Weather report from heaven: Sunny and bright with an abundance of light, and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture- “ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”- Matthew 6:33-34
Insight The Bible tells us repeatedly to “do not worry,” yet sometimes it seems like all we can do is worry. We are anxious about all kinds of things, and it bleeds into worry. Sometimes are worries and anxiety are so intense that it seems like we are walking in a fog, not really able to concentrate at all. We are desperate to be in control of our life, but when we grip to tightly that only leads to more anxiety as we are keenly aware that even our best laid plans could be derailed at any moment by a myriad of different things which are usually outside of our control. I have repeatedly found that truly the only thing that can keep me from being anxious and worrying is to engulf myself in God’s promises in scripture. A go to set of verses in Scripture for trying to push back against the onset of worry’s frontal attack upon our life is found in Philippians 4:4-8. I have found that I need to marinate in these verses until they sink deeply into my psyche and serve as my direct response to the anxieties of this word. They say “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
I especially love this last command to “think about such things.” Why? Because when we think about what is true, what is noble, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable, what is excellent, and what is praiseworthy, we have no time to think about things that cause us anxiety or cause us to worry. Our mind is either filled with faith or it is filled with fear, It can’t be filled with both at that same time. Therefore, we must really control what we think about if we want to reduce anxiety in our life. The Bible is full of verses that help us think rightly, focused on Jesus and the promises of God, so we choke off the worries of this life that can overwhelm us if we are not careful. Romans 12:2 implores us: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” We need to constantly be renewing our mind with scripture in order to overcome the anxieties and worries of this world, otherwise we are sitting ducks for the attacks of the enemy.
Prayer: Father God, give us your strength and help us to rely on Your Word in order to overcome all the worries and anxiety we carry around with us in this world. Help us to give them over to You, and leave them with You. For You alone are able to handle all of these things. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen!
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