Be Anxious for Nothing

Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus. – Phil. 4:6-7

It is easy to worry.  There is always something that we can think about that will be guaranteed to perturb our souls.  The Apostle Paul knew something about that.  His imagination could have envisioned the next round of mockery, or the next beating or imprisonment.  Or if not those things then maybe the sheer hassle of journeying from town to town on foot, on those sometimes dangerous byways.

What about us?  We can become anxious because we have been watching too much news on TV, or we have chosen to read an article by a contemporary prophet of doom.  We are in the midst of COVID-19 panic.  It is real.  It is serious.  What are we to do?  There is one vital thing we should do.  We must listen to God!

This passage is not a mere suggestion, as if it were a piece of homespun “wisdom” from an agony-aunt.  It is a command.  It is, in the military sense, a call to attention!  It declares, “Christian, do not worry…rather, do this!”  Go to God.  Ask, seek, knock.  Count your blessings and thank Him for them.  Thank your heavenly Father for easy access to the very Throne of Grace in Heaven.  Tell God your fears and concerns, and leave them with Him.

These verses are a call to mental discipline.  This means that we are to train our thoughts by repeatedly appealing to “the God of all comfort.”  We are to rein-in our imaginations and put them to work contemplating the Savior and our inheritance.  We are to cast all our cares upon Him, because we know that He cares for us.  And because the Father is there and hears us, we are to expect the warm breezes of His peace to start exercising their influence upon both mind and heart.

We don’t have to manufacture our own peace.  That is not our job.  Our job is to refuse to worry and let our God worry about it for us, whatever may be disturbing our emotions at the present time.  If Jesus can with a word command the wind and the waves to become calm and placid, He can surely introduce tranquility into even the stormiest heart.  So pay attention to this command.  Flee to the Lord and, “with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”