A Biblical Perspective
Do you ever worry about tomorrow? Are you carrying the anxiety and stress of trying to figure out what the future holds? (I'm nodding along with you) I'm a serial worrier. I worry about the future. Like, a lot. In my obsession with ironing out the details of future Kez's current anxieties, I miss out on all the good stuff happening around me right now.
At some point, we adopted the cultural lie that we need to have everything together all the time. But that's not biblical. In our moments of weakness, we can rely on the sufficiency of Christ's grace. His strength is displayed as He works in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9-11). We don't have to face life alone; we have Jesus to help us with our anxious thoughts and the transforming truth of the Bible to guide us.
Matthew 6:34 says, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (CSB).
That's quite a statement Jesus makes here. But He can because He knows that He holds all our tomorrows in His hands. And don't forget, Jesus lived a fully human life here on earth, He experienced it all. God doesn't want us to be so caught up in the future, trying to control it all, that we miss out on what He has for us right now.
So do we then pretend that everything is going to be fine? Nope. That would be just a little crazy right? Philippians (4:6-7) gives us some grounding advice for when we're feeling anxious and worried.
Don't worry (v6 a)
Stick around, I know it sounds absurd. But what I mean is...choose to give your worries to Jesus. Worry distracts us from the things God has for us...it keeps us busy from our purpose. So trust Jesus to handle it. He is concerned about the big things and the little things. It all matters to him. So don't hold back - give it all to him. And leave it with Him. He's got this.
Present your requests to God (v6 b)
"but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God"
We aren't passive bystanders who are helpless in our situation. We are prayer warriors - we are actively praying and asking God to step into our situation. It says, "Through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God". Like I said before, God deeply cares about the things that worry you: He already knows what troubles you. He wants us to look up, out of our situation, out of our self-sufficiency, and choose to depend on Him.
God promises Peace (v7)
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Here's the thing, when we place God in control of the things we worry about, and thankfully present our requests to him, not only will we experience GOD'S peace (a peace you can only understand when you experience it for yourself), but his peace will guard our hearts and our minds too.
So today I'm going to pause, pray and submit my worries, my anxious thoughts, and my over-processing to Jesus. This is one intentional step I can take today to live fully in the moment right now.
What about you? What situation do you need to give to Jesus today?
Drop a comment below and let me know how I can pray for you.
Kez
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