Joy in Every Situation Part 1
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Philippians, and it’s a series about finding Joy In Everything. It’s about finding joy in daily life, and what we’re talking about specifically today is how to have joy in every situation. We’re talking about how to have joy regardless of the situations we face in life, because we often face situations that rob us of joy. There’s drama with friends at school, your parents taking your devices for having an attitude, your parents nagging you about your chores... There’s frustration over your child’s tantrums, their rebellious nature, them not doing what you ask, which requires you to have to nag... There’s stress you face at school, stress you face at work, an unexpected bill that breaks the budget, the car breaks down, or some other unexpected situation that robs your joy and consumes your mind... My point is everybody wants joy in life, but the problem is we often face situations that rob us of joy.
So today we’re talking about how to have joy in every situation. How to have stability and joy, regardless of the situation we face in life. So let’s turn to Philippians 4 and get into it. You’ll find Philippians in the last quarter of the bible, and we’ll be in Philippians 4:1-13. Title of the message is Joyful In Every Situation Part 1. This week’s part 1, next week’s part 2, and the big idea of today’s message is Jesus is enough in every situation. He can be our stability, when we’re facing instability... Jesus is enough in every situation. He can be our stability, when we’re facing instability...
CONTEXT: PAUL’S CIRCUMSTANCES
Here’s your context. The Apostle Paul writes this letter while sitting in a Roman prison facing the death penalty not for a crime he’s committed, but for his faith in Jesus. So he’s innocent, sitting in prison, facing the death penalty, and one of the primary things he writes about is joy. The reason he’s able to write about joy in this situation, is because he’s found a joy in life that can’t be taken away by any situation he faces in life. And in today’s text he says he’s learned the secret to being content, to having stability and joy in every situation. So let’s see what he says this secret is.
PHILIPPIANS 4:1-13
Philippians 4:1-13 states, “In this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.” Paul’s urging the Philippians to stand firm in the Lord. He’s urging them to keep going, to persevere, to never give up on walking with the Lord no matter what happens in life. He’s already taught them a few things on how to stand firm in the Lord. But he’s about to teach them a few more things specifically on how to have stability and joy in every situation, which is important because we live in a very unstable world. I mean if you try finding stability in your wealth, you’ll eventually face declines in the stock market, the housing market, and inflation. If you try finding stability in your health, you’ll eventually get sick, your body will age, and your health will decline. If you try finding stability in your marriage and family, you’ll eventually have fights in your marriage and family. Wealth, health, and family are major areas where we want stability, but they’re all fragile and unstable. So we need to find stability and joy in something greater than those things and what our fragile, unstable world offers us. Paul says we need to learn how to stand firm in the Lord, and he’s about to teach us how to do that. In vs. 2-3 he tells the Philippians to remain united in Christ, but in vs. 4-13 he tells them to rejoice in the Lord always, and he teaches them how to do that.
REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS
Vs. 4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything...” Do you know what that’s called? Stability. When you don’t have to worry about anything, it means you’ve reached a level of stability that gives you the freedom to really enjoy life. When you don’t have to worry about anything, it means you’re so stable, that nothing can steal your joy.
It’s a much more stable joy than the joy we have when we’re on vacation. It’s a much more stable joy than the joy we have when we finally get to unplug, shut everything down, and don’t have to worry about anything since we’re on vacation. That isn’t a stable joy, it's a situational joy that only lasts as long as the vacation lasts. Yet this is exactly the kind of joy we’re often seeking! We’re like, “If I can just make it a few weeks to spring break vacation, then I’ll finally have joy... If I can just make it to graduation, move out of my parents’ house, close that next business deal, increase my salary, then I’ll finally have joy… If I can just get married, have kids, get my kids to do what I ask without grumbling, then I’ll finally have joy…” We’re often seeking situational joys like this, and it makes our joy unstable because it only lasts as long as the situation lasts. It only lasts as long as the vacation lasts.
A MUCH MORE STABLE JOY
But what Paul’s talking about here is a much more stable joy than situational joy. It’s a much more stable joy that’s caused him to not worry about anything, including facing the death penalty! I mean he isn’t writing this while he’s on a Royal Caribbean vacation, he’s writing this while he’s in a Roman prison facing the death penalty! He’s writing this as a man who’s faced a lot of turbulence in life! But the reason he’s able to say don’t worry about anything, is because he has stabilizers that are greater than the turbulence.
I’ve used an illustration in the past of our lives being a lot like an airplane that experiences turbulence. Sometimes we’re flying through life and everything’s smooth, but sometimes we experience turbulence. What we need and what an airplane needs when experiencing turbulence is stabilizers. Every airplane has stabilizers to counteract the turbulence, and sometimes you feel the stabilizers working to adjust and stabilize things. Well in the same way you need stabilizers to counteract the turbulence you experience in life, and Paul’s about to give us 3 strong stabilizers for every situation in life. It’s 3 strong stabilizers that helped him have a stable joy instead of a situational joy, regardless of the turbulence he faced in life.
Again vs. 8, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s teaching The 1st stabilizer is to pray. When you’re experiencing turbulence in life that’s taking away your joy, the 1st stabilizer is to pray. People will give you all kinds of advice on how to have stability and joy, on how to make it through whatever turbulence you face in life. Take a yoga class, get some exercise, drink some whiskey, smoke a little weed to relax your mind and body. But Paul says we need to use our 1st stabilizer, which is to pray. He says the way to not worry about anything, is to pray about everything. D. A. Carson states, “I am yet to meet a chronic worrier, who enjoys an excellent prayer life.” George Mueller states, “The first primary business of every day, is to have my soul happy in the Lord.” He said it’s because we don’t always wake up feeling ready to sing...
The truth is we don’t always wake up ready to sing, because we sometimes wake up facing the same problems we had yesterday! But Paul doesn’t say we’ll wake up without any problems. He says if we pray we’ll have the peace of God guarding and guiding us through our problems. It’s like Corrie ten Boom states, “Is prayer your steering wheel, or your spare tire?” If it’s your steering wheel, then let prayer guide your daily life and give you a stable joy in life. But if it’s your spare tire, if you’re only praying when life goes flat, then you’ll continue having a situational joy in life. Did you wake up today ready to sing?... Did you wake up with a situation that’s killing your joy?... Have you taken that situation, that worry, and turned it into a prayer?... Let the Lord be your steering wheel instead of your spare tire. Let him steer your life and stabilize your heart through prayer.
THINK CORRECTLY: THE 2ND STABILIZER
Vs. 8, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy, dwell on these things.” Paul’s teaching The 2nd stabilizer is to think correctly. When you’re experiencing turbulence in life that’s taking away your joy, the 1st stabilizer is to pray and the 2nd stabilizer is to think correctly... We need to think correctly about two things. We need to think correctly about the magnitude of our problems and the magnitude of our joy.
When Paul says to dwell on these things, the Greek word for dwell means to think. He says we need to think and dwell on things that are true and praiseworthy, meaning we need to think correctly about the magnitude of our problems and the magnitude of our joy. A great question to help us think correctly, is what’s true about the magnitude of our problems?... We need ask what’s true about the magnitude of our problems, and here’s what’s true... Our problems aren’t bigger than God... Our problems are big, but they aren’t bigger than God... The is the reason our 1st stabilizer is prayer! It’s because prayer helps us refocus our minds on God. It helps us refocus our minds to think correctly about the magnitude of our problems compared to the magnitude of our God. A lot of our worries and anxieties come from us freaking out over future worse case scenarios. They come from us thinking and dwelling so much on our problems, that we forget our sovereign God is still in control even when our lives are spiraling out of control. But prayer helps us refocus our minds to think correctly about the size of our problems compared to the size of our God. It’s the saying “Go tell God about the size of your mountains, but then go tell your mountains about the size of your God.” Oswald Chambers states, “We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” We have to pray with our eyes fixed more on the magnitude of our God, than the magnitude of our problems. We have to think and dwell more on God, than our turbulence.
So we need to think correctly by asking what’s true about the magnitude of our problems. But Paul also says we need to think correctly about the magnitude of our joy. He says we need to think correctly about things that are praiseworthy. The way to think correctly about the magnitude of our joy, is to ask is there anything still praiseworthy in our lives? We need to ask this because sometimes we’re so focused on the glass being half empty, that we can’t see it’s also half full. Sometimes we’re so focused on our problems, that we can’t see things that are still praiseworthy. But Paul’s saying no matter how bad things get, we can still have joy because we still have things in our lives that are praiseworthy. We can still have joy if we think correctly about the magnitude of our joy, and dwell on anything that’s still praiseworthy.
Now this isn’t the same as the advice some people give when they say, “You just need to think happy thoughts. You just need to think Hakuna Matata.” That kind of advice is about avoiding your problems. It’s about trying to distract your mind from your problems, which some of us try doing with a few drinks, going to the gym, scrolling through social media, or binge-watching things on Netflix so we don’t have to think about our problems. Those things can distract us for a little while, but eventually the distractions will end and the problems you’ve been avoiding will still be there. So Paul isn’t teaching us to think happy thoughts to avoid our problems, instead he’s teaching us to face our problems and to think correctly about our problems. He’s teaching us to think correctly about the magnitude of our problems and the magnitude of our joy. He’s teaching us to think and dwell especially on the tremendous stability and joy we have in Jesus, who’s far greater than our greatest problems.
RELY ON JESUS: THE 3RD STABILIZER
Vs. 9, “Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Paul’s teaching The 3rd stabilizer is to rely on Jesus. When you’re experiencing turbulence in life that’s taking away your joy, the 1st stabilizer is to pray, the 2nd stabilizer is to think correctly, and the 3rd stabilizer is to rely on Jesus. Paul says if you do this then the God of peace will be with you. Back in vs. 5-6 he said the Lord is near, which is why he doesn’t worry about anything. It’s because he knows the Lord is always near regardless of his situation in life.
So Paul’s saying if you want to have stability and joy in life, then you need to rely on the God of peace, you need to rely on Jesus who’s the Prince of Peace. You need to rely on Jesus more than anything else in life. If you start relying on something else more than Jesus, you’ll make that thing your stabilizer, and it’ll be like building your house on sand instead of on a solid rock. You’ll have all kinds of cave-ins that keep taking away your joy, and you’ll constantly worry about your mini sandcastle kingdom being washed away by the waves. But if you’ve ever seen waves crashing against rocks, you know the rocks don’t budge. It doesn’t matter how vicious the waves are, the rocks don’t budge. Paul’s saying this is what it’s like for us to build our lives on Jesus more than anything else in the world. It’s the famous hymn “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!” Paul’s life is evidence of this! He’s been hit with wave, after wave, after wave. He’s been beaten, flogged, stoned, without food or water, sitting in a Roman prison facing the death penalty, but he’s still standing, still isn’t broken, still has stability and joy in life. It’s because Jesus is his greatest stabilizer and greatest joy in life. In vs. 12 he says this is the secret to being content in every situation and circumstance we’ll ever face in life.
THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT
Vs. 12, “I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.” He says the secret to being content, the secret to having stability and joy in every situation, is to find strength and stability through him, meaning through Jesus. The secret is remembering Jesus is always greater than your turbulence. Paul says he learned this secret, which means it’s something we can learn too. It’s something we can learn as we use our stabilizers to pray, think correctly, and rely on Jesus as our greatest stabilizer. Remember Paul isn’t saying all this sitting in a beach house, he’s saying all this sitting in a Roman prison. His life is evidence that a person can lose everything they have, but still have stability and joy in Jesus. His life is evidence that even when our situation changes in life, the one thing that’ll never change is the stability and joy we have in Jesus.
Paul’s point is a Christian can lose everything they have in life, but still have joy because they still have Jesus. He isn’t saying it would be easy to lose everything we have. He’s just saying we can still have joy because we still have Jesus. Tony Merida states, “Paul doesn’t teach we should always be skipping around, totally detached from the real world. He teaches that even in hard times, the Christian can drink deeply from the well of salvation that produces joy. You can always sing with joy because of the Savior, even when you have sing with tears pouring down your face.”
So what about you?... If you lost your wealth, your health, your family, but you still had Jesus, would he be enough to restore your heart to joy?... If you lost everyone and everything you had in life, but you still had Jesus, would he be enough to restore your heart to joy?... If not, then it means you’re making something else a greater stabilizer in your life than Jesus, which makes your joy unstable. A skeptic’s joy is unstable because they’re putting their joy in unstable things. They have a situational joy that’s based on their situation and circumstances. But a Christian’s joy is only unstable when we put our joy in unstable things, and it can become stable again when we remember we still have our greatest joy which is Jesus. We can go from having an unstable situational joy to a stable joy when we pray, think correctly, and shift our focus back to relying on Jesus as our greatest stabilizer and greatest joy. The happiest person in Rome was sitting in a Roman prison facing the death penalty. He still had joy, because Jesus was his greatest stabilizer and greatest joy.
JESUS IS ENOUGH IN EVERY SITUATION
The big idea of the message is Jesus is enough in every situation. He can be our stability, when we’re facing instability... Jesus is enough in every situation. He can be our stability, when we’re facing instability... Psalm 30:5 states, “Weeping may stay overnight, but there is joy in the morning.” The reality is some of us might face a situation that’ll cause us to weep today, but every single one of us can find joy in the morning, even find joy today, when we sit with Jesus in prayer.
So if you’re a skeptic, what are you placing your joy in?... What are you placing your joy in that’s stable, that can’t ever be shaken or taken away?... Why is it that even when you finally have something that brings you joy, it doesn’t last or fill the joy void in your heart?... It’s because you have an unstable situational joy, and you’ll never have a stable joy in life if you keep living like that. But if you put your faith in Jesus, you’ll always have access to a greater more stable joy.
If you’re a Christian, is there a situation that’s caused you to lose your joy?... Have you been using your stabilizers to restore your joy in that situation?... Have you been praying, thinking correctly, and relying on Jesus in the situations where it feels like you’re losing joy?... The truth is we face situations every day that cause us to lose joy, but the joy we’re losing is a situational joy not the stable joy we have in Jesus. In those moments we need to remember to use our stabilizers to pray, think correctly, and rely on Jesus. We need to remember the same Jesus who cared enough to die for our sins on the cross, is the same Jesus who cares enough to restore our joyless hearts. So trust Jesus as your greatest stabilizer and greatest joy, in every situation... Let’s pray...