Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
A theme of faith I keep coming back to again and again is the command -yes, as loving directive, but still a command- not to be anxious or worry. By the way, Amy Simpson has written a most helpful book on this subject, well worth the read: Anxious: Choosing Faith in a World of Worry.
Yesterday a new matter which greatly bothered me at first was coming to my attention so as to bother me again, as has often been true about various things in the past. And the thought hit me: we’re not only not to be anxious or to worry, but we’re not to be anxious about anything at all, period.
That seems so counterintuitive, but goes along with another passage that has been impressed on my heart and mind:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Yes, it’s important to be aware and do the best we can given the responsibilities and situations present. But first and foremost, we’re to pray, in this context to pray about whatever is a concern to us, before it gets to us and becomes a bother and burden. If it gets that far, we’re to cast that burden or care on the Lord, knowing that he cares for us, and that he will sustain us (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22).
Easy words to say, but hard to put into practice. But that’s the call to faith in this world we’re to live out. That hopefully more and more will become second nature to us. Potentially freeing. Confidence in a loving, wise Father who oversees everything and is at work in the world through his Son, our Lord Jesus, in the power, presence and person of the Blessed Holy Spirit. When we are tempted to or actually do become unsettled, we need to turn to him. And yes, not be anxious (or worry) about anything.
Jesus community 