He’s in the Room
Philippians 4: 5b-7
“The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
It’s often easy to overlook the first part of this verse and jump to the part where Paul tells us not to be anxious. But why exactly should we not be anxious about anything when there seems to be so much in this world that causes worry?
Because THE LORD IS NEAR!
Some of the biggest lies we allow the enemy to speak over us are that we are alone in our situations, that God has forgotten about us, or that God has more important things to listen to than our lowly prayers. When we allow these lies to control our way of thinking, we tend to feel isolated, defeated, and powerless.
The truth is that God has given us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us so that we may know who God is and how to follow Him (Acts 2:38-29). The Holy Spirit walks alongside us in every circumstance, and because of this, we can have a peace that surpasses any anxious thoughts. It’s up to us to allow Him into our lives and give Him the authority to speak over our situations.
Accepting this peace is not always easy. More often, we find ourselves doubting God because of our circumstances. We may feel like our lives are too much of a mess for Jesus to be in. However, we see on multiple occasions where no matter the circumstances, JESUS SHOWS UP.
In the Gospel of John, we discover a time when the disciples were in a bad situation and felt completely alone. In John 20:19-23, the disciples were huddled together behind locked doors, hiding out of fear of the Jewish leaders who had just persecuted Jesus. In the room, they sat without expectation of Jesus showing up because of the shut and locked doors. Thankfully, Jesus is greater than any shut or locked doors, and He appeared in the midst of their situation. Jesus stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
When Jesus entered the room, the disciples experienced a peace that surpassed all understanding.
But what changed? Nothing, other than the fact that the disciples recognized Jesus’ presence. The door was still locked, and the danger and threat to the disciples was still present, yet when the disciples recognized that Jesus was in the room, nothing else mattered. Nothing around them changed, but Jesus came into the room and everything changed.
How often are we shutting Jesus out rather than opening and unlocking the door to allow Him into our lives? Sometimes we are sitting around, waiting for our circumstances to change, rather than leaning on Jesus and letting Him be our strength and guidance in the midst of those circumstances.
Jesus comes to us and knows how to meet us right where we are. He is always in our room, but we must recognize His presence and hear His voice. The disciples received the same Holy Spirit that empowered and enabled Jesus, and we have received it too. He’s not just with us, He lives inside of us. We can take on each day with the promise that we are not walking through it alone.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
