624 Peace from Proximity - Philippians 4:5-6

If I ever truly saw God's glory, I would not fear anything but Him. 

Hi, I'm Mike Henry with Follower of One. Thanks for joining me again on the Follower of One Podcast. Today, I want to talk about a passage in Philippians 4, beginning in verse 5, "The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing." 

And that actually spans the end of verse five and the beginning of verse six.

And because I always memorize these verses, one verse at a time, I never thought too much about those two phrases being that closely related. But that is exactly what the Bible says. In John MacArthur's Truth for Today, he eliminated that verse break for me when I was reading a devotional, he wrote on this topic.

And it struck a chord in my mind. "The Lord's near-ness should cause me to be anxious for nothing. I always thought it was my job to screw up the strength to be anxious for nothing. But actually, it's the Lord's nearness that causes me to be anxious for nothing."

Today on the Marketplace Mission Trip, we're talking about the importance of knowing what we believe. If we really knew the one in whom we believe, I don't think we would fear anyone or anything, but Him. He's more powerful than I can imagine. Whatever I face can't hold a stick to Him. Knowing what we believe means having the confidence to trust Him for the next thing, because of what He's already done.

Reflect for a moment on what Jesus has done for you. When we focus on the proximity of Jesus to His nearness to us, we have nothing to fear. That's why we're told to be anxious for nothing. If I think about Him being near, being powerful, knowing what I know, handling what I fear, I stop being anxious.

"Anxiety is experiencing failure in advance", according to Seth Godin. It's planning to lose or planning to fail. But God causes all things to work together for good. Therefore, I'm free to do what He wants. My heart wants to add a, "but" to that phrase, But I'm free to do whatever He wants because of his power.

And I can experience his peace doing that. I can deny anxiety as I trust Him and walk in what he's instructed me to do. I wonder what I forfeit sometimes when I solve things on my own, I wonder what I failed to experience because I trusted myself instead of trusting the Lord who is near. 

Today on our Marketplace Mission Trip, we practice talking about knowing what we believe, being able to answer the question, "Why are you doing this?" We're free to help other people as Christ-followers because he's in charge. Because He's near, we don't have to be anxious. We're free to be helpers, to be available, to do things for other people. 

Today, I want to challenge us as marketplace Christians. Let's find ways to let our faith matter in the world; not so much by what we say, but by what we do. We live differently because we trust God. We're free to live, trusting him because his power is near. We believe in his power. We follow Him. We take our marching orders from him and he works his plan through us.

It should make us different people.  Let's spend less effort talking about Jesus and more effort living like we know how powerful he is and how close he is.

It should cause us to be anxious for nothing. It should cause us to be peaceful in everything that we do. It should cause us to be people who have time for others. Look for ways today. Ask God to show you how this shows up in your life because you're trusting Him. 

"The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing."

Keep saying it that way to yourself and let him guide you today. Thank you for being a marketplace minister. And thank you for listening to this podcast. Please share it with a friend and join us in our online community. https://community.followerofone.org Thanks very much.