Dear Friends,
Really?
My life verse has always been Philippians 4:6 which begins, “Do not be anxious about anything …” I sometimes wonder what the apostle Paul was thinking when he wrote that verse. Had he had written, “When you get anxious …” I would feel he was talking directly to me, but “Do not be anxious” seems unrealistic.”
I know people who feel guilty when they feel anxious. That guilt makes them even more anxious. This morning my niece Shari and I were discussing a problem we are working together to solve. “One particular point makes me anxious,” she said laughingly adding, “And I know I’m not supposed to be anxious about anything.”
Philippians 4:6 notwithstanding, we all get anxious. In Psalm 139:23, David wrote:
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Imagine how anxious David must have felt when he fled from Saul and went to Achish, king of Gath. Gath was a Philistine city and David had made a career out of slaughtering the Philistines.
David presented himself before the king when, out of the blue, the servants of Achish said …, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”
David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
1 Samuel 21:11-13
David escaped and wrote Psalm 34 as a song of praise. A good way to calm our fears and lessen our anxiety is to turn our thoughts to God’s goodness.
I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Everyone is different. I find myself feeling most anxious in circumstances where I am neither hopeful nor hopeless — circumstances in which I haven’t a clue what the outcome will be and in which I seem powerless.
As it says in Ecclesiastes, ‘To everything there is a season.’ Life runs in cycles; sometimes good things happen; sometimes bad things happen. Not knowing when each cycle will turn creates anxiety.
And there is a right time and a right way for everything. Yet people often have many troubles. They do not know what the future holds. No one can tell them what will happen. Ecclesiastes 8:6-7
Here is where we need to follow the wisdom in Philippians 4:6.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Praying with thanksgiving can help us refocus on the many ways God has provided for us in the past. Then, instead of fearing a negative result, we can pray, expecting God to either provide a solution or to prepare us to face any new challenges that lie ahead.
Scripture for the Week
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34
Blessings,
Your Friends in Christ
Because He Loves Us Press 