”Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice …. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer, petition with thanksgiving present your requests before God”
Philippians’ 4:4-7
Biblically anxiety and care are symptoms of failure to trust. These things arise when we are driven by the need to order and control our lives. Look what’s happening in the world at the moment. We as believers are to live differently. This seems to be simply unreal and even naive in the kind of world we live in. But hold on for a minute. This was written by Paul and can’t be dismissed as pious theologizing by Paul until we realize this was written by a person sitting in a Roman dungeon not sure whether he will emerge alive. This wasn’t like our prisons today. I remember seeing a picture of a dungeon in those days. It was just a hole in the ground with bars. He would have been bound in stocks and probably had nothing better than bread and water.
So Paul is not expounding theory but exhibiting truth he has learned through years of faithful discipleship. Paul provides here not an argument for trust but the reality of what trust in Christ really means and looks like.