The week after Easter is in full bloom.  We also continue in full force the pandemic known as the coronavirus.  Each of us is being bombarded by news, articles, social media, opportunities, suggestions, decisions and much more.  It is almost too much.

But some things I am getting more of that blesses are the messages and challenges from people that have poured in to my life.  One of those is Eric Thomas from First Baptist Church in Norfolk, Virginia.  Eric and his father, Claude, have been a great influence in my life for almost 29 years.

Eric shared a message with his church earlier this week that I would like to share with you today.  Read and be encouraged!

Anxiety’s Antidote

 

Paul gives us a command: “Be anxious for nothing.” Easier said than done, for sure! Yet, Paul also helps us see how to apply the antidote to anxiety that God makes available to followers of Jesus.

It seems like anxiety and fear are running rampant over the hearts of humanity during these days. Daily tally sheets of a pandemic’s plague on the people far away and next door can breed fear. The more we see masks and hear sneezes and muffle coughs, we feel the wave of fear rise up in us.

“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.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

Paul is talking to people who had a lot hanging over their heads. Their fears were very, very real. They were real people with real troubles, and they were filled with anxiety. Paul had some things hanging over his head as well. He was in chains and facing the ferocious enemy called death. So, as he penned these words, and as we read them, let’s remember that the counsel God gives through these words is not mere platitude. This is counsel that will guide us through our fears and guard us from our fears.

1. Fear is part of life but shouldn’t control us.

The picture of anxiety in this passage is one that is very familiar to us. It is the picture of sleepless nights filled with fears that haunt our thoughts. Fear is the pain of heart over the uncertainty of tomorrow. Because we live in a real world with real-life drama, there is a natural fear that we can’t avoid.

Uncertainties in our lives create a vacuum of confidence in what tomorrow will hold. To experience fear is one thing. To be controlled by fear is another thing altogether.

When fear dominates so that we do unhealthy things, we’re living under the control of fears. For example, if I am afraid of snakes, that is wise. But if I am so afraid of snakes that I will not step foot out of my house, that is unhealthy.

2. The antidote to controlling fears.

Paul gives us a command: “Be anxious for nothing.” Easier said than done, for sure! Yet, Paul also helps us see how to apply the antidote to anxiety that God makes available to followers of Jesus.

- Clear up our view of God.

We can find relief from the controlling fears when we see God for who He is. When Paul talks about letting go of fear, he is pointing us back to what Jesus said about God.

“What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

God is not a distant deity unconcerned about our lives, nor is He our personal, secret Santa. He is the loving Father who knows intimately our deepest needs and moves to meet them. He is the loving Father who doesn’t always give us our wishes, but who always gives us the best. He is the loving Father who has provided forgiveness for the curse of our sin so that we might enjoy fellowship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. We can trust God to give the perfect answer to our deepest fears.

- Pray.

Prayer from a heart that trusts in God cures controlling fears. We find joy in the midst of struggles when we lift our anxieties to the throne of Christ and feast upon His sacrifice that delivers power beyond measure to our hearts.

Let your troubles and struggles drift to heaven in a prayer. Know that the One who conquered death and hell is the One who desires to take the load of your anxieties upon His own back. We not only tell Jesus our problems. It means that we leave our problems with Him.

- Be grateful.

Our hearts must also be filled with gratitude to God, not for the future answers to prayers that we may receive, but for His presence in our lives. We must be grateful for His work of rescuing love brought to us through Christ and for His constant care over us in the details of our lives.

“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 26:3)

When we have a heart of gratitude toward God, the fears that have locked us in chains lose their strength for we trust God to move in our lives today as He has moved in our lives previously.

John Chrysostom, the famous fourth-century preacher, was exiled from his post. Facing the uncertainties of life, the preacher refused to be controlled by fear:

“What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life, and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness are the Lord’s. Will it be loss of wealth? But we brought nothing into this world and can carry nothing out. Thus, all the terrors of the world are contemptible in my eyes, and I smile at all its good things. Poverty I do not fear, riches I do not sigh for, and from death I do not shrink.”

When we pray with a heart of trust in the Living God, we experience the joy of peace. This peace is beyond what even our dreams can concoct. The result of a life satisfied by Jesus Christ is God’s peace standing as sentry over our heart and mind.

(the original article can be found at this link https://firstnorfolk.wordpress.com/2020/04/14/anxietys-antidote/?fbclid=IwAR0MymWmQM8eupW8LFOHJuUIT36U1BmP3gFu27XanjNjiPQcArqsfQO3KfU)