Anxiety

The final chapter of Philippians is so full of meaningful verses regarding Peace in our lives, I will take a few days to explore them all.
Today I'm in chapter 4: 4 - 7, "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 everything 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".
I'm the type of person who you could say is "high strung", and I deal with anxiety, so these verses really speak to my heart.
What we're being told here is that no matter what circumstance we might be in, to rejoice. What's there to rejoice about, you ask? The words following tell us - "in the Lord". It says that He is near - closer than our very breath. Think about Jesus, who he is, and all that he is - no circumstance can match that.
I have to remind myself to RUN to the Lord everytime I start to feel anxiety about a situation try to overtake my mind and emotions. I get the "what ifs", and the Lord is telling us to come to him in prayer with those anxious feelings, giving thanks that He is Lord, He is listening, and that we know He is in control. It says that when we do this, the peace that He will give us goes beyond what we can comprehend. It's a supernatural peace - not psychological.
I have already been having anxious thoughts today about a situation I have to deal with this morning, and I am thankful that the Lord showed me these verses. I will be praying for the peace he says is ours if we take our fears and anxieties to him. I have to put the situation completely in His hands, and know that he will walk me through.

Thankfulness

Oh how I love the book of Psalms! The one I read today (Chapter 118) is a psalm of thanksgiving. I have little musical notes drawn in several places throughout these verses because they are reminders of certain songs, and it keeps the melody fresh in my mind.

The first place I noted was verse 1 - it says:"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever". That was a song done by a current Contemporary Christian artist named Chris Tomlin. It's a constant reminder that no matter what - God's love towards us is forever - without end.

Reading down, the next note is at verse 24 which says:" This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it". Sometimes it's hard to rejoice when we don't feel good, when people are ugly to us, when our finances are stretched, when we lose someone we love, when we have health issues - the endless list of things that I call "rocks in the road" that try to trip us up. If we stand up and face all those issues with the attitude of "I'm going to rejoice in the LORD to get me through this", He will make sure that He walks through the day with us. Think about the popular poem called "Footsteps".

"Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

No matter what life throws you today - carry an attitude of REJOICING in the LORD, and although it might not change the situation you're in, He sure will be right there with you and carry you through it.

Have a wonderful Friday!