A matter of choice...
Reading this morning in the fourth chapter of Philippians, I noticed that verses 4 - 9 contain a list of instructions about things to do and things not to do in order to live life God's way. Some are easy to understand: be considerate, pray about everything, tell God what you need, put into practice what you've learned. Others are more surprising: be joyful, be thankful, don't worry. Surprising perhaps because these are things that people think they have no choice about. Can you really choose to be joyful? Or can a person make a choice not to worry? Is thankfulness an emotion or a decision?
Well, it's clear that God would never ask us, command us, to do something that's impossible for us to do, so it's no surprise that the medical and scientific community have decided that thankfulness is a choice. Various research studies have been carried out, documenting the power of thankfulness in helping people overcome depression, or even cancer. But is it also possible to "choose" to be joyful or "choose" not to worry?
The real key seems to lie in where we place our focus. You see, our emotions may initially be involuntary, but our thoughts are under our control… and our thoughts have a huge influence on our emotions. So, in vs 8, Paul gives the Philippians a checklist of things they should focus their thoughts on: things are are true, honourable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. He calls it "one last thing" in this section about living a godly life, but in fact this one thing is the key to all the other things. If we focus on these positive things, rather than dwelling on things that are negative, depressing, untrue or dishonourable, we will find that we do become people who are joyful, thankful and peaceful.
In fact, vs 6 - 7 give a sort of recipe, or a 4-step plan for experiencing God's peace:
1. don't worry
2. pray
3. tell God your needs
4. thank Him for what He's done.
"Then," says this passage, you will experience God's peace, far beyond what you can even understand, It will guard your mind (thoughts) and your heart (emotions) in the peace that Jesus gives.
