Today, I spent time with a coworker who expressed great anxiety and worry about the future. Her concern started very general in scope "state of world affairs and economy" but the conversation quickly focused on her fears for her own job and hopes that she'd make it to retirement.
I could only listen and counsel her from the position of a fellow employee but it put me to thinking about my own daily anxieties and worries and how I should be addressing them from a biblical perspective. This evening I spent some time researching the subject and found some interesting passages that I think apply.
Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. This is a good one to start with. It's easy to get caught up in the negatives that surround us, but we should strive to be positive. By striving to be positive we not only lift our own heart, we lift the hearts of those that surround us. My mom knew this passage well and practiced it every day of her life until she died.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Alright, I understand this. "Be careful for nothing", I believe this means I should show no anxiety or worry about anything. Next, "but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Ok, I got this also, take those things I would have anxiety or worry about and give them to God in prayer accompanied by thanksgiving.
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. If I do the things called for in Philippians 4:6, then the love of God which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
Luke 12:22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
Luke 12:23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Luke 12:24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
Luke 12:25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
Luke 12:26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
In Luke 12:22-26, Jesus speaks to the disciples in a very clear way about worry. He tells them not to worry about life, food, health, nor clothes, that life is more than food and the body is more than clothes. He uses the ravens in the fields as an example, telling the disciples that the ravens neither sow nor harvest, nor do they have storehouse nor barn, but God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than the ravens to God! Who of you can by worry add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why worry about the rest?
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
This is my daughter's favorite bible verse. It's short and too the point. If I follow the biblical recipe for stress management I've laid out here and add a dash of thankful prayer, I too will be able to "do all things through Christ which strengthens me".
Amen
