When Turmoil reigns in Trials, part 3

When Turmoil Reigns in Trials—what to do? (Part 3)

From Parts 1 and 2:

During times like these, when a trial of illness strikes widely and the future seems uncertain, especially when that trial is made worse by the inability of the local church to gather together to worship in song and in the Word, and to mutually support one another in the spirit of true Christian Fellowship, inner peace seems to flee and turmoil begins to reign as fears take over. 

Questions are often asked in one’s mind. Will I be ‘ok’? What will I do? 

Thoughts race. I don’t like feeling scared. I fear what the future holds.

Tears flow.

Paul gives us a 3-step approach to be able to live with the uncertainty of the future during the trials in life. His 3-step approach may not specifically answer all of the questions, but they address the thoughts and emotions that produce fear, worry, and sadness. His 3-step approach produces faith and trust and a focus on God instead of a focus on the trial.

So, what are these 3-steps?

The passage with his 3-step plan to defeat the turmoil of trials is Philippians 4:4-9.

Step 1—REJOICE: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

Step 2— Pray with Thanksgiving: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

[Much more is written in the original BlogPosts for Steps 1 and 2. Please be sure to read them.]

Now, let’s move on to the third step in verses 8-9 that Paul provides in Philippians chapter 4 for overcoming the turmoil that tries to reigns in trials. . . 

I’m sure that we have all had that experience where we first realize victory during a trial in life, but then it fades away or we suddenly lose that calming sense of victory, and the fears start to take over, and they seem to control us.  Why does this happen? I believe Paul is going to reveal the answer to this question in Step 3.

Step 3—Let your mind dwell on the right things: “brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider these things.”

Paul’s third instruction is to only allow your mind to consider, to think about, to dwell on good things—good things that meet an 8-fold criteria. 

So, what is this criteria of worthiness? Let’s examine each of these eight words in a bit more detail to get a better understanding of what types of things our minds should be dwelling upon during trials, so that turmoil, worry, anxiety, and fear doesn’t overwhelm us.

We should let our minds only dwell upon . . . 

1. Anything that is true: Only the truth about our trial—the truth as God sees it; not the lies the devil tells us (“God doesn’t love you”), or that we tell ourselves about our trial (“It would be better for me if I didn’t have this trial—I must flee from it” . . . how did that work for Jonah??!!!).

2. Anything that is honorable: this word means ‘honorable’ or ‘worthy of respect’; it can also have the sense of ‘dignified’ or ‘noble’ and in some cases even ‘majestic’; perhaps if we consider the opposite of ‘honorable’, which is ‘dishonorable’, the meaning becomes clearer. Think, for example, about someone who has served admirably in the military and receives and honorable discharge. Now, consider another person, who has disgraced and dishonored themselves, whether in combat or in peacetime, and receives a dishonorable discharge, perhaps along with a sentence in prison for a crime.

3. Anything that is right: the idea here is ‘righteous’; it has the same sense as being in a right relationship with God, or being on the right side of the law; the opposite of ‘righteous’ is ‘unrighteous.’

4. Anything that is pure: means ‘innocent’ and ‘morally pure’; free from defilements or impurities; in some contexts it has the sense of ‘chaste’ or ‘virginal.’

5. Anything that is lovely: Paul is not referring to something that is lovely to look at; he using this word here in the sense of ‘pleasing’ to think upon. Paul wants us to think thoughts that are ‘pleasing’ to think upon, not those things that produce turmoil, doubts, and fears.

6. Anything that has a good reputation: something that is commendable, that is, worthy to be commended, or recommended, to others; something that is well spoken of.

7. Anything that is excellent: virtue, goodness, or moral excellency. A simple test of what is excellent is ‘Would Christ Himself think such thoughts?’; another way to say ‘anything that is excellent’ is ‘anything that is pleasing to God.’

8. Anything that is worthy of praise: or, praise-worthy; to get a better understanding of this term, ask yourself, can you, or would you, applaud it?

God knows how He created us and that our thought-life is vital to our well-being. He wants us to be victorious in trials. The real battleground in trials is the battleground in our mind. I am reminded of a simple poem that explains this so clearly:

Sow a thought; reap an action.

Sow an action; reap a habit;

Sow a habit; reap a character;

Sow a character; reap a destiny.

Our destiny, our eternity may very well begin with a ‘thought’!

We can only think of one thing at a time. Our mind can wander back-and-forth between more than one thing, but at any point in time, we can only be thinking of one thing. If we are truly letting our mind contemplate, consider, and dwell on only worthy things that meet this 8-fold criteria, then our mind can’t be focused and dwelling upon unworthy things, like our trial or our desires to run out from under the trial, etc.

We all experience turmoil in trials when we don’t control our thoughts and focus them on worthy things.

Now that we know precisely what constitutes something worthy to think about, Paul tells us how we should think about them—not just with a passing thought, but our mind should consider, contemplate, and dwell on these worthy things (“let your mind dwell on these things”).

But, we are left with a question: What might it be that successfully and always meets all eight of the criteria Paul lays out? 

The only things that I can personally think of that always meets all eight of those criteria are God, Christ, and the Word of God. This is what our mind should dwell upon during trials. There is no downside to focusing one’s thoughts upon God, Christ, and the Word of God. The prophet Isaiah wrote essentially the same thing in Isaiah 26:3, “Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusts in Thee.” God will fulfill this very promise in our lives, even in the midst of our trials, if our minds are “stayed on Him” (steadfast in thinking of Him). Focusing on God in times of trial develops trust in our Heavenly Father.

Lastly, Paul realizes that it may be difficult to consistently follow these 3-steps in every trial—especially the third step to consistently control your thoughts. So, he gives them in verse 9, one last instruction that will help with consistently following these three steps for victory. We all need good examples, so he writes: “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” It is helpful to imitate the example of others who are experiencing victory over a trial. Associate yourself with them. Pray with them. Ask them to pray with you. Ask them to read the Scriptures with you, and encourage you. If you need the help of another’s example, don’t wait for them to ask; reach out to them. There is no shame in asking another like-minded believer for help. 

God wants us to experience peace in the midst of trials. God wants our hearts to be at rest, and our thoughts to be calm even as the waves of our stormy trial tries to overwhelm us. God has given us the 3-steps we need to take to have a peaceful victory over trials in our lives:

1—“Rejoice in the Lord always”

2—“In everything by prayer...with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God”

3—“Let your mind dwell” only on worthy things, namely, God, Christ, and the Word of God.

Brothers and sisters, God loves you and has given you this 3-step key to victory over turmoil in the trials of life. This 3-step key will unlock the door to victory for you in every trial that you experience in life. This 3-step key is a ‘Master Key’ that will unlock every door to victory in every trial! Go ahead, put God’s promise to the test—He will not fail you. He promises that if we “practice these things, the God of peace will be with” us. Others have found His promise to be true; you will too.

Tomorrow’s devotional will a one-part, shorter devotional be based upon Christ’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount: “take no thought for tomorrow”—you’ll see how it dovetails nicely with Paul’s instruction to transform our thoughts by only dwelling on worthy things.

Again, if you have any concerns or needs during this time of trial, please don’t hesitate to contact the pastoral staff of Grace Gospel Church. If you don’t have one of their phone numbers, just phone the church office and they can give you Paul’s cell phone. If you haven’t yet received a pastoral phone call from Fred or Paul or Trey, you should receive one if you have left your phone number with Grace Gospel Church.

Be sure to reach out to Jon DuPonte and thank him for providing the motivation to post these devotionals.