Attacked by Anxiety

Philippians 4:6-7  “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.”

Anxiety has been called “the official emotion of our age”.  It is an increasing and universal problem – even among the followers of Jesus Christ. 
 
Men and women find it equally troubling.  Those who are old and those who are young find themselves pulled into the vortex of worry.  Neither is worry a problem belonging only to Americans.  Anxiety is a worldwide epidemic.  Even veterinarians are now treating our dogs and cats for similar maladies.  It really is “the official emotion of our age”.
 
Yet, God’s Word makes it abundantly clear that worry is unnecessary, unproductive, and unhealthy, as well as being a clear violation of an explicit directive from God. Look again at the passage above (Philippians 4:6-7).  Underscore in your thinking the word, “nothing”.  Now concentrate on the word, “everything”.  Those two words give us a practical solution to the crisis of worry and anxiety.
 
We are to worry about nothing and pray about everything.

 In his book, “Transformed by Thorns”, Dr. E. Stanley Jones remarked, “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is.  I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil.  I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt, and anxiety.  In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air.  But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air”.
 
I am convinced that Jones has succinctly captured the essence of the problem.  Is not worry the product of fear?  Is not fear, to some degree, a lack of faith?  Yet, the Apostle Paul challenges us with these words, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”.  (2 Timothy 1:7)
 
Today, I want you to be free from worry.  God wants you to enjoy the liberty that comes from trusting Him with “everything” and worrying about “nothing”.
 
(Psalm 46:1-3)  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore, we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.
 
The next time you feel that characteristic heaviness in your chest and you are tempted to worry, stop!  Remember God’s promises and refuse to be filled with anxiety.
 
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