Do Not be Anxious about ANYTHING!

Time to compare a couple of Bible verses to my own life and see if I'm measuring up.

"Don't worry about ANYTHING..."

Anxious about everything.  Worrying about too much.  Head is spinning with worry. 

"Instead pray about EVERYTHING..."

Praying?  Oh yes, constantly it seems.  Yet, still not covering all the bases.  Maybe I admit to praying, but not faithfully believing often enough.

"Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done."

Thankful.  Absolutely.  More than I have ever been.  Yet, I still take things for granted.  I still feel like a "bother" with bombarding God with all the little things.


Those are the words of Philippians 4:6.  When you take it phrase by phrase and break that verse completely down, I have to admit that I'm not measuring up.  I'm letting my own head get in the way and letting worry overtake WAY too much.  Yet the Bible plainly says I'm not to worry about anything.  Period.  End of discussion.   No escape clause that says, you can worry about this, that, or the other.  No fine print that says you can worry a little or you can worry a lot as long as it doesn't get out of control.  The verse doesn't really leave any wiggle room.

Guess what the next verse says: 

"Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Did you catch that?  THEN you will experience God's peace which goes beyond and above anything I can understand.  HIS peace will overtake my heart and mind.  Oh, what beautiful words.  IF I let go of the worry and ask God what I need with a thankful heart, he will fill my mind with peace that can't be explained.  What comforting words.  What needed words.  Maybe those are words that you need to hear today as well.

I am frustrated today.  I'm overwhelmed.  I'm stressed.  I'm worrying. 

Time to stop.   Time to let it all go and let that peace overtake every cell of my body and every tiny little corner of my heart.   Just today I was reminded of how ridiculous of demands I put on myself at times.  I posted last week my goals for the week.  I met about half of them completely, a few of them partly, and a couple not at all.  Today that list was looking at me and I was furious with myself for not accomplishing them all.  I truly need to get them done to make the transition into school Thursday as smooth as possible.  I didn't make it.  However, many other things got done that weren't on the list.  I spent a full day around the clock putting up a year's worth of green beans and corn which I'm beyond thankful for.  We didn't think it was going to happen this year because produce hasn't been plentiful in our area this year.  God opened that door wide open and I had to take that opportunity when it came up...even though it put me behind on what I had expected to be doing.  I put aside the list and spent two full days with my husband and children doing only family things.  My list can wait, but my children are only in my care for so long.  My husband is my top priority outside of my relationship with Christ.  What it comes down to is this:  balance.  Kick the frustration to the curb.  Goals are just that.  Goals.  They aren't written in stone.  I will make a new list of goals for this week and go at it again.  I do think it helped keep me much more focused.  It did take a weight off of me by not having as many things running through my head.  Maybe this week I'll meet more of those goals, maybe I won't.  As long as I'm not being lazy, I'll take what I can get.  With school starting as well as many of our other activities, surviving this week with enthusiasm and a smile is my main goal.  Yippee!

For now, I'm repeating those two verses in Philippians over and over.  Actually they are running through my head in song form thanks to Seeds Family Worship.  Though I read in NLT, the songs are NIV.  So at the moment these words are bouncing through my head and beginning to reach my heart:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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 minds in Christ Jesus. "

Perhaps even more beautiful are the words that come after those verses (and after the song that I can't turn off in my head today....which is a good thing!). 

vs. 8 NLT "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."  Oh yes, what beautiful words those are.   It doesn't say think about all the things going wrong.  Think about everything that is stressing me out.  Don't worry about tomorrow.  It says FIX my thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable.  Think only of things that are excellent and praise worthy.  Don't think of garbage.  Don't listen to the lies that fill my head.  Time to kick those to the curb.