybe someone else’s situation. The thing is that we often miss the rest of the story when we focus on one verse. And by the “rest of the story,” it could be something at the beginning, middle, or end of the story. Without the whole story, we run the risk of being disappointed in ourselves or others, or maybe even disappointed in God because He didn’t follow through with what we interpreted that verse to say.
I’m afraid I’ve done that in the past with some very familiar verses out of Philippians. Philippians 4 includes several of my go-to verses. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). That sounds great. Let’s just go our merry way rejoicing, and everything will be good. Right?
We can even add verse 8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever thigs are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.” So, we rejoice and then think about positive things. That’s good. So why doesn’t it always work? Why are there times when I get focused on things that concern me, or if I’m being truly honest, things that worry me, things that cause anxiety, worries that I get stuck on. It’s because I’ve left out a very important part of the story, the part that completes the story and gives us what I call God’s process.
I have a note in my Bible that I wrote years ago pointing to Philippians 4:6-8 as God’s prescription for worry. I also noted that guarding our hearts and minds in Philippians 4:7 reminds us that God is taking care of our thoughts and our feelings. That’s pretty big because our thoughts and feelings can take us to some dark and painful places. But unfortunately, we often use those verses in a way that shames rather than a way that provides freedom. I’m not going to try to tell you how many times the Bible says “fear not” or “don’t worry.” Let’s just say that it’s in there a lot. And this is where it can get kind of sticky. Does that mean we’re sinning when we worry? I’m definitely not going to get into that theological discussion. But I will say that if God said it that much, I think He knew we were prone to worry, and He wanted to give us a way out. He wanted to give us His way out.
Too often, I want to pick the parts of the process that I want to do and skip over the other parts. When I look at all the verses together, God gives us a process. It’s not a magic formula; it truly is a process. It starts with a foundation of praise. Am I willing to start there? Even when I want to jump right into what I need to share with God, am I willing to start with praise? Because when I start with praise, it puts my focus on God. And my focus determines the direction I go. So, when I start with praise, I’ve started moving towards God.
When I move on to verse 6, I go from worrying to praying about what’s worrying me. And what is prayer? It’s talking to God about it. Too often I want to rush through this. I think the fear is that if I don’t rush through, I might get stuck in the worry, in the fear, in the anxiety. What if we slow down and really tell God what is worrying us? What if we tell Him those things we are so anxious about, the fears that feel overwhelming? Are we afraid that if we spend too much time in this part that we’ll get stuck? That it might be too painful? I think it’s actually the opposite. If we don’t spend enough time really telling God what’s going on in our hearts and our minds, instead of truly giving it all to Him, we run the risk of only giving Him part of it, stuffing down the rest and trying to move forward. What if we paused and really told God what was in our minds and our hearts? What if we admitted to Him, and to ourselves, what it is that we’re really worried about; and only after we’ve done that, really been honest with God and ourselves, then we move to thanking God for who He is and for His peace.
It might take longer, and it might be more painful. But what if we acknowledge all of it so that we can release it and make room for His peace to fill us and make room for His peace to fill every part that was filled by worry? And then, after acknowledging and releasing all of our worry to Him, letting His peace fill us, that’s when we move to focusing on those things that can help maintain His peace in our minds and in our hearts, in our thoughts and our emotions. What difference would it make if we slowed down how we move through the process and let God truly lead us? I think that prescription for worry can be extremely effective when we let God take the lead and follow His process, moving at His pace.
Today, in your quiet time, please join me in following His process. Start with praise, putting your focus on Him, then move to truly sharing your worries and fears with God, finishing by thanking Him for who He is and all He has done. As you allow His peace to surround you and fill you, you can more easily put your focus on all those things that He has surrounded us with that are praiseworthy. If you have trouble seeing them, remember to look toward Him.
I like the way The Passion Translation says it:
Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let your joy overflow! And let gentleness be seen in every relationship, for our Lord is ever near. Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always. Put into practice the example of all that you have heard from me or seen in my life and the God of peace will be with you in all things. - Philippians 4:4-9
I’m afraid I’ve done that in the past with some very familiar verses out of Philippians. Philippians 4 includes several of my go-to verses. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). That sounds great. Let’s just go our merry way rejoicing, and everything will be good. Right?
We can even add verse 8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever thigs are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.” So, we rejoice and then think about positive things. That’s good. So why doesn’t it always work? Why are there times when I get focused on things that concern me, or if I’m being truly honest, things that worry me, things that cause anxiety, worries that I get stuck on. It’s because I’ve left out a very important part of the story, the part that completes the story and gives us what I call God’s process.
I have a note in my Bible that I wrote years ago pointing to Philippians 4:6-8 as God’s prescription for worry. I also noted that guarding our hearts and minds in Philippians 4:7 reminds us that God is taking care of our thoughts and our feelings. That’s pretty big because our thoughts and feelings can take us to some dark and painful places. But unfortunately, we often use those verses in a way that shames rather than a way that provides freedom. I’m not going to try to tell you how many times the Bible says “fear not” or “don’t worry.” Let’s just say that it’s in there a lot. And this is where it can get kind of sticky. Does that mean we’re sinning when we worry? I’m definitely not going to get into that theological discussion. But I will say that if God said it that much, I think He knew we were prone to worry, and He wanted to give us a way out. He wanted to give us His way out.
Too often, I want to pick the parts of the process that I want to do and skip over the other parts. When I look at all the verses together, God gives us a process. It’s not a magic formula; it truly is a process. It starts with a foundation of praise. Am I willing to start there? Even when I want to jump right into what I need to share with God, am I willing to start with praise? Because when I start with praise, it puts my focus on God. And my focus determines the direction I go. So, when I start with praise, I’ve started moving towards God.
When I move on to verse 6, I go from worrying to praying about what’s worrying me. And what is prayer? It’s talking to God about it. Too often I want to rush through this. I think the fear is that if I don’t rush through, I might get stuck in the worry, in the fear, in the anxiety. What if we slow down and really tell God what is worrying us? What if we tell Him those things we are so anxious about, the fears that feel overwhelming? Are we afraid that if we spend too much time in this part that we’ll get stuck? That it might be too painful? I think it’s actually the opposite. If we don’t spend enough time really telling God what’s going on in our hearts and our minds, instead of truly giving it all to Him, we run the risk of only giving Him part of it, stuffing down the rest and trying to move forward. What if we paused and really told God what was in our minds and our hearts? What if we admitted to Him, and to ourselves, what it is that we’re really worried about; and only after we’ve done that, really been honest with God and ourselves, then we move to thanking God for who He is and for His peace.
It might take longer, and it might be more painful. But what if we acknowledge all of it so that we can release it and make room for His peace to fill us and make room for His peace to fill every part that was filled by worry? And then, after acknowledging and releasing all of our worry to Him, letting His peace fill us, that’s when we move to focusing on those things that can help maintain His peace in our minds and in our hearts, in our thoughts and our emotions. What difference would it make if we slowed down how we move through the process and let God truly lead us? I think that prescription for worry can be extremely effective when we let God take the lead and follow His process, moving at His pace.
Today, in your quiet time, please join me in following His process. Start with praise, putting your focus on Him, then move to truly sharing your worries and fears with God, finishing by thanking Him for who He is and all He has done. As you allow His peace to surround you and fill you, you can more easily put your focus on all those things that He has surrounded us with that are praiseworthy. If you have trouble seeing them, remember to look toward Him.
I like the way The Passion Translation says it:
Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let your joy overflow! And let gentleness be seen in every relationship, for our Lord is ever near. Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always. Put into practice the example of all that you have heard from me or seen in my life and the God of peace will be with you in all things. - Philippians 4:4-9
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