Being at peace in an anxious world

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In our everyday life, there is always a temptation to worry. Worry can span all areas of life, from relationships, finances to even our own spiritual state before God. We see that God's word is not ignorant of this but gives us great promises and commands. These truths will help us to fight against the many worries that we face in our day to day life, regardless of the size of the worry.

Do not be anxious about your life

'Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?' (Matthew chapter 6, verse 25).

We see that Jesus himself was aware of our temptation to worry and he simply commands us not to. In his command he shows us how much these fickle matters we worry over pale in comparison to our own life and soul. So, the first truth that we have looked at in scripture shows us that we are not to worry at all as we are commanded not to, however as humans we have times of weakness in our flesh and we must look at more promises in scripture to help us fight our worry.

Fight anxiety with prayer and thanksgiving

'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' (Philippians chapter 4, verses 5-6).

In response to our command to not be anxious, we see we are given the tools to overcome our anxiety: prayer and thanksgiving. We are promised as we give thanks to God and pray to him asking for help in the fight against anxiety, he will fill our minds with the peace of God, which will guard our hearts and minds from being overwhelmed by worry. When we take this at face value, we see that we when we go to God with our worries, he will actively help us by supplying peace to our minds.

Throw your crushing worries onto Jesus

'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you' (1 Peter chapter 5, verse 7).

When we face the point where our striving to not worry is a battle too hard for us, we have a final way out, to simply cast all our anxieties onto Jesus himself. He is willing to take all our anxieties and worries because of his great care for us. Considering this point, we must ask the question: How do I cast my anxieties onto Christ? The answer is simply resting in Jesus' power over this world.

We know from the book of Hebrews chapter one that Jesus himself holds the universe together by the word of his power. When we finally trust Christ's control over this world, then our fears and worries will have no affect on us, because we will see that all our circumstances are not out of the control of Jesus and who is greater to trust than Jesus who loved us and gave his own body to be a sacrifice for us?

Courtesy of Press Service International