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Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Reflect
Ed is anxious about money. Each money he seems to make just enough to cover costs, but he knows that a major expense will throw the family budget upside down.
His wife, Joan, is anxious about their children, Tim and Courtney. They’ve seemed a little distant lately, and she’s worried that they’ve made some new friends that might not be good for them.
Tim is anxious about school. He hasn’t been spending as much time on homework and assignments lately as he should, and his grades are rapidly falling. His senior year is coming up, and college acceptances are hanging in the balance.
Courtney is anxious about her family. Her parents seem preoccupied lately and don’t seem to spend much time together, and her brother is falling behind in school. She seems to be the only one in the family holding things together.
Anxiety shows up in our lives in various times and places, and it takes a lot of forms. In most cases, it’s easily interchanged with the word “worry.” Ed is worried about money. Joan is worried about her kids. Tim is worried about his grades. And Courtney is worried about everything and everyone.
The problem with worry is that it takes God “out of control” of the circumstances in our lives. That’s silly, because He’s never actually out of control, but with worry, we essentially remove Him from the throne and place our worrying selves into that place. Worry is our feeble human attempt at controlling the uncontrollable, and it replaces worship, prayer and Spirit-led action. In our anxiety, we demonstrate our unbelief that God can and will provide the answers for our lives. If we simply offered our worries to the Lord (as he commands us to do), we would almost certainly see breakthroughs in the major concerns of our lives instead of just spending our time in immobile anxiety.
I’m sure that you have circumstances right now that you might be able to worry about. Today, make sure you place the Lord in charge of those areas, and ask Him to meet your greatest needs, and to give you peace in the midst of your anxiety.
Reflection copyright © 2025 Doug DeBolt
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
