Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing? Zero? Zip? What about when the world shuts down? What if I've lost my job? Can't pay my bills. Behind on my mortgage. What if my health is failing? What if my kids are on a destructive path at high speed? What if the world is an uproar? What about the upcoming election? What is the future going to be like? Be anxious for nothing? Really?
To say that it's difficult to maintain peace in this stress-filled world is an understatement. There is so much to contend with in our lives that can disrupt our peace. But thank God He has made a way of escape.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says, " No temptation has overtaken you except which is common to man, but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able." When worry begins to overwhelm you, when fear starts to grip your heart, when anxiety is on high alert, or feelings of despair come to hold you hostage in a dark hole; run to God in honest and humble prayer. Tell Him what you need. Let Him know how you feel. He will sustain and comfort you. When the righteous cry out, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. (Psalm 34:17)
Unburden your deepest thoughts and concerns. Cultivate a heart of gratitude and praise. Praise and thanksgiving go hand in hand. Scripture tells us that we are to "Come before His presence with thanksgiving. (Psalm 95:2) Psalm 100:4 offers the same approach. We are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise! Thanksgiving and praise are the keys that admit us into God's courts.
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. Isaiah 59:11
Feeling anxious? Bless His name! Worried? Lift His name on high! Discouraged? Offer Him a sacrifice of praise. You will not "feel" like it but raise a mighty Hallelujah! If all you can muster up is a whisper, that's okay God hears whispers of praise too. I know this for sure. God is not hard of hearing and He is attentive to our cries! Don't stop until the peace of God, the peace that floods your heart and reassures you that God is faithful to His word and to His children! Apprehend Jesus and rest in the peace that He gives that surpasses all understanding and stands guard over your heart and mind.
Lift Him up and He will lift you up!
Rejoice greatly in the Lord! Worship Him. Bless Him. Exalt Him. Cry out to Him. Shout to the Lord with a voice of triumph! Lift Him up and He will lift you up! Center your mind on Him, not your feelings, not someone else's opinion, not on the news report, not the lies of the enemy but fix your eyes on Jesus and what thus says the Lord! He is the source of our peace. His Word is true and forever settled in heaven.
I encourage you to build yourself up on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit, even more so in this hour. Be steadfast in fervent honest prayer and abiding. Rest in the faithfulness of God knowing that when we cry out to Him, He is faithful to fill us with renewed faith, fresh hope, and strength; wherewith we can enter into His rest.
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 let it be afraid. John 14:27
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Colossians 3:15
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