“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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.” [Phil 4:6-7 NIV]
Anxiety surrounds us in this life. Remember the words from yesterday that cause anxiety in our times. Never forget that the enemy of our soul wants to keep us anxious. He wants anxiety to take root and burrow deep down in our minds and hearts so that we can never feel safe, never feel peaceful. He’ll use whatever it takes to generate fear. That fear will keep us from enjoying life.
That fear will do something even more profound. It will cause us to doubt God. How many times after a disaster or diagnosis or death have we been confronted with, “Why did God allow this to happen?”
Unfortunately, “why?” questions are unanswerable. None of us knows the mind of God. And there must always be that acknowledgement of “free will.”
But Paul promises that if we take everything and present it to God through prayer cloaked in thanksgiving, God will guard our hearts and mind with a peace that cannot be understood in the natural. We may not know “why.” We may not see things change for the better. We will, however, have this kryptonite-like peace covering our hearts and minds so that anxiety cannot take root there.
We will be able to face life with all its dangers. We will be able to face God without any doubt that He is for us.