OVERWHELMING ANXIETY IS NO MATCH FOR GOD’S PERFECT PEACE!
I want to encourage all of you today with something that God has really been teaching me lately about anxiety. You know the feeling. Just when you think you have all that you can handle, BOOM! You just got more added to your plate and you feel overwhelmed and frustrated. It is something we all struggle with it, whether you are 3 or 43. Let’s look at Philippians 4…
Philippians 4:4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Remember that Paul is still in prison, awaiting his trial. How is an attitude of joy possible for Paul, considering his situation? Would you be rejoicing if you were in the same predicament?
What are we to do when we are tempted to worry? What is your normal first response when you are going through a hard time? Here is what Paul tells us to do in Philippians 4…
1. Paul commanded the Philippians to rejoice. He repeated the command immediately, so there is no getting around it! Their joy was to be in the Lord, and it was to be unchanging. The circumstances of Paul’s life reminded him of the joy available in the Lord, and he wished that joy for them as well. Paul knew that no situation is beyond the Lord’s help, even being imprisoned for your faith. We can always rejoice in that!
2. Paul exhorted them to gentleness. The gentle person does not insist on his rights. Paul stresses this point by reminding them that the Lord was at hand. This means that the Lord would be coming soon. This should make us stop and think. Are you presently treating others with gentleness?
3. Paul encouraged them to “not worry about anything.” Jesus also spoke about worry and anxiety in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:25-34), where he stated the most common causes of anxiety. They are: physical appearance (v. 27); clothing (v. 28); food and drink (v. 31); and fear of the future (v. 34). Do any of these describe you when you are tempted to worry? Well, there is hope! Prayer with thanksgiving cures anxiety, because it focuses our attention on the Problem-solver and not on the problem itself.
Jesus gives us several promises that every believer can reach out and hold on to with confidence in this passage of Scripture. God will provide, take care of, sustain, preserve, protect, and love His children. Therefore when we are anxious, we fail “to trust all that God has promised to be for us in Christ Jesus.” This chapter is very encouraging and ties everything to the believer’s faith in a sovereign God to “supply all [his] need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
God is bigger than any problem or worry you have and we can cast all our anxieties upon Him, since He truly cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Once we have given our worries to God in prayer, we experience the incredible peace of God. Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God’s power. As Paul says, peace is not always easy to explain or understand (“surpasses all comprehension”). Sometimes we are left wondering why something has happened and we are faced with discouragement. The answers to your questions of why will not satisfy the need of your heart, however. God’s peace is always appropriate and meets the need of the heart. Why? Because God’s peace will “guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” “Guard” is a military term, implying that peace stands on duty to keep out anything that brings worry and anxiety. Isn’t that an awesome promise from God?
So, what is stopping you from going before the throne of grace in prayer to God? The worst thing that can happen is that you will find grace, peace, and the strength of the Lord at your disposal! Let’s go to the One who can truly satisfy our deepest needs.
The Bible is full of wonderful passages that give hope beyond our anxiety, which give the believer true hope, freedom, and strength! Here are a few...
Ps. 56:3 – “What time I am afraid I will put my trust in You.”
Ps. 94:19 – “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”
Ps. 37:5-7 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.”
Luke 10:41,42 – “And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her’.”
I Peter 5:7 – “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
(See also: Matt. 6:25-34)
In conclusion, George Mueller said, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith; the beginning of faith is the end of anxiety.” We must have faith in God that He will remain faithful to His promises! God commands His children to surrender their worries, frustrations, fears, and burdens in faith to Him. No Christian has to be dominated by anxiety. All it takes is to realize what is most needed and cast the anxieties on God. It will be crucial for the counselor to point out that this process is not some mystical, fuzzy feeling that comes over someone. Casting anxieties on the Lord is done in prayer (Phil. 4:6-7), communicating those things with the Lord and then trusting God to be faithful. Once that has been done, there is no reason to dwell on those thoughts, but every reason to trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness as He gives us His perfect peace.
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