do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
The One Step Daily Devotional is intended to provide just one step each day for your journey with God. Every journey requires water breaks. Here is a water break for you.
The cares and worries of this life come in differing shapes and sizes. Some of these cares are as simple as burning a Thanksgiving turkey. Other anxieties come through heavier matters such as an empty seat at the table due to a lost loved one.
Finances. Work. Vacation. Sickness. Relationships. Challenges. The unknown. Fear. These things make us anxious.
What do we do about these things? Often we attempt to push these emotions down, medicate with comforts, attempt to control, or overcompensate with an act that fools no one.
Paul suggests something else: just stop it.
Well, there’s a little more to it than that. Stop being anxious and pray. We have to engage our will to disengage our efforts to figure out, assess, and control; we must engage our will to bring these things to God. It’s a redistribution of effort, focus, and belief. We must believe (trust) that bringing these things to God will do more for us than obsessing over them ourselves.
The type of prayers that Paul refers to gives us a clue on what this looks like in our lives: immediate needs brought to God (to stop worrying about yourself), intercession for others (allows us to stop worrying for those we care about), and for needs (things that you see coming in the future).*
The peace of God is the opposite of anxiety., and it will guard our hearts.* This means that anxiety leaves us exposed. Bringing our needs and the needs of those we care about before God protects us in a way that we cannot protect ourselves. It brings us His peace - a peace that is so great and so steady that it doesn’t even make sense.
How do we get there? Why is this so hard some times? All of this must happen with a heart of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving recognizes that what you have comes from somewhere else. Thanksgiving is an act of humility. Thanksgiving is a recognition that you cannot supply yourself with what you need. The anxiety that comes from trying to fix or change or protect whatever you care about requires a certain level of pride that says, “I can do this.” It’s time to let go of that belief. It’s time to be humble. It’s time to walk in thanksgiving and pray and trust.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to ask God to forgive you for attempting to take care of things yourself. Perhaps God wants you to stop what you are doing and pray. Maybe today is a day to be thankful.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.
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*Hansen, G. W. (2009). The Letter to the Philippians (pp. 289–295). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Fee, G. D. (1999). Philippians (Vol. 11, pp. 172–177). IVP Academic.