Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it
again—rejoice! Let
everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything. Tell God
what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 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. Philippians 4:4 - 7(NLT)
Stress is a word much tossed about in our society. It seems life is more stress-filled today
than filled with joy or peace. I wonder
just how many of us in this room today are under some kind of debilitating stress?
I saw a cartoon that had a man sitting on the exam table. His doctor was giving him a stress test. The doc says, It’s called a stress test: I listen to your heart while you review a
copy of your bill.
About thirty years ago I served
a church on Parker Road. It was there I
met Mrs. Juanita Parker. Granny Parker
was a Godly woman who knew how to pray heaven down.
Granny was already in her 70's when I met
her. She'd lived all her life on just
two farms – her father's, and the one she and her husband worked. She had given the two acres our church was
built upon.
Like anyone, Granny had her
share of joy, sorrows and pain. If you set a spell on the front porch she would
talk with you all day about life, financial doings
and the like. In all, her life had
been ordinary and wonderful, hard work and family. A well-spent 70-odd years…Until that rooster
came! "Granny" Parker always
had trouble with that rooster!
I recall one Wednesday
night in particular; Granny had just come into the church for Prayer
Meeting. She was bleeding from her leg
and arm. Blame rooster done it again! Brother Russell, he's mean as Satan, himself. That was the first I'd heard about that
rooster.
It seems that this bird had
decided that Granny didn't belong in the yard with all his hens. Whenever Granny ventured too close to the hen
house, he'd come flying at her with spurs thrashing and slashing. He got her a few times.
Had that bird been a human,
he would've been arrested for disturbing the peace on Parker Road. But, he was a rooster, so one afternoon
Granny ventured out the back door toward the hen house, carrying her garden hoe
and calling, here chick-chick. Here, chick.
The hens knew what that meant; they all came on the dead run for
chow. That old rooster came too; he was
bent on protecting his territory, but he made a slight miscalculation. You see, over seventy years of handling
problems, weather, crop failures, depression and stubborn barnyard animals,
made Granny a formidable foe with a hoe.
She watched out of the corner of her eye as that whirling-dervish of a
rooster came squawking and flapping his wings, brandishing those spurs like
Freddie Krueger. At the last second,
Granny Make-My-Day Parker side-stepped the leaping rooster and swung
the hoe like a Ninja sword. R.I.P.,
bird! (I think he was in one of those casserole
dishes the following Sunday at dinner on the grounds.)
We all have our rooster
events. We all have those irritating
circumstances of life that disturb the peace.
For some it is a job that
just gets under the skin. It may be a
neighbor that won't respect your privacy; it could be a bully who is a grade or
two ahead. Maybe it's traffic at rush
hour.
Now, I do not suggest the Granny
Parker rooster method for every circumstance. However, each problem needs to be
confronted. Otherwise our peace is
disturbed, and sometimes taken away altogether.
Paul confronted a problem
at Philippi. Two of the ladies couldn't
get along, and it was one of those rooster events in the church. Paul pleaded for unity and cooperation, but
he went further – he gave them a formula for peace that works!
We live in an age of edgy,
worried, peace-less people. We exist in
a pressure cooker of racial tensions, family crises, financial and generational
stress. And there is a whole
internet-full of advice on how to have peace.
Most of them haven’t a chance of bringing real peace in your life.
The feel-good approach
doesn't work; that’s where you attempt to don’t worry—be happy. You can do it with positive thinking or
substances. But drugs and simple
optimism wear off too quickly.
The don't feel at all
approach is worse. You can only ignore a
problem until it engulfs you and your stoicism. Then it may be too late to do something! That's like having an early lead in a
football game, and playing defensively for the rest of the time. You're on the field, but you're not really
playing – just holding-on till time ends.
There are plenty of ways to
seek for personal peace; only God’s way will provide real and lasting
peace. In our text Paul lays out the
great formula for dealing with a rooster event, a disturbance of your
peace. The formula is P + P + P = P.
Praise
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say
it again—rejoice! Philippians 4:4(NLT)
Praise is such a vital part
of the believer's life. Without praise
we are prey to depression. How can you
get to praise from the pits? Good
question! Praise is a matter of finding
God's hand print on everything that happens!
When something happens that is really disturbing – perhaps if the dog
bites you, or a financial crisis, or perhaps the death of a loved one, you
don’t rejoice because you have suffered a difficult circumstance, you
praise the God who walks through the circumstance with
you. He has a purpose, even when we
can’t see it.
Paul says, Rejoice...rejoice! There are no qualifiers in that sentence. It does not indicate we should rejoice just
when things are good -- we must praise the Lord always!
Praise, plus:
Poise
Let everyone see that you are considerate
in all you do. Remember, the Lord is
coming soon. Don’t worry about anything;
Philippians
4:5-6a(NLT)
William Barclay calls this gentleness
(which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit) your willingness to meet a man half-way. Poise is that, and more. Anxiety is a divided mind. It is virtually the division that distracts
from the main purpose. James (1:7-8)
says that a double-minded (or divided-mind) man is unstable…his prayers are not
likely to be answered. Poise is keeping
focused on the reality of God’s care and purpose for your life…not the
circumstances and storms that surround you.
I went to a
clergy meeting a few years ago. It was an important meeting, and I had
cleared my schedule. All pastors were to meet for a workshop, lunch
and information-sharing. When I arrived at the retreat center there were
only a few cars there; I am usually early anyway, so I wandered over to the
large meeting facility. When I opened the door to the meeting room it was
hard to see, as there were no lights on at all.
Suddenly, I was
startled by movement in the semi-darkness. Can I help you, the
disembodied voice offered. When my eyes located the source of the
question, and with my pupils finally dilated sufficiently to make out the
smiling face of the woman who runs the place, I asked, isn't the District Clergy meeting
here? She answered, Yes; you're a little early. I
said, OK, I'll just take a little stroll. The voice continued, You're
about 24 hours early, but don’t worry – it's our little secret!
Poise has to do with
stability in spite of circumstances. It
is closely related to faith. Paul here
says that the Lord is at hand.
Beloved, if we can ever truly come to the understanding that Jesus is
near – closer than the breath in your mouth, we will remember that anything
happening in our lives must be approved by Jesus first! You can have poise when you live like
that! Life’s unexpected and difficult
stuff will still happen; bad things may come our way, but there will be a
difference.
Praise, plus Poise, plus,
Prayer
instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all
he has done. Philippians 4:6b(NLT)
Prayer is the tie
that binds. The word prayer comes from an ancient verb that
means to tie or bind to. In a sense, when you bow before God you are
binding yourself to His decisions, His plan.
Of all the models for prayer, the Lord's Gethsemane prayer is the one I
take for my example. Not MY
will, but Thine.... A prayer
binds us to accept God's decision.
What a burden that will
take off your shoulders. Have you got
some major disturbance of the peace going on in your life? Pray; bind yourself to God's answer. Then, you can rest your worry-bone. It is God who will work it out!
Praise, plus Poise, plus Prayer, equals:
Peace
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. Philippians
4:7(NLT)
What is meant by the peace that passes understanding? Literally,
it is that which is above our comprehension.
God's
Peace Doesn’t Make Sense?
Exactly! In the worst rooster circumstances of life
you can have the peace that doesn't make sense.
Jesus promised that His peace isn't like anything else in the
world. It will guard your heart, your
mind, your life. And the world can't take it away!
Choices
We have choices. Stress and a world system that will depress
and dissect you, or peace that comes in the form of praise that brings poise
through prayer.
Are you going through a ROOSTER
kind of day, week, month – life?
Praise, Poise and Prayer adds up to Peace…from the Prince of Peace.
