Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, 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.
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me-
practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."
Philippians 4:4-9

This passage came to mind in the middle of the night last night as I tossed and turned, worrying about Spendy. I was confessing to God my fears for Spendy and feeling the weight, yet again, of my utter helplessness in this situation, and into my mind came, "Do not be anxious about ANYTHING." Spendy definitely falls under "anything". The next thought was: Instead pray....asking, thanking, putting my requests before God. So I fell asleep thanking God for the good He has shown Spendy and reminding myself that God is the one who brought Spendy to the orphanage, made sure he was fed, made sure his wounds were cared for, gave him a bed. Who knows how many arms have held and comforted Spendy as they were moved by the Lord? He caused Shanley to notice Spendy, He moved our hearts to pray and to want to bring him into our family. All of this was His doing. I fell asleep rehearsing God's goodness to Spendy instead of rehearsing my fears. This morning I again put it all in God's hands, not that it hasn't been there all along. I yielded, acknowledging His power to do whatever concerned Spendy, recognizing Spendy is His concern and He can use who He will to do His work in Spendy's life. He doesn't need me. I do not know what is best. I have daily, nightly been making my requests known to God, but last night and this morning I have been thanking Him and fixing my mind on what is honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. We often stop there, not thinking of the rest of the paragraph in Phillipians 4, but it is key. Paul tells the Phillipians that peace comes as they practice what they have learned, received, heard, and seen. He says, "Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you" (Phil. 4:9).

So, I am left with plenty of instruction....I need to rejoice, reminding myself of the big picture of who God is and what He has done. ("...How rich is my condition! God and heav'n are still mine own." -Henry F. Lyte) (Phil. 4:4). I am to be reasonable, gentle, still...why? Because "the Lord is at hand" (Phil. 4:5). He hasn't left. He is in the middle of it all with me. I need to pray, but not just any old way. I am to pray thanking God for what He has done and what He is doing. I am not to be anxious but instead to make my requests known before Him. He wants to hear from me (Phil. 4:6). I am to roll over and over in my mind what is good, not rehearse all my fears (Phil. 4:8). And, finally I am to do what I have been taught, following the examples from Scripture and from brothers and sisters that He has used to be a picture of how to walk. In the doing of all of the above comes peace(Phil. 4:9).