Anxiety – the Joy Killer


Philippians 4:2–7
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This morning, writing this blog comes on the immediate heels of a “calendar meeting” with my husband. We often sit down in the morning just to review what is coming up in the day so that we aren't  working at cross purposes or expecting something of the other that just isn’t possible because of schedules. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with the coming few days. So many events, Bible studies, meeting, meals, you name it – it all just came crashing in and I felt anxiety rise up in my heart. Then I turn to the devotional passage set before us today and God’s timing (and perhaps even a bit of His sense of humor) just blows me away.

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

And there it is. My anxiety serves no purpose whatsoever and in fact I am admonished to set that aside because it displays a lack of trust in our awesome God. Now that "setting aside" is usually easier said than done, but it is possible. And I confess that it may take me several minutes. But to continue in the anxiety is not the path that God has for me.

Anxiety is an interesting emotion. It has power. If you step outside of that anxiety and examine it up close you will find that it is usually based on lies or faulty thinking. This morning I was borrowing all of the tasks that are up-coming in the next 10 days and piling them onto today. That is utterly ridiculous. A few years ago I was in a similar state when my secretary came into my office and saw me with my head in my hands. When asked what was I wrong I began a litany of all the stuff that was on my plate for the next several days. I was borrowing all of it and dumping into that moment. One of my memory practices was to place sticky notes along the base of my computer with upcoming tasks or things I didn't want to forget to do. He said, “Well, the first thing we’re going to do is take these notes down.” That visual reminder of what was coming was filling my head and my heart with anxiety. Then we focused on the tasks that I could accomplish within the next 2 hours. In hindsight, it seems like a stupid thing that I allowed to happen. But – well, I won’t make excuses.

Fast forward to this morning and while I don’t have sticky notes all over my computer, I allowed my calendar to dictate my emotional temperature until God’s Word came alone and changed the tone – completely. Those myriad of tasks and events has now been lifted before God and left in His hands. I know – it’s all so simple and all so difficult to achieve sometimes. And by sometimes, I mean when I’m in control.

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