Anxiety

It takes practice.

“Peace is the will of God for you in every situation.” – Fenelon

Do you ever get caught in a downward spiral as you deal with day-to-day problems that are part of our lives? If we pray during a time like this, our prayers tend to be cries for help, requests for God to change our circumstances. Sometimes he answers those prayers just as we want him to do.

At other times, though, he doesn’t intervene. Instead he walks with us as we trudge through the mud and mire. I’ve lived long enough to have experienced many of those kinds of times. I did pray. I did try to be obedient. I surrendered my will to his. But he didn’t fix things every time.

Here’s what I am still learning: In every situation there’s something to be thankful for. We search until we find that one thing and then we thank God. Another will come to our minds and another. If we keep doing that every day and every hour, we get better at it, we begin to feel calm, and our minds turn gradually away from ourselves and toward God.

But it doesn’t come easy. We have to make a choice to be thankful. There are musicians in our family and, when we hear them play, they sound great. But they have to practice to develop their skill. The more they practice, the better they get.

The same thing is true of praise. We have to practice it is if it is a skill be be developed. It’s hard to give thanks when things are not going well, but we do it in obedience to God, in reliance in his love, and, ultimately, as we keep on practicing praise, peace creeps in.

“I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” – Psalm 69:30

Calming the Soul

“I can change my mind, but only the Holy Spirit can change my heart.” ~ Jack Deere

Years ago, coal miners would die from toxic gases in their unventilated mines. Someone realized canaries were sensitive to these gasses and would succumb to their effects sooner than humans. So miners would take canaries with them into the mines. If a canary began to show signs of toxicity, the workers knew it was time to evacuate.

As followers of Jesus, we have a similar warning system inside us: the Holy Spirit. When we are in situations that are dangerous or where we might be tempted to sin, the Spirit sends urgent signals for us to get out of harm’s way. If we trust him, we’ll pay attention and run.

Not only did the canary in the mine warn of danger, he also was an indicator when all was well. If the canary was singing, the men could work without worries about the air they were breathing. Productivity increased when there was a sense of security.

As we learn to know the Holy Spirit better, we learn to turn our attention toward him when we get anxious. If we sense he isn’t worried, we shouldn’t be either. Instead of letting anxiety prevail, we can learn to connect to him as our stability, our source of peace.

We need to get to know this Spirit better so we’ll sense danger when it’s there and have peace when it’s not. It’s beyond imagination, but the Holy Spirit is actually is our protector, and we are better off when we get in the habit of giving him our attention and trusting him to guide.

“. . . do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” – 1 Corinthians 6:19a

How well do you know him?

“We are all desperate, and that is in fact the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace.” Philip Yancey

Jesus, when you were on earth, you were busy, but never hurried. You stayed calm even when your closest disciples didn’t understand what you were trying to teach. How did you do it?

Even as a human, I knew the Father better than you do. I went to him all the time when I was tired or stressed or afraid. Yes, I was afraid. Remember Gethsemane?

And there were times I was so frustrated, like when I saw God’s people as sheep without a shepherd. Their shepherds were their religious leaders and they were leading people away from the Father, not toward him. I was angry!

And many times, I just needed help making decisions, trying to understand what the Father wanted. So I went to him a lot. Praying, asking, listening for direction. It always came and, when it did, I acted. I wanted nothing more than to do what he wanted, not what I, as a human being, wanted.

So, little one, if you are frustrated by what you see in the world around you, or angry at injustices, or afraid of what is to come, turn to the Father. Turning to him will help you know him better and the better you know him, the more you will rely on him and the more you will want to please him.

Let him love, lead, encourage, and correct you. That’s what loving fathers do. And our Father in heaven does all those things perfectly!

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” – Psalm 68:19

The View from Above

“God wants us to choose to love him freely, even when that choice involves pain.” – Philip Yancey

Why is life so hard? What have I done to deserve this? Why doesn’t God do something?

Job asked those questions, too. At the beginning of his story he had it all. Then everything began to fall apart. He lost his wealth, his children, and, finally, his health. His friends insisted God wouldn’t be doing this to him if he hadn’t sinned. If he would just admit his sin, everything would be OK.

So Job began to pray asking what he had done wrong and what he could do to appease God and get the pain to stop. No answer. What he doesn’t know is that God didn’t do any of this to him. Satan did – with God’s permission. It was not punishment, it was a test to see if he would trust and serve God even when things didn’t go his way.

There are some standard take-aways from Job’s story including that God doesn’t always protect us from the evil in this world and that trouble isn’t always (maybe seldom actually) a punishment for sin.

Those are good points, but, in my mind, the greatest lesson from Job’s story is this: Though others criticized, condemned, and shamed him, it is what God said about him that mattered. And God said he was blameless and upright.

When we choose to trust Jesus with our lives, God sees us as one of his beloved children. When we focus too much on what others think of us, or what Satan says about us, maybe the story of Job will remind us to ask God what he thinks*. That’s all that matters really.

” . . . you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you (Isaiah 43:4a)

*Hint: He tells us in his word.

Things God Never Says #4

“In many instances I have felt the power of God transforming the fatigue of despair into the buoyancy of hope.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sometimes life is tiring! Especially if we’ve been working overtime or have made too many commitments or are worried about something beyond our control. That’s when we want to say (whether we can actually do it or not): “I think I’ll take a nap and let the world go on without me for a while!”

Aren’t you glad God never says “I think I’ll take a nap”? We are told that the God of the Bible “will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4b). He’s always awake, always “on duty”, never tired. How is his constant vigilance helpful to us? Lots of ways:

He is always there to protect us and watch over our steps. In fact in the same Psalm cited above, the writer says, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.” It comforts us to know the almighty God is caring for us and watching out for us 24/7.

He is always there, too, to hear our prayers. He doesn’t keep office hours. Whenever we want to talk to him, to praise him, to ask for his help, he is there and he is listening. He’s wide awake and ready to answer our call.

And, finally, his alertness reminds us of his amazing strength and that he’s willing to use it for our benefit. He never feels fatigued or weak. He is all power, all the time. And our link to that celestial energy is prayer. Connecting to the power of God will give us strength, too, to do what we must do. With joy. With hope.

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” – 1 Chronicles 16:11

Letting Go

“This is how our holiness grows, by small surrenders, without which we cannot finally become free.” – Emilie Griffin

We want to be in control of where we go, what we eat, how we dress, how we spend, where we work, where we worship, and everything else. Yet God calls us to surrender. Surrendering means letting God control all of those decisions. Surrendering is hard. Maybe impossible.

So how does anyone do the impossible? One small step at a time. One small surrender at a time: Letting someone else choose the movie. Going to church when we’d rather be working in the garden. Not taking charge of every conversation. Even going to sleep at night can be a surrender.

J Todd Billings in his book, The End of the Christian Life, says that when we fall asleep at night. “We don’t think ourselves to sleep. We surrender our bodies to being overtaken (by sleep). . .” To Billings, going to sleep at night is a way of learning to surrender control of our bodies, our minds. Maybe that’s why some of us have a hard time sleeping. Our minds are still engaged in trying to control the world around us.

And, whether we are healthy or sick, young or old, we are eventually facing death. How can we live full and productive lives knowing that an end is coming over which we have no control? How will we be able to surrender our bodies and souls to him in life or in death? Only by small surrenders now, bigger ones as we get grow in our faith. The better we get at surrendering day-by-day, the easier our final surrender will be.

“. . . this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.” – Isaiah 66:2b

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Very Present

“A sense of the divine presence and indwelling bears the soul towards heaven as upon the wings of eagles. At such times we are full to the brim with spiritual joy, and forget the cares and sorrows of earth; the invisible is near, and the visible loses its power over us.” – Charles Spurgeon

I had one of those situations recently: Someone I was working with had frustrated me – again – with an issue I thought had been resolved. I was upset, angry even, to the extent that I couldn’t sleep. So I lay in bed praying a really simple prayer, “I need you, Lord.” Then a few minutes later I got more deeply theological, “Help me!”

Soon this verse came to mind: “God is my refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Did you ever think about what it means to be “very present” to someone? I found out that night. It meant that he listened. I sensed he was attentive, he heard what was underneath my complaints, he was empathetic to my frustration.

Then he calmed me. I felt better just knowing he was there, that he cared and understood. And, over time, he directed my steps: After on-and-off praying and sensing his nearness all night, I awoke with a plan for how to address the problem.

My heavenly Father was very present in my time of trouble. The problem didn’t go away, but I got something better: I had God’s attention, his peace, and his direction. His very presence.

If you are in deep distress now, know that he is there for you, too. He’s just waiting for your own version of the “help me” prayer.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Psalm 16:11

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No control!

“Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.” – Corrie Ten Boom

At times, we have all found ourselves in impossible situations, and life seemed out of control. I hate those times, but they do teach us something about trusting God.

Have you ever thought about the kind of faith Noah and his family must have had while they were in the ark? They were locked in – God himself shut the door. Might that not feel a little claustrophobic? Some of us understand that feeling!

They didn’t know how long they’d be there. Have you ever asked God, “how long?” When will you take care of this problem for me? How long do I have to suffer or wait?

They probably didn’t have a picture window on the world around them – they could see very little and actually had to send out birds to find out if the land had dried up yet. We want to see, to understand, to know,so we pray for God to reveal his plan and what he is doing in the world. But he doesn’t seem to answer.

Worst of all, they couldn’t steer the ark. They just had to float along wherever the floods took them. If they had known what would eventually happen with the Titanic, they might have been afraid of crashing into an underwater mountain peak.

We sometimes feel like we have very little control over what is happening to us. We have no steering wheel, no way to see clearly, no understanding about how God will see us through. In these situations we can do one of two things: We can fight against our situation with worry, anxiety, and useless activity, or we can consciously, intentionally give it to God, and trust he has a plan for our ark.

” . . . to you the helpless commits himself.” – from Psalm 10:14

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Peace. Rest.

“Peace and rest belong not to the unregenerate, they are the peculiar possession of the Lord’s people, and of them only.” – Charles Spurgeon

Peace. The angels announced it, Christmas cards call for it, and nations of the world seek it. We want it, too, don’t we? Peace in our hearts. Calmness. Quiet. Rest.

But peace seems to be hard to come by these days. Wars between nations, terrorism, violence in our cities and towns, internal turmoil, restlessness, anxiety, hurry, sleeplessness. I thought about all that.

Then, in the early hours of the day, I read the quote by Charles Spurgeon that you see above. Peace is a special gift reserved for the people of God. The world will not have peace until Jesus returns as King. People who don’t know the Prince of Peace will never be able to find peace on their own. It just doesn’t happen.

But what about those of us who know and follow Jesus? He said this to his disciples as he prepared them for his arrest, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). The peace we need is not something we can find on our own, either. It’s supernatural, and it comes only from relationship with Jesus.

Peace is ours as a free gift and takes root day-by-day as we make him the priority of our lives. As we learn to think as he thinks. As we absorb all that he taught. As we talk to him about everything.

Peace is the gift he gives in return for our devotion to him – a feeling completely out of sync with the rest of the world: Unexplainable peace. Extraordinary gift.

“My people shall dwell in quiet resting places.” – Isaiah 32:18

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Too much to do?

“Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us.” – Elizabeth Elliot

It’s that time of year when, in addition to our standard job and family responsibilities, we add Christmas preparations: shopping, sending cards, cooking/baking, concerts, church programs, parties, school celebrations, and on and on. Result: stress!

How do we do it all? Here are a few practical suggestions:

First, pace yourself. Start early to avoid crowds and to spread out the work.

Second, be organized. Put everything on your calendar, including reminders along the way. Make every shopping trip count by planning ahead for what you will need for each event in the month.

Third, solicit help. If you have a family, make sure the kids are included in the work, as well as the joy, of this season. Share the load: It will be lighter for you, and they will learn to be part of the team. Talk to your spouse, too. See what you can do together to streamline the “to do” list this season.

Finally, trust God. I heard a speaker on the radio say this years ago: “You have time to do today everything God wants you to do.” That hit home to me. I knew it meant that, if I was overwhelmed, I must be doing things God had not put on my list. So, a big way to avoid stress this season is to ask God every day what he wants us to do that day. Then we trust him and do with all our might the things he places before us.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2