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 Jesus Christ.    Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

Of course, you may remember the first verse as the one we studied yesterday, but verse 7 tells us that if give our troubles over to the Lord, we will have the peace of the Lord which surpasses all understanding and that this peace will guard our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.

I used to read this verse often, but until you live it it’s almost hard to explain. I’m happy to say I can tell you from personal experience that what this means is if you focus on the Lord and give your troubles over to Him, He will give you a peace that is hard for others to understand. It will seem as though your world around you is falling apart, and others may wonder why you are not into a full-blown panic attack. But you can remain calm because you know that it’s not falling apart, God has just picked up the pieces and He’s allowing them to fall back into place.

If you suffer from anxiety, I can understand how you would read this and be skeptical, I was also skeptical at one time. You must understand, however, this is not an overnight, one-time experience. This comes from continued obedience and trust in the Lord.

When I rededicated myself to the Lord, I became caught up in not one but two major issues. It brought on a great deal of anxiety. I read these verses over and over. These verses along with Matthew 6:33, which says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

I realized that as long as I remained focused on the Lord, He would take care of me. I would read Psalm 91 often. This Psalm tells us that if we choose to live under God’s mighty hand of protection, He will protect us from all things that come our way. These verses gave me strength. They strengthened my faith.

I believe in His word. When His word tells me not to worry, He’s got this, I trust in Him. As my faith was strengthened, it gave me peace. Eventually, I learned that when troubles were headed my way to pray and give it over to Him and feel the peace that Paul promised the Philippians in verse 7.

If you want to trade your anxiety for peace, you must begin with prayer. You must thank God for all He has done for you before and you must show your gratitude and have faith that He can handle whatever it is you are going through. Then let Him know what you need. He is God and of course He knows what you need, but He wants you to ask. And if you truly believe and have faith in Him, you will find that peace that passes all understanding.

You will find that those around you may be asking you things like, “Aren’t you worried?” or “Do you even care about what’s going on?” This also provides a good opportunity to witness. It’s a good time to tell them that you are no longer worried about it because you turned it over to the Lord.

When people see your inner peace, trust me, they will want some of that. This is a good time to tell them how they too can have that inner peace.

If you find yourself starting to fret, just remember there is no problem so small that God doesn’t want to be bothered with it. And there is no problem so big that God can’t handle it. Whatever may be causing you to worry, give it over to Him. And whatever you do, when you give it over let go. Don’t try to continue to handle it, let go and trust God to handle it.

As our faith strengthens, our peace will increase and our anxiety will decrease. It’s a beautiful process, give it a try.

Have a great day!