Many of us wake up every morning feeling anxious and drag our load of uneasiness to bed with us, too.
No wonder. Every day "they" announce some new reason to be afraid.
Disturbing news seeps into our awareness, even though we think we're tuning it out. "What ifs" buzz around in our minds like pesky gnats, hatching into fears for our children and ourselves.
This isn't the first time cause for anxiety slithered into our world, it's just the most recent display. Perhaps you, too, have wondered how fear got such a hold on our culture. I think Oswald Chambers, who wrote My Utmost for His Highest, explained it best:
"When you fear God, you fear nothing else. When you don't fear God, you fear everything."
Fear of God means standing in awe of who he is and what he can do
The Bible makes it plain:
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!) "I am the Lord, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:18 ESV
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10 ESV
In our "enlightened times" the very idea of God and even more, of Jesus as the Savior of the world, seems to have been declared irrelevant.
Thank God individuals still can profess their faith and some we see and hear on our screens regularly do so, but that's a small percentage of the whole.
Looking for peace in all the wrong places
None of us are immune to fear. It's part of being human.
If you're having sleep problems, you have lots of company. Physical therapists report most patients complain of tight shoulders and neck problems. Why? Because that's where so many of us unconsciously hold our tension.
Even the calmest among us will admit to an underlying low-level sense of concern that won't leave.
That's why we need to remind ourselves over and over that ultimate power rests in God's hand, not with Covid.
Here's what Jesus told his followers--and if we're Christians, this includes us
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, nor let them be afraid." John 14:27 ESV
The Apostle Paul had every reason in the world to be anxious, but he told the Philippians in Chapter 4:6-7 ESV:
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.
His peace in our hearts and minds is ours for the taking. But here's the question: Are we willing to give up feeling anxious?
That sounds like an odd question, but for some individuals, living all churned up with anxiety means feeling more alive. More in touch with their emotions and with what's going on in the world, a bit more sensitive than people around them who don't seem as troubled.
More faith verses
Some of us grew up believing we shouldn't "mark up" our Bibles. Once I broke free of that lie I discovered what a joy it is to underline verses that speak to my heart, verses like these.
The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 NIV
Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. Psalm 50:1 NIV
When I am afraid I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. Psalm 56:5-6 NIV
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NIV
You gotta put the good stuff in if you want to get the good stuff out
That folksy sense saying applies in all of life, especially to our minds.
Adult or child, what we feed our minds is what we live out.
Always, always, the greatest answer for troubled hearts is found in John 3:16-17.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Filling our minds with thoughts of God's mercy in sending Jesus to be our Savior is the remedy that shrinks our deepest fears and fills us with calm.
Even if. Even when. Even though.
Lovingly,
Lenore
