To Encourage You

Philippians 4:6-8 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God . . .  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.”

Do you meditate?  Chances are that you do, and a lot more than you think you do.  So often when we hear the word meditation, our minds go to some mystical experience, like “transcendental meditation,” or something along those lines.  However, to meditate simply means to think deeply or carefully about something.  Philippians 4 addresses this topic both in a negative and positive sense.  It begins with the idea of anxiety.  Anxiety is the direct result of a type of meditation, but in this case a very unhealthy type.  When we worry about things, we are simply meditating on negative thoughts about them.  We constantly roll over in our minds the fears, concerns, and “what ifs” of some situation in our life, whether it be past, present, or future.  These thoughts can afflict us as soon as we get up in the morning, all through the day no matter what else we may be doing, and can even keep us awake all through the night.  It is this type of meditation that the Bible tells us we are not to do. 

So, what’s the antidote to this type of thinking that comes so naturally to us.  Well, for the Christian, the answer is to bring the negative issues that are causing anxiety to God in prayer – and leave them with Him.  Thenwe are told to meditate on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. 

So where do we look to find such things when thoughts that are the opposite of all this plague our minds?  The best place is to simply look to the Word of God, for it is filled with such things when we open its pages. The Bible is filled with principles and wonderful truths that are meant to be read about, considered, and meditated on.  Psalm 1 recounts the wonderful blessings that come to the person that “meditates on God’s law (i.e., the Bible) day and night.”  It should be the first thing the believer’s mind turns to when he or she wakes up in the morning. It should be a focal point of their thinking all through the day, and the last thing that they think about before their head hits the pillow at night.  And in those involuntary moments when we find ourselves awake at night, to meditate on the wonderful Word of God is far superior to dwelling on the troubles in our life.  It was David, whose life was filled with trials, who said the following in Psalm 63:6: “I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.” 

Meditation on His Word is one of the primary means by which God  unfolds His infinite and awesome truths to us.  May God help us to meditate in the wonderful and supernatural manner that He has provided for us rather than in the unhealthy ways that come all to naturally to each and every one of us.