JOY AND PEACE COME FROM BELIEVING

​I felt inspired today to write about something that we all regularly fight against:  Anxiety. Or at least we should be fighting against it. Most of us are innately wired to care. And because we care, we have to fight the urge to be anxious when presented with a potentially unsettling circumstance that may affect people we care about. I know that for me it will be a lifelong challenge to remain peaceful when confronted with potential calamity. But it is what God wants for us and because of that it is possible. It is so easy to fall prey to anxiety. Satan is so clever. He ensures that it happens so subtly that we don’t know it has crept in and before we know it we’re in a full-blown panic. Our default is to go with the flow and this flows toward a toilet and ends up in a swirly.

Here's the thing: God’s love is absolutely unconditional, but his promises, aren’t. In order to defeat fear and anxiety and receive the supernatural peace Jesus offers, we have to obey what He tells us to do. The following verses have been foundational for many people. They are Philippians 4:6-8:

“Do not let your hearts be anxious, but in everything, with prayer and supplication present your requests to God. And the peace that passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds, as you trust in Christ Jesus.”

I can hear what you’re thinking. It’s too simple, right? Yes, easy to say, but harder to do. Yet God will never ask us to do anything we are not able to do without his help. We partner with God where there are things that we must do that He will not do for us, just as He will do for us what we cannot do.

Firstly: “Do not let your hearts be anxious.”  Okay, just how am I to do this? Our minds are Satan’s playground. He sets us up, to get us upset. The second we begin to worry, we’re letting the anxiety in. You can choose what you think. You don’t have to go with whatever worry drops into your head. We need to consciously have a chat with ourselves and say, (preferably out loud so our own ears can hear it) “no way devil. I’m not letting you ruin even one minute of my day.” We are to put a stop to the anxious thought and kick it out.  This is not letting your heart become anxious. You replace the worry, with faith.

Secondly: “but in everything…”  Not for everything, but in everything. In every single circumstance we find ourselves in, we are to pray with thanksgiving (supplication) and bring our request to God. In even the worst circumstances we can say “thank you Jesus that you’re here with me. Please help me.”
For e.g.: We’re at work and the boss wants to see us for a meeting. We don’t know what it’s about, but there have been some layoffs recently. Obviously the first temptation is to wonder “Am I next on the chopping block? What am I going to do if I am? How will I make my mortgage? How will I buy the things we need?” The thoughts cascade from there.
Now let’s take a look at how we can react with God’s help: After the initial first thought, we can say: “No. I am not jumping to conclusions. I’m not taking that thought. God has given me this job and I do good work here. Lord, I thank you for this job and for this meeting. I trust you with its outcome. Even if I am about to lose my job, I know this avenue has been road-tested by you. You go before me and will take care of me no matter what. I cast this anxiety on You, because You care for me.” (1 Peter 5:7)

Our part is to believe and trust in Jesus. Full stop. It does mean leaving worrying ground where we think we have control, and stepping off the cliff trusting Jesus will catch us, because He will! Does this mean that 100% of the time things will turn out the way we want? Perhaps not. Jesus sees our future beyond the present and will only do what’s best for us. Even when we can’t understand and want to know why, it’s better to know God than to know why.

Finally, “and the peace that passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds, as you trust in Christ Jesus.” What “understanding” was Paul talking about? It’s our imperfect understanding of the situation; it’s what is happening right now with imperfect knowledge. The peace from Jesus will dominate and will guard your heart and mind if you choose to let it. I once heard a Christian Psychologist on TV say this pertaining to anxiety: “Any time you are no longer peaceful, you are no longer in faith.” The minute we stop believing that Jesus has this (whatever “this” is for you) we start dropping like a stone.

Jesus said in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” If we truly believe that Jesus is directing our lives we don’t have to be troubled or afraid. “Fear not!” is the most repeated command in the Bible. In fact, it's been said that there are 365 “Fear nots” in the Bible — one “Fear not” for every day of the year!

He’s got this. Only the Son of God can offer supernatural peace when our world is turning upside down. It sure beats anxiety any day.