Be Careful for Nothing
"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know unto God. And the peace of God that passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6).
This is a familiar passage, but how many have we seen in the power of it? How much do we know about it? It is well enough to read it in the Word, but how many who admire it there have translated it into practical experience? You say, I have been to God about a matter and have come away quite resigned about it. But that is not it. This passage does not propose to give you resignation, but a peace that passeth ALL UNDERSTANDING, the peace of God. You make your request known to Him, and you are no more troubled about it than He is. You do not know how He will arrange the matter for you; you are no longer burdened about that. He who loves you perfectly has the matter in His hands now, you have put it there. He will not forget it, nor neglect it, and in dealing with it He will bring forth the issue according to His own knowledge of what will be for your present and eternal good.
Nothing may be altered. God may leave you the trial or difficulty, or may let the sorrow run its full course, as in the case of the Bethany sisters. The circumstances are not changed, but you are; and you live through the trial as one who dwells within the circle of the arms of God. In Old Testament language we have it, "In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me" (Ps. 27:5), and "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man; Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Ps. 31:20). But greater still is this that the New Testament proposes, and God is able to make good His word to us all.
