Promises, promises

Next to fear, anxiety can stifle the life of the would be disciple. In Philippians 4:6-7 we read,  “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.”

Let’s listen to 3 modern day anxiety quotes.

“Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.”— Jodi Picoult,

“Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” — Arthur Somers Roche

“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” — Swedish proverb

Without a doubt, anxiety often freezes our lives as disciples of Jesus. 

In his word, God tells us to not be anxious! That’s a command from the Lord, so every time we are anxious about life we’re actually demonstrating uncertainty towards God’s word. Let that sink in for a second. Instead of trusting in God’s promises we doubt His abilities or that He cares for us because we are going through a rough time. How silly does that sound, doubting the creator of the world? Yet I have been guilty of doing this all too often.

So, how do we shed our anxiousness? Well, God tells us that we should pray to Him with thanksgiving and make our request known to Him. Stressed out, pray. Worried, pray. Anxious, pray. I think at times our problems look so big because we have taken our focus off God and put all the focus on our problem. He is so much bigger than our problems. He's our healer, our provider, our shelter, our everything, sometimes we need to remember what we should be focusing on, or rather, who.

The Bible is full of examples of God providing for His people. Time and again the God of life promises to provide whether our need is land, food, shelter, comfort or hope.

God of peace,

cause us to rejoice in you always,

make us gentle to everyone,

keep us from being anxious about anything—

help us to ask you for what we need, with thanksgiving;

and let your peace

guard our hearts and minds

in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.