READING Between The Lines

Philippians 4:4-6 (NIV)

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.


In the above passage you'll find a very well-known and relevant few verses from the Holy Scriptures. The Apostle Paul was writing this epistle (letter) to the church in Philippi. This morning as I was reading these verses, which I've read and recited hundreds of times, an awesome thought popped into my head. It dawned on me that in the chaotic business of day to day living... we don't take the time to read between the lines. Although many of us have read and memorized these verses and even applied them to our situational circumstances, we may have rarely or even never took the time to read between the lines. I was enlightened with a different perspective or angle, seeing this most wonderful passage from the Word of God in a different light- in turn blessing my Soul and bringing my restless mind great comfort.
This is how most of us view the Word of God: verse for verse, line for line; allowing grammatical codes and numerical verses to stifle or better yet distract us from the simple truths of God's Word (putting up walls between verses and isolating sentences) instead of seeing it for what it is in this case: an intimate letter from an Apostle to a church. From the "book" of  Philippians-
Most of us read and see the above passage of Scripture like so:
4[Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!] stop
5[Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.] stop
6[Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with prayer and supplication present your requests to God.
Let us take the time to read between the lines. This morning I was able to analyze this verse and be blessed by an entirely different perspective. I understood, by the Grace of God, that there should be no pause between verses 5 and 6. So starting at the 2nd part of verse 5 and continuing on through verse 6 the Word of God reads: The Lord is near. Do not be anxious for anything. 
Perspective:  
The Lord is near! Don't be anxious. You are not alone... so many of us feel so isolated and we feel like we're alone so we get overwhelmed by worries or anxiety, but the Word of God tells us plainly- THE LORD IS NEAR. When we feel anxious, stressed or wearily worrisome, we have to remember to read between the lines: the Lord is near, you're aren't alone, don't be so anxious... you don't have to worry about a thing- God's got your back.