STAYING  SATISFIED
WITH  THE
CHRISTIAN  LIFE

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4 Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Notice that we present the message of this passage as being "staying satisfied with the Christian life"-- not "satisfied with our Christian life." There is an important difference. We should never be satisfied with how our own personal Christian life is so far, but always be seeking more likeness to Christ, more understanding of His Word, more fullness of the Spirit, more spiritual victories through the Spirit's power. We will always need to make progress in these ways until we see Christ as He is, and become like Him.

What we are exhorted in the passage to be satisfied with, is the Christian life-- that is, our free salvation and our assurance of eternity in heaven. We are to be satisfied also with the resources that Christ has given us for our time on earth-- grace to keep us, access to God in prayer, the privilege of serving Him, the Holy Spirit's power, and fellowship with other saints. The context of verse 4 indicates this to be our cause of "rejoicing in the Lord." Rejoicing for this reason shows gratefulness to Christ for what He has provided, and which we can expect to attract others to the Christian life. Happiness with the Christian life will keep us from straying, from being enticed with offers that pretend to give us something more, or something better.

It will help us to stay satisfied with the Christian life if we remember our  ASSURANCE  OF  CHRIST'S  NEARNESS  (verses 4, 5). Here we have yet another repetition of the exhortation to rejoice in the Lord (see 3:1). This joy is possible at all times, regardless of circumstances, as is shown by Paul's writing these words while he was under house arrest. We can rejoice in the Lord always because He's always with us (Matthew 28:20).

Joy in the Lord will make "gentleness" possible. This "gentleness," called "moderation" in the King James Version, is the quality that doesn't insist on one's rights. It is a kindliness, a willingness to do without having one's own way, not requiring much to be happy. It is a disinterested devotion to others, not seeking honour for oneself. Being satisfied with the Christian life makes it possible to display such gentleness.

It would hardly be possible to make a deliberate, boastful display of such "gentleness." That would be completely to its character. But if one's life is filled with it, it will be noticed by all, since it's so contrary to self-centered human nature. A light doesn't have to make noise to show it's there, but will be seen simply because it's light. Likewise if Christians shine as they should, as the light of the world, this gentle character will inevitably be seen.

Our satisfaction that enables us to shine with this gentleness, is made possible by the Lord's nearness, both in space and in time. Both types of nearness are included in His being "at hand." He is hear in space, to help us in time of need.
The LORD is near to all those who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth (Psalm 145:18)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).
Christ is always present with us by means of the Holy Spirit, whom He sent to be our Comforter. Because of His nearness, He's able to strengthen us to overcome an ungentle character.

Christ is also near in time, because He's coming soon. In fact, this expression "the Lord is at hand" was the Greek equivalent of Maranatha (which is Aramaic), an expression used frequently by the early Christians. They habitually closed the Lord's Supper with this expression, expressing hope that they would be in heaven before another week passed-- in which case this would be the last Lord's Supper on earth. Their frequent use of this expression would keep them reminded to live in expectation, and accordingly. A missionary said of the early Christians that "they had their back on the world, and their eyes on the coming of the Lord."

Knowing that Christ is coming soon, and that this life is as nothing when compared with eternity, causes us not to care so much about our comfort and pleasure in this world. This helps us to be gentle toward those who would grab comforts and pleasures at our expense, taking advantage of us.
Be also patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawing near. Murmur not one against another, brethren, lest you be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
Let us imagine two little brothers who are playing at home, and suddenly both of them want the same toy. If they have no other plans for the day than playing at home, it's very possible that they'll squabble over that toy. If, on the other hand, one of the brothers knows that, in five minutes, he's leaving for a very special visit with his best friend-- then it's highly possible that he'll say to his brother, "You can have that toy; I don't care." We Christians are leaving soon for a very special eternal visit with our best Friend. We can therefore say to the world, "Keep the things you crave; we don't care about them!"

It will also help us to stay satisfied with the Christian life if we maintain our. CONFIDENCE  IN  GOD'S  FAITHFULNESS. (verse 6). This confidence is shown by not worrying about anything. The exhortation is given us as a command, which we have no excuse for not keeping because God has given us the remedy. The remedy is not the removal of subjects for worry, but rather bringing them to God.

The best counsel the world can offer against worrying is to remember that worrying won't change the subject worried about. Christians have an additional, positive counsel-- to remember that prayer will make a difference.

The command is very emphatic. Literally translated, it is, "stop worrying about even one thing." This shows that those addressed were worrying, and how prone to it we all naturally are. It also shows how absent worry should be from our hearts.

The presentation of our requests to God, is to include prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. Prayer, in its broad sense, is all types of communication with God. In its narrow sense, it specifically means asking. Supplication also is asking, but the word adds a particular sense of urgency and earnestness, pleading, to it. Thanksgiving for what God has already done, shows the proper attitude in prayer; and it inspires confidence that God will answers us again. Like a hymn says--

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!

We are instructed to "make known" our requests to God. This is not to inform Him, since He already knows what we need.
Your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him (Matthew 6:8).
Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear (Isaiah 65:24).
"Making our requests known" to God is rather done to show consciousness of our dependence on Him, and to show that we trust Him, that we believe it's worthwhile talking to Him about them.

The instruction is absolute. Be anxious about nothing, and pray about everything. Nothing is too trivial to talk to God about. If we neglect to pray about trivialities, we'll probably worry about them!

Deliverance from anxiety will help us to maintain a gentle character. The command is implied, "Don't be anxious even if somebody hasn't been gentle toward you." Anxiety can lead us to be impatient, or to demand what we think we're entitled to. Peace will enable us to let others "walk on us" without getting upset.

While our character is to be made known to men, our requests are to be made known to God. It must not be vice versa. God already knows our character; there is no need for us to show it to Him. Making our request known to men would tend to show anxiety, and maybe a complaining spirit. It could even be a subtle way to take advantage of them, the contrary of gentleness. Therefore, confidence in God's faithfulness will cause us to be:

anxious about nothing,
prayerful for everything,
thankful in anything.

It will further help us to stay satisfied with the Christian life if we know the  EXPERIENCE  OF  GOD'S  KEEPING  (verse 7). The "peace of God" we can experience, is beyond the "peace with God" that comes from being justified by faith (Romans 5:1). The peace of God is the same peace that God knows in His life in eternity. It is undisturbed by what happens in time, due to His sovereign control of all things. Yes, it is possible for us to enjoy that same peace, for Christ promised us:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you (John 14:27).

This peace is possible because, in prayer, we abandon all causes of worry in God's hands, being absolutely assured of His capability of handling them. We can therefore be just as much at peace about them as God is!

This peace "passes all understanding" because it seems absurd and incredible to unaided human reasoning. We're unable to explain how it works, how God controls circumstances. The thought of "passing" includes that of "beyond, higher, greater." The cause of this peace is something greater than human understanding, as the Creator transcends His creation.

This peace will "keep" our hearts and minds; and "keep" here is a military term. It refers to guarding, like an army standing round about. The peace of God will keep our hearts. The "heart" in Scripture sometimes means our whole interior, invisible being; but it tends more to refer to our emotions, our feelings. Christ keeps us from feelings of anxiety, which are a reaction to circumstances. His peace also keeps our minds, our rational thinking. Our thinking can be led astray by making the subject we're worried about an out-of-proportion factor. This usually happens because of our anxious feelings. Notice that the heart is mentioned before the mind, because of the human tendency to let emotions influence our thinking, though logically it should be the contrary.

Our hearts and minds are kept "through"-- or, more literally, in Christ Jesus. This completes the picture. The peace of God is the army standing around to guard us; but Christ Himself is the fort in which we are kept, having solid, strong walls. With this double protection, we have every reason and means to maintain a serene, gentle character.

While Viet Nam was galling to the communists, Patrick and Nancy Cohen, missionaries with two small children, were packing their suitcases to leave. They kept their radio on, to keep posted on developments of the situation in the country. They learned that another city had fallen in the area of the fighting, and people around them were acting in panic. Some threw their babies into trucks too full to take them, and others threw theirs into the arms of guardians taking planes too full for themselves. The Cohens couldn't leave the country without passing through Saigon, where the fighting was centered, unless a helicopter came where they were; and they weren't at all sure that that would happen.

The Cohens realized the importance of the example they set for people around them, so as not to encourage panic. Suddenly Patrick said in surprise, "Hey, I'm not afraid!" and Nancy said, "Me neither!" Then it dawned on them that it was Wednesday, and-- allowing for the difference of time zones-- it was the very time when prayer meetings in North America would be beginning. Because of six time zones in North America, there would be prayer meetings for six hours. Christians who had listened to the six o'clock news would be praying for Viet Nam. God was answering by taking away their fear. THAT is "the peace that passes understanding."

What more could we ask of Christ to take us through the life He has entrusted to us during our earthly pilgrimage? While we should always be seeking to make progress in our personal Christian lives, Christ has given us every blessing, every resource, every promise that we need to assure us of His sufficiency. We have every reason to be satisfied with the life He has called us to live-- to display His character formed in us, to glorify Him to be a blessing to other saints, and to draw others to Him.

In a printing shop where I once worked, when I showed a proof of the job to be printed to the foreman, if he was satisfied with it, he'd say, "Well, it's hard to ask for more!" His language was French, and he was saying literally what one would say in French. But his words are very applicable to the Christian life. When se consider what Christ has provided for the life He has called us to, "it's hard to ask for more!" Let us, therefore, take the measures this passage tells us of to stay satisfied with the Christian life.