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

We live in a world where anxiety seems to be increasing among our people. More people are diagnosed with anxiety disorders now than at any point in history. Why? Recently Patrina and I listened to a talk as the speaker described the state of American culture. He talk about the little screen we wake up to and how we then move to a medium size screen at work and then use the little screen again until we get home and then we are glued to a really big screen at night while we still glance at our little screen again. All the time these screens are delivering messages that keep our brains turned on so that finding a quiet place is difficult for us.

Anxiety is defined as “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome” and I think most of us have experienced anxiety at one time or another. Anxiety is an emotion we feel and while it is real we don’t have to be paralyzed by our worry.

Spurgeon’s words have a ring of truth to them, but that doesn’t diminish our anxieties, does it? What keeps you up at night? Have you ever awakened in a cold sweat in the middle of the night disturbed about something out of your control?

Christ addressed the concept of fear as well when He said “do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat? ’ or ‘What shall we drink? ’ or ‘What shall we wear? ’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6: 31-33).

When Paul tells the Philippians to “not be anxious about anything,” he didn’t just tell them to get over their fears. Instead, he addressed the spiritual component of anxiety first by instructing them to turn to God. Let God know about your situation. Turn to God in prayer.

In his first epistle, Peter also encouraged his readers to “give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7)

Because He cares, we can put our trust in Him. He knows our situation. He knows what concerns us and when we turn to him then, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” will guard our hearts and minds as well.

I don’t want to diminish the reality of anxiety in any way but to remind us that we can trust in God who is greater than anything we face. Many of us face situations and relationships that appear to be impossible, but as Jeremiah proclaimed thousands of years ago –

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for you”(Jeremiah 32:17)