Do Not Be Anxious   

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden. ~Corrie Ten Boom, Clippings from My Notebook

I have a tendency to become anxious about things and often the very things I become anxious about never happen.  I wonder how much time I have wasted in my lifetime worrying about things that didn’t matter or never happened. 

If I decide to hold fast to Christ when anxiety overtakes me in effect I replay Christ’s victory on the cross and therefore I defeat the evil forces of Satan.  Peter said it best this way, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.  Instead, be very glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world.”  (1 Peter 4:12-13).

Of course this is easier said than done.  It is easy to say, give it over to the Lord but then we have all these worldly influences that allow anxiety to creep back in.  It would be great if we had a Satan filter.  Kind of like a coffee filter that you wear on our head that keeps the Satan stuff from getting in and then you replace the filter every day with a new one. 

The thing is we have an excellent filter available to us at any time.  God is our filter.  He is the one who can filter out the worldly garbage that can come in the form of the things people say and do to us.  The difficult part is determining what is good and what is bad and sometimes what we think is bad, (as in trials), really are for our benefit.  God sometimes intends for us to benefit from the difficult things in life.  But He tells us not to be anxious.  He tells us in “everything”, not just the big things but the minor things as well, through supplication and thanksgiving, give your requests to Him.  It doesn’t say he will take away all the bad things it says “peace” will guard our hearts and minds through Jesus.  This means God will be with us through it.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often become anxious over things that never happen.  That is when Satan wins.  Help me to rely on You alone for my comfort and peace.  I also praise you for the trials in my life because I am a better person for having survived the trials of life.  Please give me Your peace.

Scripture:  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.  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4:6-9