No worries; Trusting God. 1 Kings
17:2-6, Philippians 4:4-17
The things that we see in 1
& 2 Kings in the Old testament and the ministries of Elijah and Elisha are
parallel to what is going on in the
There are many lessons that
we can learn about this from looking at the Old Testament, looking at the
ministry of Elijah and Elisha. James tells us that Elijah was a man with a
nature like ours and that is an important point to emphasize because so often
we think that there is something qualitatively different about these Old
Testament heroes. What James is telling us is that there is nothing
qualitatively different. The fact is actually that we have something better,
because as church age believers we have been identified with Christ, baptized
into Christ by means of the Holy Spirit, we have the indwelling and filling of
the Holy Spirit, the completed canon of Scripture, and we have far more resources
spiritually to handle life than any Old Testament believer. The Gospels tell us
that John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament saints but what we
have is even greater. But we can still learn because many of these spiritual
principles that made them great and gave him tremendous courage and strength
and stability in the midst of their crises are the same that apply to us with
the distinctions related to the canon of Scripture and the Holy Spirit.
Elijah was a man with a
nature like ours and he prayed. That is part of the solution, as we will see.
When we look at the life of Elijah and going back to the Old Testament there
are six areas in which we see a comparison between 9th century BC
What we need to remember is
the five basic principles:
Psalm 56:4 NASB
“In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be
afraid. What can {mere} man do to me?”
Psalm 18:2 NASB
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom
I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” He
fortifies our soul with
His Word and
its doctrine.
Psalm 20:7 NASB
“Some {boast} in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of
the LORD, our God.”
The circumstance of the
Philippian epistle is that he is under house arrest. He lived for two years in
his own hired house. Even in the midst of his crisis and adversity his focus is
on joy, major theme in the epistle—joy in the midst of calamitous
circumstances. No one who has ever been in combat will tell that they were
without fear, but courage is overcoming that fear and not letting the fear
dictate decisions. Paul is not letting fear control. He addresses the
Philippians from a position of strength, understanding what it is like to live
in the midst of terrible circumstances, circumstances that are shaped by
adversity, oppression and persecution. Real joy and peace in life is not
determined by circumstances but by a mental attitude that is grounded on the
Word of God. To get that mental attitude demands discipline, mental discipline.
As believers to handle what is coming in this country we have to become
mentally tough—not just bootstrap tough but tough because we have devoted
ourselves to the teaching of God’s Word and it has become a part of us.
Philippians 4:4 NASB
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” This is a present
active imperative. Almost all of the commands in this section are present
imperatives. The reason that is important is because the present imperative
stresses something that is to be the normative standard operating
characteristic of a believer’s life. When he shifts to an aorist he is making a
priority out of that but a present imperative emphasizes that this is to be the
day by day, moment by moment mentality of the believer. We are to have a mental
attitude of joy. Jesus said that of His Word abides in us then we will have His
joy. So this joy isn’t something that is separated from the Word, that is
distinct from the Word or that is somehow divorced from the relationship with
God. It is not just something that we create in the strength of our own flesh
but it is the result of the W0rd of God and the Spirit of God.
Philippians 4:5 NASB
“Let your gentle {spirit} be known to all men. The Lord is near.” The word in the
Greek for “gentleness” really defines a type of thinking, an objective, stable
way of looking at life. It refers to a considerate, thoughtful or rational
mindset that is able to objectively evaluate life situations without either
falling into self-interest or emotion and panic. It is a mindset of
objectivity; and because of that we are not going to yield to the panic and the
pressure and emotion of a situation—one of the ways in which Satan can distract
us from our job. Paul is talking in this passage about a mindset that remains
stable and focused, keeping our focus on the path that God has given us, what
He has called us to do in the Christian life. The command that is here is to
let this “gentleness” be known; it is something that becomes known, it is
passive. We don’t tell everybody about it, they observe it. They watch us.
People around us observe what is going on in our lives and how we respond to
the adversity around us and they see that there is something solid, something
stable, something that doesn’t get ruffled by the details of life. We are
commanded to let that way of thinking be observed by those around us; the
motivation is “the Lord is at hand [near].”
Philippians 4:6 NASB
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” The positive command. To
be anxious for nothing is a present active imperative, it is to be present all
of the time. It is the Greek verb merimnao
[merimnaw]. It is the present active imperative here,
indicating that normal mentality. The idea of anxiety here, sometimes
translated “care” or “concern,” is really the negative side of that word. It
has a positive use but also a negative sense which is what is being prohibited
here, and it is really the idea of taking an emotional responsibility for
something that we have no control over. Paul uses this word is a positive way
earlier in the epistle in
Luke
So we are to take
everything, not just the things we think are important, to Him by means of
prayer and supplication. Paul uses both words for prayer here that we find in
the New Testament Greek, euchomai
[e)uxomai] and deomai
[deomai] and the point of what he is saying is that we need
to pray. By using both words he is emphasizing the fact that we need to
communicate with God. That is what prayer is, the privilege of every believer
to have personal communication and conversation with God. Because of the death
of Christ on the cross we have direct access to the throne of God at all times.
WE need to come in fellowship but we need to bring to the Lord our prayers,
requests and needs with thanksgiving. We are to be thankful in all things and
for all things. So we need to look at the trends of our era and be thankful for
those things that we know are not good because there is a reason for these
things. God is in control and so we are to focus. Thanksgiving makes us focus
on God’s grace—gratitude is the other side of the coin to grace. The result of
our taking our requests to Him is given in verse 7.
Philippians 4:7 NASB
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace there is a peace that comes
from God. It is not bootstrap tranquility, it is a stability that is
supernatural. Galatians
So what we need to do on a
consistent basis is apply the three steps of the faith-rest drill. Claim a
promise. We need to have promises in our control. We need to know the Word of
God, to memorize the Word of God. We then think through it, mediate on it,
think about it, roll it over in our minds and focus on what is said and why it
makes the promises it says. As we do that we come to understand the thinking
that is embedded in the promise, the rationales, and it leads to the
conclusion—that we can trust God and therefore rest and relax.