Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand
Do you care? How much do you care? Those are good questions, but the real question should be, “How do you care?” For instance, if a person has given up on life, they don’t care if they live or die or what anyone thinks about them. They don’t care about their future or their plans, so they probably don’t worry too much either. On the other hand, if someone has ambitions and goals and cares about other people, their job, or life, that opens the door to worry. So, the question is not “Do you care?” but “How, in what way, do you care?”
Philippians 4:6 says, “Be careful for nothing.” Careful there means “anxiety.” So, be anxious for nothing. The verse continues, “But in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Then it talks about the peace of God and the God of peace, which go together. So, God is telling us we are to be anxious about nothing, but later on verse 10 says, “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.”
In one case the use of careful seems to be negative, “be careful for nothing.” The second use of careful seems to be positive. Paul says, “You cared about me, but you didn’t have a chance to do anything about it.” That is because the first use careful means “to be full of anxious care” and the second use means “to think about, to exercise the mind.” It is talking about attention. There is a difference between attention to something and anxiety about something. The difference between attention and anxiety is the acknowledged presence of the Lord.
Verse 5 puts it this way, “Let your moderation [sweet reasonableness] be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” Does the Bible mean that the Lord will return or that He is present right now? I think the answer is yes. He will return and there is a sense in which we have the Lord’s literal, although not bodily, presence with us right now. So, the difference between attention, caring about people and things in life, and anxiety, worrying about people and things in life, is the acknowledged presence of the Lord. So, are you doing that today? Are you acknowledging the presence of the Lord in your life?
It is often easy to worry about people problems, whether it is people you love or people that irritate you. In either case, the situation is radically changed when you account for God in your situation, when you take your needs to Him in prayer. “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer.” Yes, you should care, but don’t be careful, full of anxious care.
We should acknowledge the Lord when it comes to our problems. Verse 8 tells us to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. It says, “If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Then it says, “Those things, which ye have…learned…do.” So, I need to think and I need to do. When it comes to problems, am I acting as if I am alone and have to take care of these problems all by myself? Or am I acknowledging the literal presence of the Lord today?
Do you care? I hope you do. I hope you care about the people and problems that come your way, but I hope you are not knuckled under by anxious care. The difference between attention to your life and anxiety about your life is the acknowledged presence of the literal Lord with you today.