Today I led the devotional on anxiety. When thinking about what to talk about, it was the first thing on my mind. Mark preached on it in the last two months and it really struck me. In the gospels Jesus says do not be anxious about your life. This means everything in life, it's all inclusive. It also means that if I am anxious - then I am disobeying my Savior.
I don't have any wise words on this because I am in the heat of learning and being sanctified. But I do know that the Word tells us some good things about anxiety. I also know that I don't have the power to obey this command on my own but the One living inside me is greater than my flesh.
o Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. – Proverbs 12:25
o Say to those who have an anxious heart, Be strong; fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. – Isaiah 35:4
§ rec·om·pense- Noun: Compensation or reward given for loss or harm suffered or effort made
o Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. – 1Peter 5:6-7
o Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. – Phil 4:6
o Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? – Matthew 6:25
o Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. – Matthew 6:34
o And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? - Luke 12:25
- What have you been anxious about lately?
o Relationship with the Lord, marriage, children, household, eating, clothing, body image, ministry, evangelism, service
- Where are you on the road to obeying Jesus when he says, “Do not be anxious about your life?”
I am tired of living in anxiety. Please Lord help me to live in obedience.
Megan, thank you for this timely post. I have been following Mark's sermons as well and it is so amazing how God sends the perfect message at exactly the right time. I am definitely learning how to not be anxious in many areas of my life. It is so liberating to let it all go but also hard at times.
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