By Waylon Bailey
Sometimes life simply becomes more than you can take. You get overwhelmed by life.
That may be where you are today.
What can we do in these kind of times? Paul addressed these kinds of issues when he wrote to the church in Philippi.
One of the amazing things about this letter is the fact that the Philippian church was free and Paul was in prison. Yet, Paul wrote to the church to help them deal with the ups and downs of life (Philippians 4:1-9). He gave them this instruction.
First, care for the people around you. Paul called on the church to “agree in the Lord” and to count others better than themselves. He gave Timothy as the example of a person who thought about others more than he thought about himself.
Caring for other people has an amazing curative effect. When we look for other people to bless, we find that our step has a spring to it and that our own personal lives look much better.
Second, depend on God in prayer. Paul told the church in Philippi to be prayerful about everything and anxious about nothing.
The word for “anxious” doesn’t mean unconcerned; it means not being overwhelmed by life. Take your difficulties to God in prayer.
Paul expected that thanksgiving would play a major role in prayer. Thanksgiving has its own healing powers.
When I take the largest or smallest items (everything is small to God) to the Lord, I find that they become manageable as I release them to God and ask for His direction and guidance.
Third, fill your mind with the pure and the pleasant. Look on things that are honorable and excellent.
What you fill your mind with is what you become. If you think of the coarse and immoral, that is who and what you will be.
If you consider the true, the pure, and the just, your life will reflect those attitudes. Looking for and thinking about the highest and best will allow your mind to soar to the heights and your feelings to follow them there.
God’s Word always has answers for the human dilemma. We simply have to think on those things found in Holy Scripture.