Do Not Be Anxious About Anything: Third Week of Advent Devotional
Scripture Readings: Phil 4:4-9 and Luke 3:7-20
When asked by Father Charlie to write a devotion during the season of Advent, I chose the third Sunday based on the Philippians scripture. However, I was looking at the 2024 calendar. I wrote this before I realized my mistake. This devotion is focused on two of the scripture readings for the third Sunday of Advent 2024 Philippians 4:4-9 and Luke 3:7-18.
Do Not Be Anxious About Anything
When I was 12 years old, I almost died after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. My symptoms were atypical and my stepfather who was a doctor initially misdiagnosed me with mono. Three days later, I underwent emergency surgery to remove a ruptured appendix. One night, alone in my hospital room, I prayed to God to heal me. And alone in that room, I felt the presence of God and experienced an overwhelming sense of peace. I did not first find God in church and I suspect I am not alone in this. In fact, I didn’t find God at all. I believe that in that moment, God found me. Since then, I have never doubted the existence or presence of an ever-loving and awesome God. What is exceptional about my particular experience and faith is that before my 12 year old self went to God in prayer and supplication, my relationship with God and His son was nonexistent, my church attendance limited to twice a year. I had no logical reason to believe in a God who could heal me, assure me, or save me.
Years later, I was having a difficult day and was talking with a coworker who also doubled as a neighbor and one of my best friends. She told me that she would pray for me and my family and she later sent me the following verse: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And this peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It was a powerful reminder of that same peace I felt that night alone in the hospital all those years before. And again, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace in knowing that God was holding me and my family in the palm of His hand.
I realized that God calls us not only to pray daily, but to pray unceasingly. He calls us to surrender our lives, our hearts, our minds, and to allow Him to guide our steps. And there is divine and infinite power in surrounding yourself with people who show their love for God through prayer and fellowship and in being that same type of person for others.
What people sometimes forget is that Christian fellowship doesn’t end when we walk out those church doors. We are called as Christians to carry that fellowship into the world, to be the face of Christ to others, to shine a light in the world through both our words and our actions. We are called to love others unconditionally, without judgment, and without shame. When we walk out of those church doors is where active fellowship and Christian witness continue. Life is all about relationships - our relationship with God, our family, and our friends. But how we walk through the world and are in relationship with strangers is perhaps what says more about our relationship with God than anything else. It’s easy to love our God. It’s expected that we love our family. And we choose to love our friends. Loving strangers through our prayers, words, and actions is more complicated. In Luke 3:9-14, John the Baptist talks about the importance of bearing good fruit. “Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do? And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”
We are warned about not only being content with what we have, but also told that we are obligated to share what we have with others. I’m not sure that John the Baptist was just referring to money and personal possessions. In addition to sharing tangible things, I believe we are called to give and share freely everything we have been gifted. This includes freely using and sharing our gifts and talents for the glory of God. This includes freely sharing our time. This includes being freely present in the lives of others. God’s unconditional love and presence in our lives is the greatest gift we have ever received, and our unconditional love and presence in the lives of others is perhaps the greatest gift we can ever give. God continues to show us unconditional love without judgment and without conditions, although we continue to fall short, continue to sin, and continue to remain undeserving. It is easy to love people we deem deserving and loveable. The challenge is loving people who have hurt, betrayed, and disappointed us. But we are bound by our faithfulness, to in turn share our unconditional love and presence with others regardless of whether or not we, also fallible and fallen, deem them worthy.
Through our love, kindness, empathy, and compassion to our fellow man, we bear witness to the unending love of Christ.
Recently, we had two family members who were in emotional and spiritual crisis. During this time, I felt utterly heartbroken and helpless. As I was praying one morning, I was having a difficult time finding the right words. I prayed for healing. I prayed for each of them to come back into a relationship with God. But nothing I prayed felt quite right. I was bringing my petitions to God, but what He needed from me was to surrender all to Him. To trust Him. To know that He is God and that He’s got this. In that moment, I prayed the simplest prayer I’ve ever prayed in my entire life: “God, I do not know what to pray. You know my heart. I trust You.”
I was instantly reminded and comforted by the scripture that has guided my life in both the most celebrated and cherished moments and the deepest and most difficult valleys: “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And this peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
We live in an anxious, sad, broken, and troubled world. I cannot think of a scripture verse that is more needed than Philippians 4:4-9. While I’ve always been led by my heart, I find it encouraging when science-y things support what God first shared with us in scripture thousands of years ago. Recent scientific studies show what scripture has told us all along: positive thinking can change our life. Paul urges us in his letter to the Philippians to focus on “whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Choosing to do so can result in neuroplasticity, a literal rewiring of our brain for the better.
Focusing on what is honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and worthy of praise has been linked to stress reduction, better mental health, cognitive function, immune function, and heart health. Paul promises us that this simple “life hack” has infinite reward: “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” A life hack reminding us that when we are overly focused on bringing our petitions to God and forget to do so with thanksgiving and rejoicing in the Lord always, we can be tempted to overlook what He has already done for us.
Our God is an ever-loving, ever-present, awesome God, and we are surrounded with reminders of His goodness daily.
The other morning, I walked outside before the sun rose, the winter night sky dotted with a million tiny points of light, a crescent moon still haunting the dawn. I don’t know how God set the stars in the sky, but I know in my heart that He did. It’s simple moments like this where I see proof of God’s existence. Small, quiet, moments of solitude, oftentimes surrounded by nature, are where I find it easiest to hear God’s voice and see his creation with my eyes and a heart wide open. I think about a star that guided wise men to Bethlehem to meet the Christ child born in a manger. In this Advent season, I am reminded of a young couple who trusted God and surrendered their lives fully and completely, not anxious about anything, but wholly present and open to God moving in their lives.
Written with love and the guidance of Christ,
A Congregation Member of Christ the King Church, Hiawassee, GA