Have you experienced any anxiety this year? This month? How about today?
I am sorry to have to admit. I have. This year. This month. And while the day is just beginning in my neck of the woods, perhaps it hasn't started yet. But will it? Or is there something I can do to have the kind of peace that Jesus wants to give me?
What is anxiety anyway?
Google's dictionary describes it this way: noun: a feeling of worry, concern, or unease typically about an intermittent event or something with an uncertain outcome.
Does that describe you? Last month? Yesterday? Today?
If so, what can you and I do about it, when it hits us and sometimes wants to bowl us over like a ball hitting pins in a bowling alley?
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
God doesn't want us to be anxious. Not for anything. But what is this about giving thanks when we are asking his answers to our prayers? Is that absolutely necessary?
Well...absolutely...yes.
In giving thanks to God, it acknowledges that we are thankful to him. For his love, his mercy, his provision. If he were just a god in the sense that some kings have ruled over their people with evil intent and cruelty we sure would not be thankful for someone like that. But God-the true God of the bible is good. He wants to give us good things and be thankful for what he has done for us. Even when things may not be going the way we want them to go.
It is kind of like when we do something nice for another person. We like to be thanked by them and if they don't thank us, we might tend to be offended. Especially if we do it out of the goodness of our heart.
It is that way with God. He wants us to thank him for what he has done because he always does things for us, out of the goodness of his heart. /Always.
We may not always be thankful for the situations we find ourselves in, but looking to God and being thankful for who he is and what he has done and what he is going to do, takes us away from being bitter about what we are going through and puts our minds on "...things above, not on things of the earth." as Colossians 3:2 tells us. I don't know about you, but I would rather have that kind of a mind set then one that is bitter and not thankful.
Oh, it is not always easy. But when we dig into what the bible says about thankfulness and also anxiety...when we spend the time in Gods word and learning what he wants for us, we can get our minds in tune with what he does want for us.
If you are having a bad year or a bad day, look up some scripture on both anxiety and thankfulness. It will make your day go so much better then if you would rather let that ball hit your pin and knock you down.
August 21, 2019 Promise: Cast your anxiety on him, for he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Hi Friends. Thanks for coming by today. If you are suffering with anxiety in your life, just know that God loves you. I have been there and still have to watch it in myself. If you want some bible verses and more information on both subjects of anxiety and being thankful, please follow these links.
God Bless!
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