Anxiety

-

“Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”

Proverbs 12:25

 

This might just be the proverb of the year for 2020. All of the unknowns that the whole world has been facing have been a heavy burden, and we are all just waiting for a good word so that we can breathe a sigh of relief that it is all over. Along the way there have been some good words such as when the initial quarantine period was over, when there was good news for certain treatments for COVID, and last week when I heard that the clinical trials of a vaccine were in their 3rd and final phase of trials.

The problem that we have faced this year is that we have been waiting a long time for these good words. In the time of the wait, the weight of anxiety for many has almost been unbearable. What do we do when the time between the uncertainty and the good word is long and drawn out? Some go into hibernation and shut out the world. Others ignore reality like the ostrich hiding its head in the sand. The rest are somewhere in between. But no matter how a person responds, anxiety can still be lurking and pressing down on us without us even realizing it.

There is actually a cure for anxiety. It’s found in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The cure for anxiety is the peace that comes from God. Human effort cannot reach up to heaven and grab it. It can only be received as a gift.

Anxiety weighs the heart down. The peace of God guards the heart from anxiety. If you’ve not experienced the peace of God, or if in the midst of this year have misplaced it, let me encourage you to make your requests known to God and trust him to work all things on your behalf together for good. That’s the good word for today.

Lord, I lift up to you my anxieties and all my cares. I trust you to do what is best for me, my family, my community and my world. Thank you! Amen.

Devoted to keeping Jesus Christ the main thing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Self-Control

-
“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Proverbs 25:28   A city which builds walls around it does so to protect itself from its enemies. If the wall is in disrepair or broken down, it leaves itself open to attack. There is no longer any reasonable sense of security. The comparison to a man without self-control follows. He has no reason to believe that he will be protected from his enemies. The interesting twist is that his enemies come from within instead of without. His lack of self-control keeps him unprotected from the evil that is within his heart. The things that Jesus talked about in Mark 7:21-22, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.” When we receive Jesus as the Lord of our life, he begins a work in our hearts which puts a hold on the evil that comes from within. Self-control is a frui
Read more

Train Up A Child

-
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6   When our son was young, we had this verse displayed in his room. The picture that went with it was a train. Although that was a play on words, there is something to be said about how an actual train works that is insightful in our walk with Christ. A train does not deviate from predetermined tracks, unless there is a bad accident. The train is not like a car that can choose its’ own route. In order to go anywhere it must have the two rails to guide it. In the same way our spiritual direction has been pre-determined by the Lord. If we are to go anywhere, spiritually speaking, it must be in line with the Word of God and the Spirit of God. We must have both. The Pharisees had the Word of God, but their hearts were hard. They were not led by God’s Spirit. The Corinthians were led by the Spirit, but the apostle Paul had many words of instruction for them because they were no
Read more

Strongholds

-
“A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.” Proverbs 21:22   A stronghold is in fact something that has a strong hold over us. Strongholds are not easily dislodged otherwise they would be called weak-holds. It takes more than strength of will to bring down a stronghold. It takes wisdom. Wisdom can be defined as “knowing what the greatest goal is in any situation, and what the best way is to achieve it.” (John Piper) When you talk about pulling down a stronghold, courage must also be involved. Knowing that a stronghold must go does not make the act of getting rid of it any easier. It takes hard work and great skill to scale the stronghold, whatever it may be. It would seem that the greater the stronghold, the greater the wisdom is needed to bring it down. Every stronghold is different. Therefore, the solution to each one is different. Wisdom that is effective in one area will not be sufficient for another area. This is one rea
Read more