A global pandemic that’s now in its second year is testing all of us in different ways. Isolation, monotony, and the extra demands that come with COVID-19 have left many of us feeling worn out. While there’s more stress, many of our usual outlets for stress relief are gone. And so much of our lives is beyond our control. We can’t control the arrival of the vaccines, the extent of the restrictions or when life will return to normal. But there are things that we can do to ease our stress.

Writing while chained to a Roman guard and knowing that the people to whom he wrote might soon face the same kind of persecution, Paul explained how they could experience the peace of God. His words have given people peace ever since. Three lessons stand out.

1. Stop waiting for joy and start choosing it

He starts by calling them to joy. He says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Commanding someone to be cheerful sounds crazy. If something wonderful happens, of course I’ll celebrate, but until it does, feeling blah seems like the only reasonable response. I’m not sure Paul would disagree. His call to joy isn’t just about positive thinking. He’s not saying, “Don’t worry, be happy.” He’s telling us to rejoice in the Lord. No matter what is happening in our circumstances we can still choose to rejoice by thinking about all that God has done for us. If you know Jesus, you have reasons to celebrate. Thinking that we can only be happy once our circumstances have improved is just not true. Stop waiting for joy and start choosing it by rejoicing in who God is and what He’s done.

2. Stop worrying about things and start entrusting them to God

Commanding people to rejoice doesn’t make any more sense than telling people not to be anxious, but that’s what Paul does next. He says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Worrying is stressing about how you’re going to solve a problem while praying is asking in faith for God to solve a problem. The pandemic keeps stirring my anxiety because there’s so much that’s out of my control. The more I think about it, the more stress it creates. But every time I pray about those same circumstances, I’m reminded that God is in control. He’s got a good plan and I can rest in it. And those words “with thanksgiving” prompt me to think more about what God’s done and not just about what I want Him to do. When I do that, I worry less.

3. Stop focusing on all that’s negative and start thinking about all that’s good and true

After calling believers to rejoice in the Lord and pray instead of worrying, Paul can promise that: “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). But he adds something else. If prayer was the defensive weapon, he now gives an offensive weapon in the work of rejoicing: training our thoughts on what is good. He says: “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” (Philippians 4:8). This line is unexpected because it comes right at the point in the letter where you might expect a rant. Paul could easily start going off about how unjust the Roman legal system was and how cruel the religious authorities had been. Had these things just not occurred to him? Obviously, I think they had. It wasn’t that Paul was in denial about all that was wrong in his world, but he chose not to focus his thoughts there. News these days seems mostly designed to stir our outrage and I understand that there are some things we should be outraged about. But if that becomes the focus of our thoughts, stress and anger will result and joy will always elude us. We need to deliberately focus our thoughts on “anything worthy of praise.” I listened to a man recently share how a number of his relatives who had been disillusioned with the church had begun listening to online messages during the pandemic. As I hear the accounts of God’s work in their lives, I couldn’t help but thank God for the good that He’s accomplishing in the pandemic. And I felt a little lighter as a result. I need to focus more of my thoughts on the good and give less airtime to the outrage if I want to ease the stress that this pandemic can foster.

May the peace of God guard your hearts and minds and lift your stress as you seek your joy in Him.

In awe of Him,

Paul