Feeling a Little Anxious Today?
My sweet granddaughter from Frisco, Alexia, stayed over a couple of extra days when the whole family came up last weekend. We had such special girl-time together. I scored when she, who is her own style with the combat boots trend she loves to wear, let me find a girly-girl dress for her to try on. Be still my heart. But, no, she wouldn’t let me buy it for her. I tried. We shopped, ate out a lot, checked out coffee shops (she’s a barista back home in Frisco), AND thrift shopping. We love it. It pleased me seeing her spend over 30-minutes in the books section. She bought these books pictured here – faith and inspiration books and a small Bible. She said this one would be perfect for traveling. I caught her many times reading her new/old books!
She had to pack up her car to head home on Tuesday morning for work the next day. She looked for her car’s key fob but couldn’t find it. Finally, we went to her car and we could see her fob on the console. The doors were unlocked because the car wouldn’t lock with the fob in it. But to our dismay, her car had been ransacked. Someone had been in the car, had taken her umbrella, beanie hat, mug, a treasured pencil holder given to her by her great granny and several other things. Fortunately, the perpetrator (who we believe might have been a homeless person) didn’t steal the car. The management here suspects that they jumped over our fence and looked for an open car. They found one.
That incident certainly gives reason to have anxiety, but Alexia was calm and collected. She determined she’d “gift” those items to whoever stole them. God has His way of blessing us when we “freely” give. Calm and collected – Alexia kicked anxiety right out of her life. Notice the letter in the middle of “anx-i-ous”? It’s an I. When “I” am handling my affairs and when “I” am the one in charge, when “I” rely on myself for the outcome of MY decisions and plans, then “I” can easily get ANXIOUS about every-thing!
If we practiced daily, like an exercise regimen, what the Apostle Paul said: “Do not be anxious about anything”, then we’d handle life’s stuff with freedom from anxiety. By the way, let’s put his words into perspective. He wrote this letter from the dingy, wet, cold confines of a prison cell. He dismissed his reasons for anxiety, and he found the peace of God. How could he do that when he had all the reasons in the world to be anxious about every-thing? If we would apply Paul’s words to our circumstances, then we would get the results he had. St. Paul gives the antidote for anxiety in Philippians 4:6-8: “Do not be anxious about ANY-THING, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Paul showed us how to trust God in all things. Things like a flat tire, a missed appointment, a bounced check, stolen goods, or a negative health report. He said: “Do NOT be ANXIOUS about any-THING!” When we have the mindset that “it’s only a thing”, we’ll eliminate needless anxiety and can settle with God’s words in Romans 8:28 “All THINGS work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” So I’m declaring “These THINGS may be just things, but in God’s grand scheme of THINGS, they all have purposes for blessings ahead!”