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Anxiety is a meteor shower of what-ifs. What if I don’t close the sale? What if we don’t get the bonus? What if we can’t afford braces for the kids? What if my kids have crooked teeth? What if crooked teeth keep them from having friends, a career, or a spouse? What if they end up homeless and hungry, holding a cardboard sign that reads “My parents couldn’t afford braces for me”?
Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one.
“The average child today exhibits the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the 1950s.”8
we assume the problem lies within us.
Not only do we feel anxious, but we also feel guilty about our anxiety!
The formula is simple: Perceived control creates calm. Lack of control gives birth to fear.
Anxiety increases as perceived control diminishes.
My soul has been rejected from peace;
There is a guilt that says, I did bad. And then there is a guilt that concludes, I am bad.
Behind the frantic expressions on the faces of humanity is unresolved regret.
Bury it.
Punish
Avoid the mention of it.
Offset it.
Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us” (Phil. 3:13–14 TLB).
Trust in his ability to forgive.
Abandon any attempt at self-salvation or justification.
happy saint is one who is at the same time aware of the severity of sin and the immensity of grace.
Truth be told, chains had held me back.
But mercy snapped the guilt chains and set me free.
I know this truth firsthand: guilt frenzies the soul...
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Don’t indulge it.
let him take it away.
The worst thing the flyer can do is to try to catch the catcher. I am not supposed to catch Joe. It’s Joe’s task to catch me. If I grabbed Joe’s wrists, I might break them, or he might break mine, and that would be the end for both of us. A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.2
There is a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. Your future matters more than your past.
Your Father has never dropped anyone.
God’s sovereignty, on the other hand, bids us to fight the onslaught of fret with the sword that is etched with the words but God.
He rerouted evil into good.
God uses all things to bring about his purpose.
He will not be deterred in his plan to sustain and carry creation t...
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You might question the purpose behind this thread or that. But be assured, God has a pattern. He has a plan. He is not finished, but when he is, the lace will be beautiful.
gentleness
temperament that is seasoned and mature.2 It envisions an attitude that is fitting to the occasion, levelheaded and tempered. The gentle reaction is one of steadiness, evenhandedness, fairness. It “looks humanely and reasonably at the facts of a case.”3 Its opposite would be an overreaction or a sense of panic.
“evident to all.”
Isolation creates a downward cycle of fret.
“The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety.”
“The Lord is near. Have no worries.”
They don’t call Jesus “Master.” They don’t come to him with a suggestion. They march as a group to Christ and tell him what to do.
The stunning answer is no! They acted as if Jesus weren’t even present. Rather than count on Christ, they had the audacity to tell the Creator of the world that nothing could be done because there wasn’t enough money.
This time, instead of starting with what you have, start with Jesus. Start with his wealth, his resources, and his strength. Before you open the ledger, open your heart. Before you count coins or count heads, count the number of times Jesus has helped you face the impossible. Before you lash out in fear, look up in faith. Take a moment. Turn to your Father for help.
Stop looking at the logistics and look to Jesus.
“even he rendered a just decision in the end.
doesn’t delay. He never places you on hold or tells you to call again later. God loves the sound of your voice. Always. He doesn’t hide when you call. He hears your prayers.
“Let your requests be made known to God.”
Specific prayer creates a lighter load.
is not manipulated or impressed by our formulas or eloquence. But he is moved by the sincere request.
Then if a sense of stress surfaces during the day, I remind myself, Oh, I gave this challenge to God earlier
today. He has already taken responsibility for the situation. I can be grateful, not fretful.
Do so specifically and immediately.
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah said, “Put the Lord in remembrance [of His promises], keep not silence” (Isa. 62:6 AMPC). God told Isaiah, “Put Me in remembrance; let us contend together” (Isa. 43:26). God invites you—yes, commands you—to remind him of his promises. Populate your prayer with “You said…”
