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Hey everyone, I'm Mark Foley, and this is The Journey. 1972, the Eagles, a great tune. I've got a peaceful, easy feeling. That peaceful, easy feeling evaporated a couple of weeks ago. And we find ourselves threatened by an unseen disease that has rapidly made its way around the world and into our communities. We are in uncharted waters. Almost every pattern of life and business upon which we have come to depend has changed or in some cases ceased to exist. As those props are kicked out from under us, balance is increasingly hard to maintain. It's a scary time. Many years ago, in another scary time when the economy turned sharply down, I was a small business owner. Sustainability of the business was severely threatened, and along with it, everything we owned. The things upon which I had come to depend were eroding rapidly. My ability to sport our family, my worth as a husband, a father, and a provider was in quicksand and sinking fast. At that same time, I was leading a Bible study for a group of college guys, and we were working our way through the book of Philippians. It was a Tuesday morning, and I was up early to prepare for the group's meeting that evening. Opened the Bible that I was using at that time to the chapter we were studying, Philippians chapter 4, and my eyes fell on words that I had underlined and read at some unremembered earlier time. Here's what I saw on that morning long ago, in the middle of what was and remains the most difficult experience of my life. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God. Looking at those words and thinking, Lord, I don't know how you can do it, but I want that peace. I need that peace more than anything in the world. Show me, please, show me how I find it. My attention was drawn back to the page of the Bible on my desk, and I saw those words were the concluding part of instruction that began a few verses earlier. And my desperate prayer continued with a commitment from which I have not departed in the 40 years past. Lord, please teach me of this peace. I will do what you show me. What I discovered in the moments that followed became what I have referred to since as the four steps to peace. Now let me teach you what he taught me on that Tuesday morning, 40 years ago. Here's step one. The expression of thought in Philippians 4 that concluded in verse 7 actually began in verse 4. Step one is the thinking-deciding step. It says this rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. Reading those words on that day, I remember reacting pretty harshly in this active conversation I was having with God. Rejoice. There is nothing to rejoice about in what's going on. Lord, do you understand what's happening here? I'm drowning. I can't rejoice. Then came the clear impression. Be still and read it again. So I returned to the words. Rejoice in the Lord always. Now remember, this is the cognitive step, the thinking and deciding piece. The instruction of step one is to pull my attention, my thinking, from the circumstances swirling around me and lock it upon Jesus. It is a decision that I had to make and act upon. Now here's what often happens in a crisis. Imagine your life is like a billiards rack, a triangle into which you place and arrange the priority of the elements of life: family, work, friends, responsibilities, needs, hopes, dreams. At the top of the rack, in the number one position, there is room for only one thing. That element of life with the highest priority that influences everything else. Now I've come to understand that the number one position belongs to God. We are designed in such a way that only his Holy Spirit fits in that command position, the position that commands all my resources and all my attention. It is the lordship position of my being. But in a crisis, I find that the subject of crisis works its way into the lordship position. It demands my resources and complete attention. So rather than God's spirit directing my thinking and acting, I default to the issue of concern and in effect make the problem the Lord of my life. In this first step to peace, God was reminding me to exercise my thought and my will to acknowledge Him as first, to rejoice in that fact, to rejoice in the unchanging creator, master, and commander of all that is or ever will be, to pull from the inconsistent variables of circumstance and fix upon the constancy of God. Rejoice in the Lord. Always. And again I say, rejoice. So step one, if you'll allow me to paraphrase it, says this hey, it's okay. Come here. Come to me. Now look at me. Step two is found in the next verse. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Now, if step one is the thinking-deciding step, this is the behavioral step, the way you act after you've adjusted the way you think. I remember asking that morning, what is my moderation? Now I've since come to understand that the word also is translated as gentleness or calmness. But that morning, the Lord led me to think about moderation. And I thought about moderate weather, not too hot, not too cold, not too windy. Calm and gentle. That prompted another reaction. And I began to ramp up again. How do you expect me to be calm in the middle of a crisis? Then came the dumbest thought of my entire life. God, do you have any idea what this is like? Have you ever owned a business in a recession? But his spirit gently urged, read it again, Foley. Now remember, this is the behavioral step. Let your moderation be made known to all men. The Lord is at hand. I've come to understand that the phrase at hand is assembled from words that refer. Now get this. They refer to the bent arm. And it hit me. God told me that he has his arm around me. How cool is that? Let your moderation, your calmness, your gentleness be acted out among people. The reason you can behave calmly in a crisis is because Jesus is right there beside you, his strong right arm wrapped around you, bearing your weight, shielding you, guiding each step, making a way where there seems to be no way. So step two, paraphrased, take it easy. I'm right here. Step three is in the first words of verse six, and it says this be careful for nothing. Some translations put it more simply, do not worry. If step one is about thinking and deciding, and step two is about acting, then step three becomes the emotion step. And it speaks to the reality of fear that always rises in the face of the unknown. That day, I was scared because I didn't know how I was going to survive financially. And into that circumstance, God had just said, don't worry, right. Fear is a good indicator of need, but it is a lousy master. That day, fear was in control. But remember, this is step three. God did not lead with dismissing fear. He started with step one, drawing my attention back to himself, taking the command role in my life. Then he went to step two, reminding me that he was right there with all his resources being brought to bear. Only then did he go to step three and dismiss fear. And so it is with you. Step three. Now don't worry. Step four is in the second part of verse six. It says this, but in everything, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. This is the spiritual step. I've been waiting for this one because I knew it was coming and I was ready. Lord, I hope you have a sharp pencil and a lot of paper, because I have a lot of things we need to talk about that I'm not real happy about. But before I could get rolling with my list of desperate demands, there came that familiar urging again. Foley, read it again carefully. Okay. In everything, no problem. I plan to tell you everything that I'm upset about by prayer. Got it. I'm familiar with prayer, the pathway into God's presence. I get it. And supplication. Yep, know all about that. God is my supply. It's the confession that He is, that He has, that He can, and man, do I need some supplies. With Thanksgiving. Wait, wait, what? What you want me to thank you for this? You want me to thank you that this business is failing? You want me to thank you that I can't provide for my family? You want me to thank you? That a disease is creeping into our community? That there are too few medical supplies? That the economy is grinding itself into a recession, that my children can't be in school, that I may have to lay off employees or that my job is threatened? Yes. In everything, everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known to me. For only when you come to the point of thanking me for that which you cannot do, that which causes you to come humbly and surrendered to me and fully dependent upon me, do you begin to understand the fullness of my love for you? When you sacrifice to me that which is most precious to you, your pride and your control, you will begin to understand that which I sacrifice for you, my all. Then you will receive my forgiveness for your sin and my redemption clearing the way for you into my presence. Then you will have my peace. Step four is the spiritual step. Now, tell me all about it. On that day, now 40 years ago, God taught me in the middle of the hardest experience in my life, it's okay. Come here, come to me. Now look at me. Take it easy. I'm right here. Don't worry. Now tell me all about it. The words of a caring father to a frightened child, the words of our heavenly father to his frightened people, from his spirit to your heart. Then comes the promise of verse 7. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Peace that doesn't make sense under the circumstances. Four steps to peace. Peace in which will be found his provision. Hey, I hope this helps. Thanks for checking in. Be sure you check the website, effectivesolutions.today. There's a new journey devotional post every morning. And I'll see you next time.