CONQUERING ANXIETY
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Verse for Today
1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on (Jesus), because He cares for you.
Anxiety is considered as one of the major causes of sickness. When we are anxious, we tend to imagine the worst scenario in any matter and assume that the worst is going to happen and then imagine about its negative consequences on us and what is dear to us. It creates apprehension and fear and drains our confidence in our God. But we do not often realize that roughly half of what we expect to happen will not happen at all, and the other half will happen any way. So in effect, anxiety is a vain attempt to thwart us of the joy of living in the present and enjoy what God has sent our way and praising Him for it all. Anxiety will create negative reactions in our minds which will affect our bodies and make us sick, and then force us to perennially depend on medicines and treatment. It affects all parts of our bodies, our hormonal system and the various functions of our body. But there is no need to be anxious about the future because we have a loving Father in Heaven who lives for us and looks after our needs, both present and future. While we unnecessarily go into anxiety and despair, our Heavenly Father is busy working on the same things about which we are experiencing anxiety. So all we need to do is to trust Him to look after our future and leave all our future and its events to Him to work on for our good and for His glory. God has given us innumerable promises about what He will do for us, and these promises ought to take us forward without anxiety. He has commanded us not to be anxious about any thing, but leave all our future to Him to handle. So there is no need for us to lose hope and be anxious, like the ungodly and become sick, with heavy dependence on medicines and treatment. Remember, if God has said that He will care for us in all our circumstances, all we need to do is to believe in what He has said, and that ought to settle it for us forever.
Peter, the writer of our verse for today, was prompted to write by the Spirit of God to encourage the weary children of Gold not to be anxious because we can cast all our cares on the Lord. This was what Peter did the night before He was to be executed by Herod. We see that Peter simply cast all his cares on the Lord and slept well, even though he was chained to two soldiers. As part of God's rescue operation that night, God's angel had to wake Peter up to take him out of the prison. As a man who came through such experiences, Peter could write authentically that we can cast all our cares on the Lord because He cares for us. If the Lord cares for us, why should we also become unnecessarily indulged in it? If the Lord is engaged in looking after my affair, all I have to do is to praise Him and to engage in whatever role He assigns for me in its process. Even as we cast all our cares on Him, the peace of God which passes all our understanding will govern our hearts and lives without fretting. When God has asked us not to be anxious, and if we fall into anxiety, it is an express violation of His commandment and an expression of our lack of trust and faith in Him. It shows that we are doubtful that we have such a loving and caring Heavenly Father. It also means that we do not believe what is promised to us by our Father in Heaven. It really shows that our inner eyes are not focused on the Lord, but on our circumstances and our future. It means that we do not believe that our Father is already in our future circumstances and is working on it to make it all work together for our blessings and for the praise of His holy name! So you and I need to confess our lack of trust and faith in Him as sin and ask the Spirit of God to fill us with His peace. Then we will be able to trust in Him which is part of the fundamental faith that He has already given to us at the moment we got saved. We need to exercise this faith and trust, and continue to cast all our cares on the Lord. His shoulders are so strong and broad, and can accommodate all the cares of all His children all the time and handle it all for their good and for the praise of His name! Remember, if we can trust God for our eternity, we can definitely trust Him for our tomorrows as well.
Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about any thing, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Thought for Today
Our anxieties make the other creatures wonder whether we have a caring Heavenly Father.
Verse for Today
1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on (Jesus), because He cares for you.
Anxiety is considered as one of the major causes of sickness. When we are anxious, we tend to imagine the worst scenario in any matter and assume that the worst is going to happen and then imagine about its negative consequences on us and what is dear to us. It creates apprehension and fear and drains our confidence in our God. But we do not often realize that roughly half of what we expect to happen will not happen at all, and the other half will happen any way. So in effect, anxiety is a vain attempt to thwart us of the joy of living in the present and enjoy what God has sent our way and praising Him for it all. Anxiety will create negative reactions in our minds which will affect our bodies and make us sick, and then force us to perennially depend on medicines and treatment. It affects all parts of our bodies, our hormonal system and the various functions of our body. But there is no need to be anxious about the future because we have a loving Father in Heaven who lives for us and looks after our needs, both present and future. While we unnecessarily go into anxiety and despair, our Heavenly Father is busy working on the same things about which we are experiencing anxiety. So all we need to do is to trust Him to look after our future and leave all our future and its events to Him to work on for our good and for His glory. God has given us innumerable promises about what He will do for us, and these promises ought to take us forward without anxiety. He has commanded us not to be anxious about any thing, but leave all our future to Him to handle. So there is no need for us to lose hope and be anxious, like the ungodly and become sick, with heavy dependence on medicines and treatment. Remember, if God has said that He will care for us in all our circumstances, all we need to do is to believe in what He has said, and that ought to settle it for us forever.
Peter, the writer of our verse for today, was prompted to write by the Spirit of God to encourage the weary children of Gold not to be anxious because we can cast all our cares on the Lord. This was what Peter did the night before He was to be executed by Herod. We see that Peter simply cast all his cares on the Lord and slept well, even though he was chained to two soldiers. As part of God's rescue operation that night, God's angel had to wake Peter up to take him out of the prison. As a man who came through such experiences, Peter could write authentically that we can cast all our cares on the Lord because He cares for us. If the Lord cares for us, why should we also become unnecessarily indulged in it? If the Lord is engaged in looking after my affair, all I have to do is to praise Him and to engage in whatever role He assigns for me in its process. Even as we cast all our cares on Him, the peace of God which passes all our understanding will govern our hearts and lives without fretting. When God has asked us not to be anxious, and if we fall into anxiety, it is an express violation of His commandment and an expression of our lack of trust and faith in Him. It shows that we are doubtful that we have such a loving and caring Heavenly Father. It also means that we do not believe what is promised to us by our Father in Heaven. It really shows that our inner eyes are not focused on the Lord, but on our circumstances and our future. It means that we do not believe that our Father is already in our future circumstances and is working on it to make it all work together for our blessings and for the praise of His holy name! So you and I need to confess our lack of trust and faith in Him as sin and ask the Spirit of God to fill us with His peace. Then we will be able to trust in Him which is part of the fundamental faith that He has already given to us at the moment we got saved. We need to exercise this faith and trust, and continue to cast all our cares on the Lord. His shoulders are so strong and broad, and can accommodate all the cares of all His children all the time and handle it all for their good and for the praise of His name! Remember, if we can trust God for our eternity, we can definitely trust Him for our tomorrows as well.
Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about any thing, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Thought for Today
Our anxieties make the other creatures wonder whether we have a caring Heavenly Father.
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