Philippians 4
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 20 Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen. Ever tried to hang something on the wall, but the plaster isn't tough enough to hold it - then down comes the picture [probably in the middle of the night just to add insult to injury].
It's then you need special fixings so that it stays put where it's meant to hang.
God has special "fixings" for us to use when times are tough. The media is busy stirring up panic - shortages of this and that, price rises, job losses, climate catastrophes - the list is endless.
It seems like there's nothing tangible that we can hang onto these days. It's so easy to jump on the bandwagon of fear and lose our trust in the Lord. The Bible's message is clear and simple - tell God your needs, be thankful and fix your mind on good things. Jesus will take care of the rest. Over the past week the news has been full of the terrible murder of Sarah Everard. We should use such news wisely. It's a trap to overdo investigation into the minute details of the case. How should we respond? Pray for the family, pray for all who are grieving and ask for God's comfort which transcends anything else. May they be driven into the loving arms of Jesus for solace. Moreover, let's use it as a warning to be careful and not put ourselves in harmful situations. Then fix our minds on the loving provision of Almighty God. We need to be walking in the supernatural peace of Jesus in these troubled times. Then we will shine as lights in a dark place.
Let's ensure that our "light" directs others to Jesus and not a spotlight on ourselves.
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