Don’t Worry Because God is Near
Do you have peace? Do you want peace? How about peace that passes all understanding? How about the ability to deal with any circumstance in your life and still be able to rejoice. Last week we began a series on how to deal with difficult situations God’s way. In the book of Philippians, God inspires Paul to emphasize the need for peace in all of our lives; however, peace must be maintained through a vast number of circumstances. It must be internal because there is a lot of external craziness. When people around us are crazy, talking crazy, acting crazy, money is funny and folks are fickled we must still have peace.
In the fifth verse of our text, Paul brings our focus to the fact that the Lord is near. The ability for us to handle a difficult situation is largely related to our confidence that the Lord is always near. Paul is an example of a Christian that had reached a level of Christian maturity that allowed him to have peace in a difficult situation because he new God was near.
As we seek to live a victorious life in Christ, one of the key things that every believer must always keep in mind is how close God is to us. Paul’s circumstances did not disturb his peace. Being mistreated by others did not shake him. His physical location, being in jail, did not shake him.
God's nearness is because we have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and that relationship is unconditional. It is a relationship that says while we were yet sinners God devoted his love toward us. (Romans 5:8)
With our focus on just how near God is; we can draw number of lessons for our lives:
- We can show people what they need to see in a Christian.
- We can remain patient in difficult situations.
- We can have confidence in our prayers while going through the situation.
- We can remain positive in our difficult situations
- We can trust that God is in control
Jesus on the cross knew that God was near. He knew that God had promised him that he would never leave him nor forsake him. When we are on our crosses, when folks are acting crazy and things are crazy, we should always remember that God is near.
Lord help us remember to trust and focus on the fact that you are always near in difficult situations. Lord, help us to remember that you are near because you are in us. Lord, help us to remember that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Lord we thank you in advance for the right attitude, the right mindset, and the right relationship to handle every difficult situation in our lives. In Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN
