Hi John,
When I first responded to you I had only consulted a couple of translations but I had checked Strongs and found this;G3309
μεριμνάω
merimnaō
mer-im-nah'-o
From G3308;
to be anxious about: - (be, have) care (-ful), take thought.
After searching the Blue Letter Bible (and all the versions/translations available there) it is most often translated using the above "anxious about" rather than "careful for nothing" or "don't worry about anything." (You can check the link below)http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Phl&c=4&v=6&t=KJV#vrsn/6But this is actually a side issue, the bigger one is making a doctrine from a few words of one verse. If all the bible could be summed up by the phrase "Don't worry about anything" it should be the shortest book in the history of mankind.
We should not forget the following admonishments;Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
2Pet 1:20 Knowing this first, that
no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation2Cor 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
Let's look at Php 4:6 in its entirety; Don't worry about anything
but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
Don't worry, don't be anxious (impatient), don't stress out trying to figure a way out of a situation or in attempting to justify our thoughts and actions... Pray to God about your concerns, that is what this verse speaks to me, especially in light of all the other scriptures (many listed earlier in the thread) in regard to this journey. Let's not wring our hands all bound up by our own inadequate works and solutions (or lack thereof) but rather petition our Father in prayer.
That is pretty much the essence of this topic, when we veer off the path of seeking Him in all things, if we become anxious, impatient and act impulsively then we deserve to judge ourselves as having failed, but by His grace we will surely get another opportunity to win the next spiritual battle by praying for submission to His will, remembering Him in all things, in all circumstances, small and great.
At the beginning of the article you quoted from we have an example from our Lord dealing with a very extreme situation; THE GREATEST DRAMA OF THE AGESIf you like drama, then Matt. 26:36 is the place to find it. Few pay close attention to what is really going on in these few verses of Scripture. The humanity of Jesus is brought into direct conflict with the will of His God and Father. First I will jump ahead of our story slightly so that you understand the setting of this greatest of all prayers in the history of the universe. After praying for one hour Jesus returns a short way back to His Apostles and says:
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41).
Was the "flesh" of Jesus any stronger than that of His apostles? No, it was the same flesh. Paul tells us that, "…there is ONE kind of flesh of men…" (I Cor. 15:39). Jesus was given this same "one kind" of flesh (John 1:14 & Rom. 1:3). And so the flesh of Jesus was just as "weak" as that of His Apostles. Jesus instructed His apostles to stay awake and pray with Him for one hour. None of them could do it. None of us could have done it. They just ate a meal and they were now sleepy (not only physically sleepy, but especially spiritually sleepy). Now back to the beginning of this great drama:
"Then comes Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and says unto the disciples, Sit you here, while I go and pray yonder [over there]. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John] and began to be SORROWFUL, AND VERY HEAVY. Then said He unto them, My soul [His fleshly, conscious humanity, not His spirit] is EXCEEDING SORROWFUL, EVEN UNTO DEATH [spirit doesn’t die, it is our flesh that must die]. Tarry [stay] you here, and watch with Me.
And He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed saying, O MY FATHER, IF IT BE POSSIBLE, LET THIS CUP [this cup of death—being beaten beyond recognition, being made sin offering, and crucified for the sins of humanity] pass from Me: NEVERTHELESS, NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS THOU WILL" (Matt. 26:36-39).
"And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:43-44).
I doubt that any of us can ever fully appreciate what unfathomable human trauma and agony was taking place for those three hours in the garden that night two thousand years ago. The eternal destiny of the entire human race was at stake, and Jesus KNEW IT! And believe me, Jesus’ Father was agonizing right along with His Son:
"In all their afflictions, He [GOD] was afflicted… in His love and in His pity He redeemed them…" (Isa. 63:9).
"Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He SUFFERED" Heb. 5:8.
And oh how Christ was suffering that night in the garden! But right there in the garden is the answer to all prayer. "O MY FATHER… nevertheless, not as I will, BUT AS THOU WILL." Jesus not only prayed that way; Jesus thought that way:
"I can of Mine Own Self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not My Own will, but the WILL OF THE FATHER WHICH HAS SENT ME" (John 5:30).
And again:
"For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine Own will, but the will of HIM THAT SENT ME" (John 6:38).
Did Jesus pray as earnestly as it is possible to pray that God would "let this cup pass?" YES, He did.
Did God grant Jesus His desire to "let this cup pass?" NO, He didn’t.
But, did Jesus get His prayer answered? YES, He surely did. How so? Because Jesus’ greater desire was that His Father’s will be done, rather than "let this cup pass." This example from our Lord is the answer to answered pray and it is also the answer to unanswered prayer.
http://bible-truths.com/praying.htmPeace,
Joe