In tonight’s passage Paul moves from sharing his prayers for the Philippians to addressing their worries and concerns about him. He doesn’t tell them not to worry, he doesn’t judge them for being anxious, he doesn’t even try to convince them that there is nothing for them to be concerned about; he addresses the reality of his situation and establishes for the Philippians a new perspective. Perspective is about order, it’s about slowing down the flow of information and the rise of emotions and making sure that attention and affection stay not merely where they belong but where we are nurtured, protected, loved and enjoyed. Wherever priorities are misplaced perspective is skewed and wherever perspective is skewed relationships are weakened. In these few verses Paul shares his perspective of his circumstances in an effort to help the Philippians gain perspective of theirs. I believe that the Holy Spirit was using Paul to do the same thing for us. The outcome is not “if Paul could feel that way about being in prison then I should be able to feel better about my situation”. The outcome is to simply be reminded of who God is, of what God has promised and of what God has always done. In every circumstance perspective is not when we can see and understand what it happening; perspective is when we can calm our hearts and focus our minds on hearing God’s voice, remembering God’s love and being aware of God’s presence. I pray that tonight we will be willing and able to confront our circumstances with rightly formed and ordered perspective.