Daily Strength - When Anxious

Daily Strength – When Anxious

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes people say things and you look at them and you think ‘Yes, but don’t understand. You don’t understand how I am feeling or you don’t understand what I am going through.’ It’s a very different experience when you talk to someone who does understand, who ‘gets it’ and who is able to draw alongside you.

Today’s verses are about anxiety, they speak into the life of someone facing some kind of situation that is weighing heavily on them.

It’s into the middle of this that the Apostle Paul encourages us to ‘rejoice in the Lord’ and to know that wherever we are today He is near. Paul goes further inviting us to not be anxious but in whatever situation we find ourselves to pray, prayers that are marked by thankfulness as we come to God. 

Now here’s the thing. Paul is writing from prison and he doesn’t whether he will ever be free or even live to see his friends in Philippi again (Philippians 1:14, 20). But what he does know is that even there, there is a peace that goes beyond understanding, that guards the hearts and minds of all who are in Christ. 

Prayer: Lord thank You that today You are near. I bring to you the things that I am anxious about. Give me the help I need. Thank You for the promise of a heart and a mind that are guarded and at peace in You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.