For the letter "A," the first word that came to my mind was ANXIETY. Should I be concerned?? Should you?? LOL! However, I do know right offhand that anxiety is something the Lord calls us to resist. Now, some of us (including myself) need a little chemical help, and that's absolutely fine, but ultimately what I've come to believe with anxiousness is that it can often boil down to a heart issue. Are we going to trust the Lord and release the burden (as often as needed), or are we going to add it to our backpack of worries?
One of my favorite verses, and a verse that I believe shows the true heart of God is found in Matthew 11: 28- 30: "Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.'”
God wants us to "Cast our cares on Him because He cares for (and about) us!" (1 Peter 5:7)
He wants us to let Him lead and thus live in REST!
Because I'm a word-nerd, I decided to look up the definition of Anxiety (thank you, Oxford Dictionaries), and this is what I found: Anxiety is ...a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome... Synonyms: worry, concern, apprehension, uneasiness, fearfulness, disquiet, agitation, angst, misgiving, nervousness, tension, butterflies (in one's stomach), jitteriness, twitchiness
Can't we all relate? I know I can. Heck, anytime I start to feel overwhelmed I can feel the pull to give in to my depression/anxiety. For me, anxiety is a "clear and present danger" to my Peace! And living IN anxiety is not God's will for any of us!
Here were the listed Antonyms: calmness, calm, peace, serenity
I think we'd all agree that these qualities are much more appealing! And my research shows that it IS attainable. The Lord gives us a few hints as to how to achieve this peace...
Isaiah 26:3: You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Philippians 4:6-7: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Thoughts and thankfulness go hand in hand to bring us calm. Prayer and praise go hand in hand to bring us peace. It's not always easy and can, in fact, be a discipline, but it is achievable. So, today let's make the choice to turn our anxious thoughts into actionable prayers! Let's submit to His yoke and let Him lead us, teach us, and use these difficulties to make us more like Him. To the praise of His glorious Name!
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