Devotion 10.8.26

Philippians 4

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.''

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned[e] and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

God's Provision

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Paul gives a summary of how a Christian can "wait" on the Lord, both in activity (what we do) and "posture" (how we approach it in heart, mind and action).

We talked about "posture" during the retreat at length Chris, our resident physical therapist for the Men's Ministry, spoke of posture as it relates to our physical nature and how that relates to the spiritual as he contributed to the conversation this past weekend.. Joseph was a man who "postured" himself before the rulers in Egypt and God. Like Daniel later, he didn't compromise himself or straddle the fence. Rather, he stood for his faith in the promise made to Abraham and respected earthly rulers and their decisions, no matter how unjust they may have been. As a result, his faithful actions on behalf of God saved Israel (and Egypt and the world as it was known in this account) as God saw to it that the Egyptian rulers were receptive to Joseph.

Posture is "preparation/bracing" for the impact of what is about to happen. In many cases, we posture for events. Events can be mental or physical. How we brace depends on the event, but Paul gives a good outline in the above passage for posturing with and for God: seek his Will (v 4 - 7), look at the challenge in terms of mindset (v 8 - 9) and resolve to keep the faith as we meet the event through our posture (v 10 - 13).

This list Paul gives is excellent. In fact, it is better than excellent. It is worthy of memorizing its location and turning to it until we are familiar with it, enough to have it in our own recall for the trials and tests we face.

Pray with me: Gracious God, I give thanks for the faith you have given me. Help me to lean into this faith daily for the good and the not-so good. Help me to posture myself in, with and before you in order to face each day as it comes. In Christ's name, Amen.