Perfect Swap for ANXIETY

Anxiety; also known as worry or nervousness is a part of life for most people. And let's admit it, it is miserable. Our bodies respond to risky situations, stress and uncertainty with this form of fear. It's normal for the most part, however, anxiety can sometimes be a sign of a disorder that benefits from treatments. There are several people that I dearly love that suffer from diagnosed anxiety disorders. I am not referring to this type of anxiety in this post.

My personal experience with debilitating anxiety was postpartum after my youngest child was born. So overwhelmingly consuming. I was in a dark cloud that I couldn't seem to see past. Just leaving the house was more than I could manage at the time. I had been walking with the Lord for about 4 years then, my Bible was an arm's reach away, but my limiting anxiety didn't allow me to reach for the life giving Words of my Beloved Father. Sad. Dark. Isolating. I praise God that this darkness came to an end and is now a layer of understanding that the Lord uses in my ministry. He's awesome like that, doesn't waste a thing and each trial is sifted through His Sovereign hands!

In today's verse of thanks, Paul is teaching about the perfect swap or antidote for anxiety.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

Last week I was sharing about Paul's joyful gratitude to God for his precious "flawsome" people of Philippi. For their response to the gospel message of Jesus' saving grace. Paul is an amazing encourager as well. Today's verse comes at the end of this same letter from his prison cell in Rome. His final exhortations or encouragements to the Philippians are practical tips on how to live as Christians. God begins to develop our Christian character when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But spiritual growth also requires discipline, obedience, and relentless concentration on our part. It's hard work... but it pays off big time!

Paul is giving us big orders here. DON'T WORRY about ANYTHING. Are you kidding me? Anything? Ah, but then he gives us the swap for the worry - PRAY! Imagine never having to worry about anything! It seems like an impossibility. But Paul's advice is to turn your worries into prayers. If you want to worry less - then pray more!

The next layer is "with thanksgiving". In other words, Paul is saying to expect God's answers by thanking Him for them in advance.

At Living Proof Live with Beth Moore, I learned from her teaching on anxiety that

"Expectancy is the perfect swap for anxiety." 

Expectancy = Expect God (to answer and provide for you) 

Anxiety = Expect bad (to come out of your circumstances)

A few other quotes from Beth on anxiety:

"Anxiety is a neon sign that says, "I don't trust God."

"Anxiety is always rooted in a quest for control."

"When it comes to anxiety, we can pray or become prey."

Whenever you start to worry, stop and pray, then expectantly thank God for His comfort and direction.

When I mentioned above that spiritual growth is "hard work... but it pays off big time," I was referring to the trade off. When we follow Paul's emphatic urging to present or cast our requests or cares on God, the result comes in the very familiar next verse: "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7)

God's peace differs from the world's definition of peace (John 14:27). We don't come by it with positive thinking, lack of conflict, or nice feelings. Genuine peace comes from knowing that because God is sovereign - in control of all things - our citizenship in Christ's Kingdom is sure, our eternity is set, and our victory over sin is a sure thing!

The perfect swap for anxiety is expectant, thankful prayer. It's not easy, but it's a discipline worth practicing and God will joyously hold your hand while you take these steps towards His loving care!

Here's a song by Finding Favour that talks about casting our care on God: https://youtu.be/bKuAMmTqUbs

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7 KJV

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b

Flawsome

I heard a new word on the radio this morning - Flawsome - it means something that is totally awesome, but not without its flaws. I don't believe it's recorded in a traditional dictionary - if you want to look it up rely on an urban dictionary online.

I couldn't stop thinking about how this word describes who we are in Christ. God made us in His image and we have tremendous value and worth because of this truth - God made us awesome. Then there's the problem of sin that makes us flawed and can totally take us down and devalue us. But God loves us so incredibly much that He won't leave us like that. He gave us Jesus to redeem our sinful flaws and bring us right back into fabulous. It's not a onetime event however. We need to stay close to Jesus so He can continue the good work He began when we accepted His great gift of salvation. We are certainly saved when we accept His gift, but if we really want to be effective and shine for Christ we need to grow and mature.

I've been looking at our next verse of thanks. Paul is writing to the church at Philippi that he founded on his second missionary journey. Paul is in prison in Rome for his faith but that doesn't take him down. He has joyful thanks for his supporters from Philippi. They had sent him a gift that he was grateful for and he also wanted to encourage them and strengthen them by showing that true joy comes from Jesus Christ alone. That even in hardship (due to a broken and flawed world) we can have joy in our faith in Christ.

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3 (including verses 4-6 to complete the thought)

Prayers of joyful thanksgiving for his readers' response to the gospel are a distinctive feature at the beginning of Paul's letters. He loves his people and is overwhelmed with gratitude to God for their hearts being transformed and that their desire is to not only follow Christ but to continue the good work He began in them. They want to stay close to Christ and become more flawsome.

We are all flawed. We can't get around it. We are sinful by nature. But God loves us anyway. He knows who He created. He knows our potential. He loves us because He loves us. Not because He can clean us up, but because we are His. We are awesome because we are His. He's more aware of our flaws than we are. He's omniscient - knows absolutely everything. We can't hide any of it from His eyes. He still loves us. He takes it a step further and gives us His one and only Son who is perfect God and man to die as a sacrifice for our sin. His blood covers all flaws.

This idea of being flawed and awesome at that same time makes me think of a song about how we are simply dust and by God's loving activity in our lives we become diamonds. Due to sin, we go from not much value to great worth by accepting God's Son as a gift of grace and partnering with Him in His good work to spread His love and His Word to a hurting world.

Listen to Diamonds by Hawk Nelson by clicking on this link  https://youtu.be/Yf1ARbpB0gA

Oh the joy of the Lord

It will be my strength

When the pressure is on

He's making diamonds

He's making diamonds

Out of dust

He's making diamonds

Out of us

The pressure is certainly on our friend Paul, yet he has joy and thanks in his heart for the Lord and for the good work God is doing in the hearts of the people he invested in for Christ's sake. Thankful joy doesn't come from outward circumstances but from inward strength. We must not rely on what we have or what we experience to give us joy, but on Christ in us - that makes us Flawsome! Thanks be to God!

"God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way."
~ Unknown

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b

I Want What She Has

Have you ever met someone that has such an inner peace and joy that very little can rattle them? Have you ever thought, "I want what s/he has!" because they seem to have it all together. Even when life seems to be falling apart around them they don't fall apart themselves. How can some people manage like this?

The folks that I've met that have this hope-filled outlook have not come by it easily. They have paid their dues in many a trial, pain, sorrow and loss. Their secret is not hoping in themselves or other people but in Christ. They are what Paul refers to as Children of Light.

The section of scripture that I've been studying in Ephesians explains how we can live our lives as Children of Light. What is the light? Jesus is the light (John 8:12) of the world. As Christians we are to live in the light God gives (Ephesians 5:8). Walking in the light keeps us from the darkness of sin and allows us to shine before men (Matthew 5:16). In other words, Jesus is our example and when we walk or live life by His guidelines and live in His power through the Holy Spirit, we grow in grace and do good to those around us. That's letting our light shine - loving others as God first loved us.

In today's verse of thanks, Paul is giving further instruction on how to keep our light shining for God's glory and the good of others.

"Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20 (preceded by the second half of vs. 19)

Singing or listening to Christian worship music is one of the ways that I get myself out of "stinkin' thinkin'" or a pity party. Paul is teaching that we should regularly encourage one another by talking about the Lord and quoting scripture, particularly the Psalms. That's another trick I use - when I'm struggling to adore God in my prayer time, I open up my Bible to Psalms and let David or one of the other psalmists give me a hand. It doesn't take long for me to become consumed with the glory of God's goodness and power!

We need these tricks/disciplines to keep our hearts right and become children of the light - someone that "has what others want" - hope in Christ and gratitude for the mercies of God the Father. Life is not easy - it drags us down and we struggle to give thanks. Take heart - God works all things out for good if we love him and are setting our hearts toward His will/His best for us (Romans 8:28). We are not asked to thank God for our problems, but for the strength He is building in us through our trials.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible says it like this:

Man has much for which to be grateful; and the duty of acknowledging the mercy of God to the race should not be forgotten. We are often prone so to magnify our calamities, and to contemplate the woes of the race, that we overlook the occasions for gratitude; and we should, therefore, look upon the "mercies" which we enjoy as well as the miseries which we endure, that our hearts may be right. He who looks only on his trials will soon find his mind soured and complaining; he who endeavors to find how many occasions for gratitude he has, will soon find the burden of his sorrows alleviated, and his mind tranquil and calm. Yet, if the words here are to be taken as in our translation, "for everything" they are full of force and beauty. At the close of life, and in heaven, we shall see occasion to bless God for all his dealings with us. We shall see that we have not suffered one pang too much, or been required to perform one duty too severe. We shall see that all our afflictions, as well as our mercies were designed for our good, and were needful for us. Why then should we not bless God in the furnace as well as in the palace; on a bed of pain as well as on a bed of down; in want as well as when sitting down at the splendid banquet?

Addison Road put out a song called "This Little Light of Mine" and the lyrics read:

In this life you will know

Love and pain

Joy and sorrow

So when it hurts

When times get hard

Don't forget whose child you are

That's the thing... if you've received Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life (I have), you are a child of the light and you already have "what they want." The discipline is to not forget it, stick to your guns, plant your feet and call on the Name of Jesus when life is hard. That's what I try to do. I'm still a work in progress, but the good news is my faith grows daily and so do my peace and joy as I look to Jesus for my light, my hope. I'll get you going by sharing the link on YouTube for the song that will bring you back to your childhood and help you shine your light and give thanks for everything:  https://youtu.be/Ii2THk_yR3Q

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b