John Lubbock said, “A day of worry is
more exhausting than a week of work.” Reflecting on the past few years
post-surgery, anxiety, due to medications, caused my body to handle stress much
differently. Stress, anxiety, and depression are caused when we are
living to please others. (Paulo Coelho) One of the things I began to
meditate on was Phil 4:6
Don’t worry about anything; instead,
pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for
his answers.
My friend I know you’ve heard that
verse many times, but over past 2.5 years I have overcome anxiety through
practical application of this verse. How often do we:
1. Pray about everything
2. Tell God our needs3. Thank God for the answers
Well let’s stop right there. If
you’re like me you love to help others and often don’t even pray about it.
Therefore, it is not likely any of these instructions occur. Do you think
you are Wonderwoman or Superman? God clearly assigns each of us
territories, i.e., family, workplace, neighborhood, but what are we assigning
ourselves God never approved? Even now, some of us are focusing on things like
homes flooding, bills, wayward children, and that is part of us learning to
trust our loving Heavenly Father.
As you follow these instructions in
the verse, God will specifically direct you. Personally, God had me to
eliminate unnecessary and perhaps people pleasing
events on my schedule. Then there was the insertion of additional
relaxation times i.e., massages, baths, a comedy, fun just because! Also,
God informed me to repent of a phrase I often uttered as a child, “You get on
my last nerves.” There is truly power in our mouth. Along with my natural
and spiritual diet such as movies and conversations, there was drastic change.
Now I must say the symptoms did not
leave overnight. I continued to apply the medicine the Holy Spirit
prescribed daily, the incidents of: heart palpitations, sweats, mood swings
became significantly better.
Later this year, sharing with others, I mentioned love is the key. On purpose in the morning, lunch, and bedtime I audibly state, “God loves me, I love me, and I trust You Lord.” Psychologists state anxiety occurs from lack of love, trust, and security that produce overwhelming feelings. 1 John 4:18 tells us,
We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; His
perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what He might do to us. If we are
afraid, it is for fear of what He might do to us and shows that we are not
fully convinced that He really loves us. In the process, blessings, positions, purpose, and peace have overwhelmed me in so many ways!
Fear, anxiety, are removed by the
infilling of God’s love solely. God’s love is EVERYTHING! My friend this
is a short summary, but I dare you, be it fear, anxiety, doubt, unbelief, God’s
love will fill the void and need in your life today so.
1. Pray about everything
2. Tell God our needs3. Thank God for the answers
If you do this, you will experience
God’s peace, which is FAR MORE WONDERFUL than the human mind can understand.
His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you
trust in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7
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