Anxiety

For God Has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, Love, and sound judgment.

2 Timothy 1:7 (HCSB)

Anxiety; we feel it in our chest
, our hands shake and we can't sit still. Every noise around us is magnified and all we want to do is shrink into ourselves and avoid the outside world. 

Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. 

Philippians 4:6 (HCSB)

I must have recited that verse a thousand times in my mind, but the truth is when you are anxious that scripture feels like nothing but a bunch of words nicely put together. I'm too worried to pray; I'm thankful but I just feel like God keeps giving me the short end of the stick. I can't breathe. These are all things we've told ourselves at some point in time. However, before you can shake the daily life anxiety and spiritually breathe, you must take a time out to physically breathe. Do this as many times as you need to in order to stop the shaking, to slow your racing heart, the tapping of your foot or even your racing thoughts. There, are we good now? I have to say that if that scripture were enough to cure anxiety every Christian would be walking around with their heads held high and a pep in their step, ready to take on any trial and tribulation with relative ease. The truth is; context matters. So how do we put this into context?

Philippians 4:4-7

We will focus on the second half of the 5th verse; the Lord is near. These four words are absolute. It doesn't suggest that the Lord is near but it makes it plain. You can rest in the knowledge that even with everything going on around you the Lord is near. even when you can't trace Him you can rest assured that He is in fact near, and in his nearness he wants you to not worry about anything...ANYTHING. That means the light bill, the water, the car note, none of those things shall be cause for worry. Instead, we are instructed to pray and let our requests be made known to God. 

I know what you are thinking, you're thinking that with everything going on it's just so difficult to pray. Can I take a moment to tell you that God hears even unspoken prayers? In Romans 8:26 the bible says that the Spirit Himself intercedes on our behalf, so even if you go to your quiet place and say, Lord, I don't even know what to pray for, He knows exactly what you need. You can then rest assured that He knows what we need better than we do ourselves.

So when you find yourself anxious and overwhelmed remember to step back take the time out to breathe and pray. Rest in the knowledge that God's got you. 

Related post: Shattered Endurance.

Related scripture: 
Matthew 6:25-34
Philippians 4:4-7
Romans 8:18-30 

Image Credits

Creator:Serdar Bayraktar