#16 – Anxiety vs Peace – June 13, 2024

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

My son just bought a motorcycle.  I’m not happy.  I tried to talk him out of it.  It wasn’t the fact that I didn’t think he’s a responsible operator, but there are so many things that could happen beyond his, or my, control.  He could hit some shale on the road that causes him to wreck.  Another car wouldn’t see him and would pull out in front of him.  It could suddenly start to rain while he’s riding and could cause him to skid into another car.  So many other scenarios run through my head.  Not only that but I worry too about his girlfriend riding with him if something should happen.  Things like this cause anxiety in life.

For the past 4 weeks our pastor has been teaching on anxiety, which we were all totally attuned to.  He has taught us that anxiety is caused, first and foremost, from fear.  My daughter is a counselor and when dealing with someone with anxiety, they first try to find out …what is this person fearful of? 

Let’s face it…we’ve all experienced moments of anxiety, and we will over and over.  We fear for our children, we fear for the well being of our friends, we are fearful when we’re on road trips, and even some pastors have a feeling of fear and anxiety for their congregation. 

But fear is only the lack of faith.  Hebrews tell us that faith is the “substance of things hoped for”.  We hope that all those things we fear don’t come true and that everything and everyone will be just fine.  It also tells us that faith is the “evidence of things not seen”.  We tend to imagine the worst, just as I tend to imagine the worst that could happen to my son on his motorcycle.

Our anxiety can be caused from things that never happen, are beyond our control, and comes from our over-imagination.  Most of the time, our imaginary scenarios don’t even come to fruition, and our fear and anxiety was for naught.

The lack of faith is a substance of unbelief.  When we pray for God’s protection, we need to believe.  Faith is belief in the workings of God regardless of the outcome.  Once we lack faith we become discontent with the way we think things should be and that’s when fear takes over. 

  Psalm 56:3 tells us, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you”.  Oh, if we only did that all the time.  But we continue to be fearful and by doing so we are expressing our distrust in what Jesus can do.  I know that there are times when our worst fears come true, and many blame God for His lack of help and healing.  I don’t have the answers.  But understand one thing…God knows what’s happening and He cares for you – 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

So how can we come up with a solution to battling our anxieties and have peace in our lives?  Again, our answer comes from the divine scriptures.  We need to meditate on these things from Philippians 4:8-9, “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”.

There are many things we can “meditate” on that can relieve our mind from the anxiety that we experience.  Take time to clear you mind because that’s the first place Satan will attack.  Don’t let him interrupt your clear thinking and ruin the “good” things in life.

For all our problems, no matter how big or how small…the Holy Spirit inspired scriptures has the answer.  Corrie Ten Boom once stated, “Worry (anxiety) does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength”.

As for me…I’m going to focus more on recognizing the anxieties in my life and focus more on those things that I SHOULD meditate on.  Perhaps I should also leave my worries for my son in God’s hands.  Besides, God’s with him all the time…I’m not.  I bet I’ll sleep better at night, too!

Nancy Stoppe                     

Stoppe123@comcast.net

Blog – inspirationalinsights6.com  (inspirational insights 6 .com)