|
Yesterday, I had an appointment to see a doctor. And, even though I knew this was coming days ahead of time, I woke up with a brooding headache that soon morphed into a racing heart and elevated blood pressure, especially while sitting in the waiting room. I tried to pray and even hummed a song about Jesus and his love for me, asking God to replace my angst with peace. It wasn’t working, as indicated when my blood pressure was actually measured and the numbers were clearly displayed. The doctor’s eyebrows said it all.
Mindfully and prayerfully trying to obstruct the physical effects of anxiety, fear, and worry, I’ve allowed those troublemakers to strip me of peace for far too long. Do they affect you too? As a believer in Jesus Christ, I know that fully trusting God, the giver of peace, is not always straightforward when the king of lies, the devil, gets me to entertain his trash talk instead of fiercely clutching to my Savior’s truth. Things like, “God doesn’t really care about you, does he? He’s not going to help you, heal you, or provide for you. And he certainly won’t forgive you after you nailed him to a cross.”
I’ve read that anxiety, fear, and worry are the common cold of mental illness and a direct path to losing our peace. I could not agree more, because in my experience, that nasty trio of life-destroying malarkey is poison to our faith and to the joy and peace that Jesus wants us to experience. God wants us to be at peace through him and not at war with the garbage the enemy wants us to believe.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27 NLT)
I openly confess that I was troubled and afraid in the doctor’s office yesterday, and it’s during those times that God keeps bringing me back to the question, “Are you going to trust me, or are you going to trust in the world and your circumstances? I’ve got a plan, so trust me.”
In a fantastic devotional by Michelle Bengtson, called Breaking Anxiety’s Grip, she writes, “I want you to know that it is possible for you to experience peace from the 'God of hope,' whom Paul describes in Romans 15:13. It is possible to look worry, anxiety, and fear in the eye and laugh. It is possible to be content with where God has you, without needing to know his plan. When difficult situations come, I desire to turn my back on worry, anxiety, and fear and retain my peace, trusting that God has allowed the difficulties for my good rather than feeling betrayed and abandoned by Him in the storm.”
Wisdom to live by. Even more so, this affirming Bible verse from Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NLT)
The next time you feel worry, anxiety, and fear beginning to clamp down on your peace, don’t give them permission to enter. Instead, remember that God is more than happy to trade lies for truth, His truth.
“Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” (John 14:6 NIV)
Paul Smyth
|
