Faithbase

Thriving. Week one, day one. The beans, or the background. The city of Philippi was considered to be progressive and even allowed women to have a good deal of independence. Today, we're going to be looking at a portion of a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi. Paul wrote this letter while he was under house arrest with the intention of thanking them for the gift they had sent him earlier to announce that his apprentice Timothy would soon visit them again and to address a fight going on between two women in the church. The verse, Philippians chapter four, verses six through nine. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every prayer, in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you. The fill. What's the point? Verses six and seven may sound familiar to you. You may remember seeing those words as a part of some pretty graphic on social media or sign somewhere. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. It's a pretty saying, right? But how? I can remember reading this verse and hearing sermons with this message. Simply place your trust in God and then let the rest go. All of which made me want to just scream, okay, but how, how do I just give up this anxiety? What magical prayer do I need to utter in order to receive this wave of peace? The key I've learned is to keep digging. Verses eight and nine highlight a super important point. Think about such lovely things and whatever you've learned, heard or seen, put it in to practice. What Paul was saying was, if you want to let go of anxiety, if you want to feel God's peace, well, you've got to know of his peace. So study him, who he is, put his truth in your heart so that when those worries and doubts and fears do creep up, you have something else in your brain to default to instead. But you can't put his words into practice in your life unless you know what his words are, right? So what then? Create the habit. Unfortunately, there is no magical prayer that we can utter to have all of God's wisdom flood our brains and hearts at one time. Trust me, I've tried. So if you want to know his words in a way that actually affect your daily life in a positive way, well, sweet friend, you've got to devote some time to him. This team, what does this mean to me and how can I apply it to my life today? A few years ago, I was fed up with feeling fed up. I knew I needed to carve out time to learn and let God fill my head with his words so that I could use them to help me throughout the day. This meant that I had to spend time with him each day, no matter what life through my way. But spending time with him each day is never going to happen on accident. You have to find the right time for the current season of life that you're in. When JB was really little, evenings weren't best. But as he got older and work schedules changed, evenings no longer worked for me. So I switched to mornings before Jimmy and JB woke up, which worked great until Clay was born. Having another baby meant there were zero hours in the day that I was guaranteed everyone else in the house would be sleeping. So I had to enlist the support of my husband. I told him that in order for me to function at my best and serve our family the best I knew how, I had to fill my cup. So we've agreed that 5 to 7 a.m. are untouchable hours for Mommy. If someone wakes up, which honestly they don't much anymore, he is on duty giving me the time that I need. We're going to have to re-examine the schedule now that JB is about to start kindergarten. But again, it's taking the time to figure out what works for you in the current season you're in and then sticking to it as close as you can. Lastly, life is going to happen. There will be days where the alarm doesn't go off, the kids have too much homework, you fall asleep while you're praying, and a million other things. It won't look perfect and you may miss days here and there. But as soon as you begin to make this habit a part of everyday life, it gets easier and easier. I promise. Y'all, the point is it won't be perfect. And in fact, sometimes it is a conjoined effort with the support of a spouse or an accountability partner. But carving out time for yourself and Jesus, it's got to be a top priority. So when are you going to schedule your quiet time? Is it early in the morning with the support of your husband like me? Is it after the kids are in bed? Is it while you run the greenway? Or is it while you shower, get dressed, and then finish while you're on your drive to work? Your task for today is simply to pick a time you're going to try out with Jesus. I say try, not because you're going to try to make it happen. Girlfriend, you will make it happen. But I say try, as in you may end up switching times of day or places, etc. If you're a part of a group on the fill, I encourage you to share it with them. My quiet time this week will be at blank. Remember, we're all in this game of moving from trying to thriving together.