4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:4-7

It always happens in three's! When you hear someone make that comment they are referring to bad things that seem to come in bunches of three into our lives. I don't believe this to be the case because there are plenty of times when we only deal with one or two trials at a time; it's just that when there are three or more happening at once we really remember those times! The Bible teaches that regardless of how many trials believers might have to encounter at once, God is sovereign over the good and bad things that happen to them. Everything happens according to His plan. God has good purposes for the trials His people experience (Rom. 8:28-29).

The Philippian church was experiencing more than three bad things happening to them at once. They were poor, they were being persecuted, their missionary (the apostle Paul) was facing imminent death in prison, false teachers were harassing them, and there was a serious division in the church.

Paul writes the book of Philippians from his jail cell to give his beloved church instruction and encouragement on how to deal with these trials. Joy is the predominant theme in this book. Christians should not allow trials to rob them of their joy. Paul constantly brings them back to finding their joy in the Lord and not in their circumstances.

Near the end of the book in 4:4-7, Paul shares with them the four Christian virtues of God's grace that lead to experiencing peace in the midst of trials. All Christians need to be reminded of these virtues as they encounter difficult circumstances of their own. The first virtue is to rejoice in the Lord always. Paul repeats this command to show that it is possible and necessary no matter what is occurring in their lives. How? This joy is not found in circumstances, but in knowing intimacy with Christ and believing in the riches of His grace. The second virtue is reasonableness or gentleness. It is a willingness to yield one's personal rights and show consideration and gentleness to others. Believers have the power to be gentle because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and because Christ has shown them selfless love and gentleness. Believers are to think of the reality of the Lord's impending return, consequently, they will not want Him to return while they are acting harshly with someone. The third virtue is prayerfulness. Paul says the answer to anxiety is prayer. Instead of expending useless energy on worry, believers are to turn their attention to prayer. In addition to using prayer to express their needs to God, prayer is also a means for believers to commune with Him and receive assurances of His grace and sovereign care. The fourth virtue is thanksgiving. Gratitude should be an attitude that permeates the believer's thinking, conversation, and certainly accompany all praying. Thanksgiving is remembering the eternal and temporal blessings believers have in Christ and acknowledging that God is good in whatever He plans for them.

A beautiful promise is given to believers who practice these four Christian virtues by faith: God's own peace, which far surpasses human comprehension. This peace protects the believer's heart from despair.

Are you in need of God's peace right now? The experience of this supernatural heavenly peace is only for those who have already been forgiven of their sins and declared righteous by faith in the finished work of Christ. Examine your heart and make sure you believe in Christ alone as your Savior and Lord. Then, trust God to give you the grace to practice these four virtues in the midst of your trial(s), and the experience of His peace will come.