Many people often make the mistake of thinking that the people who we read about in the Bible are somehow less human than we are. We read what God was able to do through them and believe that they were special in some way when, in fact, the opposite was true in most cases. They were just ordinary people serving the God of Heaven.

The apostle Paul was used by God in an extraordinary way, but his life was not without challenges and he struggled at times. He had to deal with internal doctrinal conflicts (Gal. 2:1-11), trouble with the law (Acts 16: 18-24), warring churches and wayward members (I Co 1:10-13; 5:1-13), personality conflicts (Acts 15:36-41), unnamed "thorns in the flesh" (2 Co 12:7-10), violence (Acts 14:19:20), and church conflict (2 Co 10 and 11) during the course of his apostleship.

Paul was able to function and have peace whether he abounded or struggled materially. The question on the table for me is how could a man go through all of that and have peace, much less joy? How was he able to beat the blues and let go of all of the anxiety that he, as a human being had to experience? I believe he shared his "secret" with us in the selected text.

Paul said to:

Rejoice in the Lord Phil 4:4 - As bad as life can sometimes seem we must remember that this life is only temporary. Because we are in the Lord we can look forward to an eternity without the things that plague our heart (1 Thess 4:13-18).

Repackage ourselves 4:5 - Let our gentleness/moderation show since the Lord is at hand. We are to have a spirit that is meek and forbearing. There should be a calm that the Lord is near in our lives and is coming one day to redeem the faithful from whatever life has thrown at us. This is not our natural demeanor for going through stuff but one that we must adopt. It shows our confidence in God (I Co 15:58).

Relax 4:6 - He said that we should not be anxious (troubled with cares) for anything. Worrying ourselves about things usually won't help the situation (Matt 6:27; Luke 12:25). Peter taught that we should "cast our cares" on Jesus (I Pet 5:7). Jesus taught the same thing during His earthly ministry (Matt 11:28-30).

Refocus 4:8 - We should change the focus of our energies while we wait on God. Instead of focusing on problems we should focus on solutions or at least alternatives. We should only think true, pure, noble, and lovely thoughts. Many times our "blues" are a prison of our own making. We have imagined ourselves in trouble and become convinced that only the worse possible outcome is true. Bad/negative thoughts lead to negative words (Matt 12:34; Luke 6:45) and actions/realities (Prov 23:7). Negative words, just like positive words, have power (Prov 18:21)!

Paul had a joy that was not based on his present circumstances (Phil 4:10-19). It was based on his relationship with God through the risen Jesus. We must let go of our negativity and let God work His will in our lives! Only then can we let go of our anxieties and biblically "beat the blues"

Bro Eli