Prior to this crisis and its corresponding quarantine, I used to think that if I wasn’t so busy, I would do a personal evaluation of my life and my use of time. Perhaps, in the not-too-distant-pass, you had thought too. Then came the quarantine. I have two really busy friends (an Exec in the tech industry and a medical Doc), who, for most of their careers have burned the candle at both ends. Yet, when I asked them if they had seen personal benefits to the quarantine, they gave the same answer: increased time with the family. 
Maybe, just maybe, this crisis has given us the chance to think differently about our use of time. One of the wisest men in the Bible recorded his thoughts on time in a 7-stanza poem in the book of Ecclesiastes. The Byrds took his text and drove it up the rock charts to a number one hit in 1965 with their song, “Turn, Turn, Turn.” Solomon’s words start with, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven (3:1) Here are seven timely truths about time.

Timely Truth #1: THINK realistically & LIVE patiently

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.
Most people don’t think realistically about the end of their life until it’s too late. It’s easy to be moving so quickly on the tread mill of life that we forget the day is coming when it will stop. There is a small window of time between the time to be born and the time to die. Make sure that small window of time is filled up with the stuff that matters. We need to THINK REALISTICALLY about life.
If the farmer misses either the time to plant or the time to harvest somebody is going to go hungry. During the time between planting and harvesting, great patience is required. Everything takes time to grow. Farmers posses a different kind of work ethic. They work hard, but they also understand the patience that’s needed as they wait on God to give the increase from their effort. We need to LIVE PATIENTLY.

Timely Truth #2: TAKE ACTION accordingly & MAKE CHANGES courageously

A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to a time to break down, and a time to build up.
While it seems harsh, killing is an inevitable part of a fallen world. I kill weeds in my backyard and the wasp hovering at my backdoor. Somebody killed the meal that will be on your dinner table tonight. Sometimes, human life is taken in war or in the execution of justice for the protection of others. Sin brought death into our world. God, himself, would ordain the death of his own Son—for our sake. While most of our decisions aren’t of a life and death magnitude, they can still be difficult and require the same resolve to TAKE ACTION ACCORDINGLY.
Change is often necessary, but not necessarily easy. Every change I’ve ever made has involved a time to break down, and a time to build up.  Whether it’s a personal change of lifestyle or a change to an established tradition at the church where I pastor, the first step od change is always a time to break down. Yet, it’s not sufficient simply to blow up the old, we must give our best effort to build up the new. There is a time for both. Most of us don’t like change, this is why we must MAKE CHANGES COURAGEOUSLY.

Timely Truth # 3: REACT honestly & CONNECT with others emotionally

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
From the time we were school-age kids, we became pretty adept at covering up what we’re really feeling. We fight back tears so others won’t see, and blush if our laughter was so loud that it drew the attention of others. We react with anger rather than speak honestly (and compassionately) about how much we were hurt. However, we weren’t meant to live in the gray silence of emotional hiding. Both great sadness and spontaneous laughter are meant to color the edges of a what would otherwise be a meaningless life. There’s a time to weep and a time to laugh. REACT HONESTLY.
There’s also a time to mourn and a time to dance. Emotions were not meant to be private possessions; they are a means of connecting with one another. When mourning is shared in a group, it shows we care. But group celebration matters too. There’s a reason, regardless of the culture, weddings include dancing. The wise person realizes there’s a time for both mourning and dancing. CONNECT with others EMOTIONALLY.

Timely Truth #4: PLAN appropriately & COMMIT to others sacrificially

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing
There was an old Jewish practice of dropping stones into an open grave. Like leaving a flower on a casket, it was a way of remembering the person who went before. It served as a participatory reminder that because our time is short, we should build our life into other’s lives. Similarly, stones were gathered to build the foundation of a house. All of us long to build something, whether it’s relationships or things. Being made in the image of the Creator, means we want to create. PLAN APPROPRIATELY.
There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. Refuse to embrace and you set your relationships up for bitterness; embrace too quickly and you run the risk of superficiality. All broken relationships were meant to be restored (even though not all will be). To restore relationships will require a great deal of commitment: humility on the part of the offender, and forgiveness on the part of the offender. Whether we’re on the offended or offender side, we ought to COMMIT to others SACRIFICIALLY.

Phil Moser is a pastor and author of the Biblical Strategies series.  and 4M Training for Men. This post is taken from his book Safe in the Storm: biblical strategies for overcoming anxiety. His books are available on Amazon and at biblicalstrategies.com

Phil Moser is the presenter on the TAKE 20 video series where we take 20 minutes to apply new truths  from the Bible. This months series is: Reconstructing the American Dream[/cs_content_seo]

AS LONG as Peter could remember he had worried about what others thought of him. Silence, even in a crowd, had always felt awkward. So, he would speak quickly and brashly, even if he later regretted what he had said. Most people thought it was his mouth that got Peter in trouble, but really it was his fear. Peter knew this, even though he attempted to hide it from everyone else.
But Peter knew that there was somebody else who knew too, Jesus. Jesus had discovered his struggle with fear on their first fishing excursion when every fish from the Sea of Galilee was trying to get into Peter’s boat.  Every evil deed he’d ever done came rushing back to his memory. He buried his face in the boat full of fish and pleaded with Jesus to leave. When Jesus spoke, it was not what Peter expected. Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men (Luke 5:10).
Odd, Peter thought, that he would be chosen, for though he was courageous outwardly, he was afraid on the inside. This wouldn’t be Peter’s final struggle with anxiety. Sometime later on that same lake, with a storm brewing, Jesus would speak to him again. Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid (Matt. 14:27). It was from his own battle with anxiety that Peter wrote:

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:6-8).

Trust Him: It may not feel like God cares, but he does.

Anxiety comes when I believe I have to carry the burden alone. My thoughts whisper to me: Even those closest to you do not understand this like you do. This is easy to believe because others don’t appear to be as burdened by your very real circumstances. This presumption is evident in the disciples when they face a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee. Mark recounts the story:  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Notice how quickly the disciples went from fear to a perceived flaw in the character of Jesus. They wrongly assumed that if he cared he would do something to change their circumstances. When you’re bailing water for all you’re worth, it’s easy to assume that God doesn’t care about you. The Bible doesn’t question the reality of the storms that come into your life. It doesn’t call you weak because you’re afraid. Instead, it tells us to do something with our worrisome thoughts and fears: cast them on the Lord.
 The word “cast” is used elsewhere in the Bible to indicate the act of taking off an outer garment and throwing it to the ground. This is both descriptive and helpful. Just as there is a disconnect between the garment and wearer when he casts it to the ground, there is a similar relationship that occurs between the anxious thoughts and the worrier.  Take your anxious thoughts and throw them at the feet of the God who cares.
Obviously, such an action will require a great deal of trust in the Lord. What if he doesn’t do anything with them? What if he’s too busy to concern himself with my problems? What if he doesn’t care after all? Perhaps this is why the compassionate side of God is emphasized in verse 7. We are to remember the concerned, caring side of God (you will find a list of the various names of God in Safe in the Storm). When feelings of anxiety begin to rise in your chest, that is the time to rehearse the caring attributes of God. Remind yourself that he knows and cares. Trust him.

 Humble Yourself:  It may not feel like pride, but it is.

To properly interpret 1 Peter 5:7, allow your eye to wander to the verse before and after it. Peter sets up the context of verse 7, with the thought that comes before it. In verse 6 he writes, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you”, then he adds verse 7, “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” While it may come as a surprise, humility is an important part of overcoming anxiety. We worry about all kinds of stuff, like job security, our kid’s success, the dreaded doctor’s call, or conflict among friends.
There is a common feature in most of the things we are anxious about: we can’t control the outcome.  When we are not walking in humility, we are susceptible to the false belief that if we think about it long enough, we can control the outcome. When the situation is outside of your control, such a thought reveals a prideful spirit. You think you can do what only God can do. God is ultimately in control of all things (Dan. 4:35). You are not. That’s why Peter warns us, “humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.” While ongoing anxious thoughts may not feel prideful, they are. The point of the context is this: if you are unwilling to humble yourself before God, you will be unable to cast your anxieties upon him.

 Guard your thoughts: Wrong thinking may not feel harmful, but it is.

In verse 8, Peter gives another warning: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” [emphasis added]. The Greek word for sober-minded (some translate it self-controlled) occurs only four times in the New Testament. Each time it is in the context of suffering (1 Thes. 5:6-8; 2 Tim. 4:5; 1 Pet. 1:13; 4:7; 5:8). We should expect that when we face a trial it’s going to be difficult to think clearly. The Greek word nepho (translated here as sober-minded) means to be free from the influence of intoxicants.  It comes from the word that means “to avoid drunkenness.” In this context, it is a crucial reminder to see your battle with anxiety as a spiritual one. Be alert. Be vigilant. The devil is active and aggressive, like a hungry lion.
But there is another warning as well. Just like being under the influence of alcohol can impair your thinking, so can being under the influence of worry. Worry makes it hard to think in terms of biblical priorities.  Your anxious thoughts consume your thinking. Like an addiction, such thinking becomes difficult to break. That is why we’re charged to be sober-minded. In order for an alcoholic to be victorious in his struggle, he must learn to say “no” to the next drink. The same is true of the anxious person. They must learn to say “no” to their worrisome thoughts. They must be watchful, aware of when a plan for the future morphs into worrying about it.
Our struggle with anxiety is ultimately a struggle of belief. Will we believe what our feelings are telling us or what God’s Word is proclaiming? Being settled on this matter is the first step in the process of overcoming anxiety.
Phil Moser is a pastor and author of the Biblical Strategies series.  and 4M Training for Men. This post is taken from his book Safe in the Storm: biblical strategies for overcoming anxiety. His books are available on Amazon and at biblicalstrategies.com

 
This post is taken from his book Safe in the Storm: biblical strategies for overcoming anxiety. Phil’s books are available on Amazon and at biblicalstrategies.com

We live in challenging times, and it doesn’t appear to be changing  anytime soon. It’s easy to feel your anxiety rising. Three times in the the 37th Psalm we’re reminded to “not worry” (37:1, 7). But God doesn’t leave us there. He gives four steps to calm an anxious heart.

Trust in the Lord (37:3)

Perhaps the best-known Bible verse about trusting God is found in Proverbs 3:5. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Eugene Peterson rendered that verse, “Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.” The anxious person tries to figure it out on his own, and he knows he doesn’t have the resources.
This is especially evident when we worry about others. Our relationships with our family members are a good example. Parents are prone to worry about their children’s future. A sister worries about her brother’s drug addiction. A middle-aged woman worries about her aging parents’ failing health. When we deal with others’ choices, the outcome is outside of our control because their will is their own. We cannot make them want what they don’t want for themselves. We can instruct and discipline our children. We can grieve over our siblings’ destructive choices. We can lovingly share our concerns with our parents. But in all of these relationships, we cannot ultimately control their will. It is outside the realm of our ability; their future is outside of our field of vision. So, we worry. To ultimately gain victory over this type of anxiety, you will need to acknowledge that your resources are limited and trust in the one whose resources are not.

The depth of the trust is often tied to the value of the relationship.

Most of us only trust those with whom we have a meaningful relationship. For instance, if I was looking for someone to hold $1,000 for me while I went away, I would be most confident in the person I knew the best. My ability to trust you (or not) is clearly tied to my knowledge of you, to how well I know your character, intentions, and purposes. It’s the same way in our relationship with God. If you are not growing in your knowledge of him who saved you, you will struggle to trust him, and you will succumb again to those feelings of anxiety.
A friend of our family is fond of saying, ‘If you don’t see God as good and loving, you will not be comforted by his sovereignty.” Just because the Bible declares that God is in control doesn’t mean that I’ll trust him. Jesus understood this. He found comfort in trusting his heavenly Father with his future because he had grown in his understanding of his Father’s love (Jn. 15:9). If you do not do the same, you will struggle to trust God with the things you value the most. You will attempt to guard them yourself, and in so doing the habit of worrying will return. Trusting God is essential to overcoming worry, and knowing God well is the prerequisite to trusting him completely.

Delight yourself in the Lord (37:4)

C.S. Lewis embraced atheism at the age of 15.  Though raised in a church-going family, he claimed his separation from religion started when he began to see it all as “chore and duty.” This is what makes the earlier statement by Lewis so powerful. He discovered that the pursuit of God was worthy of being desired, not simply obligatory. In Psalm 37 King David says the same thing: delight yourself in the Lord. The translators chose the word delight to describe a Hebrew word that means “soft and delicate.” It came to mean a life of luxury and enjoyment.  Earlier in the Psalms, David ponders delighting in the Lord with eternity in view. He writes, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” This is what John Piper intends when he changes one word in the Westminster Confession. The 400-year-old document read: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” But Piper thought it was clearer this way: “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.” I agree with Piper. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied with him.

Finding your delight in the Lord is essential to overcoming anxiety.

Finding your delight in the Lord is essential to overcoming anxiety. We tend to be very one-dimensional in our thinking. The more we fixate on relief from anxiety, the more anxious we tend to become. The cares of this world can seem overwhelming; what joy you have will dissipate. But when you begin to find your delight in the Lord, joy will return, and worry will be crowded out. It’s hard to be joyful and anxious at the same time. There’s a promise connected with the command to delight in the Lord. The text says, “And he will give you the desires of your heart” (37:4). The word desires could be understood as “requests” or “petitions.” When we delight in the Lord, we have turned our desires into prayers. Imagine if each time your heart grew anxious you interpreted it as a signal to bring a prayer request to the Lord. You wouldn’t have time to worry. You would be taking your burden to the Lord and leaving it there. When we focus our attention on the Lord like that, we actually end up getting what we desire the peace of God.

Commit everything you do to the Lord (37:5)

One summer, when I was child, my family was preparing to go on our summer vacation. Whenever we would take an extended trip, it was my father’s habit to pray for safety before we would leave the driveway. As the car came to a stop at the end of our long, gravel lane, my dad asked for a volunteer to pray. My hand was the first one up, so I was granted the responsibility of praying for God’s mercies. My parents recall that the bulk of my prayer was spent asking God that we not have an accident on the bridge that was about a half a mile from our home. I’m sure my parents smiled. My dad would later say that while he didn’t know what would happen on the trip, he was pretty certain there wouldn’t be an accident on the bridge. Oh, the power of a seven year-olds prayer.

God is concerned about the smallest details, and he is capable of handling the largest difficulties.

When our text says to commit everything to the Lord, it is describing a way, a path, a journey. Kind of like a family vacation, only more like a lifetime than a week. What if I had retained my seven-year-old perspective on prayer throughout my lifetime? What if each morning I paused to commit everything to the Lord for that day’s journey? What if I maintained that perspective on prayer throughout the day? What if you did? Perhaps this is what the Bible means when it says, “Pray without ceasing.” It’s really hard to keep worrying when you’re praying without ceasing. This is what prompted William James to say, “The sovereign cure for worry is prayer.”
Commit everything to the Lord. He is concerned about the smallest details, and he is capable of handling the largest difficulties.

Be still in the presence of the Lord (37:7)

When we’re anxious, it’s hard to be still. We think if we work harder relief from the anxiety will come. But we accomplish one task, only to grow anxious about another. We run faster, only to discover our anxious thoughts were waiting of us at the next destination. We cannot outwork nor outrun our anxious thoughts. This prompted King David to write: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently on him” (Ps. 37:7). Later in the Psalms God speaks in the first person: “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Bible ties our ability to be still and wait to what God has done and will do.

Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.

Corrie Ten Boom was born in the Netherlands. Her family secretly housed Jews during the Holocaust. Their act of courage would be rewarded with sentences to Nazi prison camps.  Corrie and her sister spent years in the prison at Ravensbrück. I’ve walked the stone pavers at Ravensbrück, laid down by the bleeding hands of women and children. Fresh cut flowers now pour forth from the incinerators, where most prisoners left the facility in the form of smoke and ash. While the barracks are no longer there, the footprints of the foundations serve as a memorial to where thousands would spend their final days. It’s hard to imagine living in an environment that must have run rampant with fear and anxiety. Rape and abuse were prevalent; hard labor the only event of the day; death your only escape. Still, this environment would inspire Corrie Ten Boom to write: “Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.”
That’s an insightful statement worth reading again. Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear. In the whirling thoughts of worry, it can be difficult to discern what we fear. Our thoughts are too busy. Ultimately, it’s not about your busyness, it’s about God’s faithfulness. It’s not about what you do, it’s about what he’s done.
 

Phil Moser is a pastor and author of the Biblical Strategies series.  and 4M Training for Men. This post is taken from his book Safe in the Storm: biblical strategies for overcoming anxiety. His books are available on Amazon and at biblicalstrategies.com

 
This post is taken from his book Safe in the Storm: biblical strategies for overcoming anxiety. Phil’s books are available on Amazon and at biblicalstrategies.com

When I talk to someone struggling with anxiety, I usually start by asking questions about their prayer life. I have found that most people struggling with anxiety are praying, but their prayers tend to be one-dimensional: they’re praying that God would take the anxiety away. For them, prayer is a panic button. They reach for it when the feelings become overwhelming. But praying this way doesn’t have the staying power necessary to help us overcome anxiety. Fortunately for us, God didn’t leave us uninformed. With over 650 prayers recorded in the Bible, we have examples for how to pray, whatever the situation.
I want to encourage you to think of prayer more as a pattern to develop than a panic button to push. The apostle Paul gives us one of these patterns immediately following his command to not be anxious. He writes, 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 (Phil. 4:6-7).
For someone struggling with anxiety, this passage offers a deeply sought-after promise: the peace of God. . .will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. But that promise is predicated upon a consistent prayer life, and Paul gives us four words that shape our conversation with God: prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, and requests.

Think of prayer more as a pattern to develop than a panic button to push.

(1) Prayer: Realizing that Nothing is Too Small or Too Big for God.

The text tells us that we are to bring “everything in prayer.” Nothing is too small for God to be concerned about. Jesus reminded us that his Father noticed when a sparrow fell from the sky (Matt. 10:29). There are an estimated 400 billion birds in the world. They come in all sorts and sizes, but God is aware of the loss of even the smallest. Don’t think your cares are too little for God; he is interested in them. The Psalmist wrote that God’s thoughts about the details of his life were vast. He said, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand” (Psa. 139:16-17).
Because my family lives close to the Jersey Shore, during the summer we visit there frequently. The boardwalks, with their shops, rides, and places to eat, line the most popular beaches to the west; the Atlantic Ocean, with its thunderous waves, lies to the east. Because the shoreline isn’t naturally protected, it is prone to erosion. Each year, they replenish the beaches with sand from the bottom of the ocean about a half a mile away, pumping it in huge pipes back up onto the beaches. And each winter, the ocean tears those beaches down, depositing that sand at the bottom of the ocean about a half a mile away. The project is massive; bulldozers and heavy equipment are required to reposition the sand once it’s on the beach. The refurbishing of just one beach can cost 15 million dollars.
Ponder this: God’s thoughts about you are greater than all the sand on the seashore. To correct an oft-used phrase, it’s not the devil that’s in the details it’s God.

Don’t think your needs are too small. God is interested. Don’t think they’re too big. God is able.

(2) Supplication: Acknowledging Your Need to God.

The word “supplication” came to mean “pray,” but that was not its original meaning. The root word deesis meant “to lack or to have need.” This is an important starting point for the person struggling with anxiety. We are prone to anxious thoughts because we try to carry burdens on our own, but we lack the strength or ability to sustain those burdens.  This is why Peter encouraged us to “cast our burdens on the Lord.” We were not meant to carry them alone.
Most of us who battle anxiety rarely admit to others that it’s a problem. Think about it: when was the last time you heard someone request prayer for their struggle with anxiety? You would think from the limited times it’s mentioned at a prayer meeting, hardly anyone would struggle with it. But statistically that is not the case. One study declares that over 40 million Americans struggle with some form of anxiety. While it is not unusual to request prayer for cancer or unemployment, it is the rare individual who will publicly acknowledge a struggle with worry and ask for others to pray for them. But this is exactly what God had in mind for our assistance. Don’t be anxious, admit your need and bring it to the Lord.
On the night that Jesus was arrested and tried, he foresaw Peter’s anxious heart and his unwillingness to admit it. Notice what he said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31). The word Jesus chose to use for prayed is the word translated in our Philippians 4:6 text as “supplication.” Jesus is saying, Peter I see your lack. I recognize your need even if you refuse to admit it. I will pray for you. A part of overcoming your anxiety is admitting your need. Bring it to God. Share it with others so that they can pray. Acknowledge your struggle, then continually pray for victory.

(3) Thanksgiving: Looking for Reasons to Praise God.

God will not protect you from what he can perfect you through.

 The anxious person may initially struggle to find things for which to be thankful, but a thankful spirit is a habit that can be developed.  Paul mentions thanksgiving as the third step for prayer knowing that anxious thoughts cannot coexist with grateful ones. Deep in the anxious heart is the growing seed of discontentment. We believe that if only our circumstances would change, we would be at peace.
But peace, the very thing that we desire, remains elusive because we have tied it to circumstances that we can’t control. The bottom line is we are discontent with our present situation. The practice of being thankful fosters a spirit of contentment even in the direst of circumstances. Consider the biblical characters who were thankful in spite of the difficulties the faced: Job, Jeremiah, Paul. Perhaps Paul stated it best: “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:11-12).
Paul doesn’t see his circumstances as the cause of his thankful, contented Spirit. Rather, he sees those difficult times as opportunities to be grateful for the strength that Christ supplied that he might endure them. Elsewhere, he writes that the difficult times cause him to place his confidence in Christ and not in himself. I once heard someone share, “God will not protect you from what he can perfect you through.” This was the secret that Paul had discovered. God was increasing his spiritual endurance through the difficulties and causing him to be more dependent on the Lord Jesus. This was the focus of Paul’s gratitude. He was thankful for the opportunity to personally change; he was not looking to change his circumstances. This is a pattern of thinking that you can develop as well.

(4) Requests: Seeking First the Kingdom of God.

Developing these first three steps of prayer will significantly change the content of your prayer requests. Your prayer time will feel less like hitting a panic button, and you will begin to ask the Lord for better things than simply relief from your anxiety. Perhaps that is why Paul listed the “requests” as the final step of prayer.  Imagine how your requests might change if you were careful to include these other three elements up front. Most of us spend the majority of our prayer time on the requests, as if God has to be reminded of our needs. But when Jesus spoke about anxiety, he explicitly stated that our heavenly Father knows what we need. He said,
Therefore, 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” (Matt. 6:7-8).
Jesus encouraged us to change the content of our prayer requests. Our chief pursuit is no longer relief from anxiety, but rather the kingdom of God and his righteousness. For the anxious person, this is only possible when you prime the pump with the previous three steps: prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving.
 After praying with this four-fold pattern found in Philippians 4:6, the Scripture extends to us the promise of 4:7: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  For the person struggling with anxious thoughts, this offers tremendous hope. Who wouldn’t want the peace that comes from God himself? It passes our understanding, and it guards our hearts and our minds. 

Phil Moser is a pastor and author of the Biblical Strategies series.  and 4M Training for Men. This post is taken from his book Safe in the Storm: biblical strategies for overcoming anxiety. His books are available on Amazon and at biblicalstrategies.com

This post is taken from his book Safe in the Storm: biblical strategies for overcoming anxiety. Phil’s books are available on Amazon and at biblicalstrategies.com

Few things stir up anxiety like change. Whether the changes take place in our close or extended relationships, they’re uncomfortable. Being creatures of comfort, the anxiety-meter tends to rise when that comfort zone gets tested. In one of my earlier books I spoke about how when it comes to anxiety, we need to change our mind, not our circumstances. This is precisely what the apostle Paul means when he says, 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you [emphasis added] (Philippians 4:8-9).

The peace of God is to be practiced in our relationships.

Because we have experienced a relationship with God that has moved from angst to peace, and as we have established the daily practice of peace in our own lives, we should be quick to want to extend that gift to our other relationships. Jesus said as much in his Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  (Matt. 5:9). The Bible teaches that we do this in one of three ways. We can (1) overlook the fault, (2) talk about the fault, or (3) seek counsel from another to address the fault.

Overlook the fault.

Peter said, “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).  “Cover” in this text means to conceal, keep secret or hidden.  There are good reasons to consider this option. Perhaps the offense wasn’t intended or was a misunderstanding on our part. This is a particularly helpful when it is a singular offense. But if the perceived wrong-doing repeats itself, the peacemaker has an additional option.

Talk about the fault.

The gospel of Matthew reminds us, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother (Matt. 18:15). Note the focus of the peacemaker here is to restore the potentially broken relationship. Sometimes in my relationship with my wife, I may not have even realized I was doing something that was offensive (men can be a bit clueless that way). But when it’s pointed out, the one desiring restoration will be more prone to listening then defending. If they do not listen, the peacemaker pursues a third option.

Seek counsel from another to address the fault.

Matthew’s gospel opens up the door to take another with you; to include an intermediary. He writes, “But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you.” (Matt. 18:16). As a pastor, I have often been called upon to fill this role. Sitting between two offended parties, I am often reminded they are not as far apart as they think they are. Usually, both have done somethings right, and both share some of the responsibility in the wrongdoing (though usually one is more responsible than the other). The advantage of a third party in helping them see this—is that the third party tends to be objectively removed from the conflict.  

These three biblical approaches bring peace to most relationships, but when they don’t you are still given hope from the Scriptures. Paul wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18). The Scriptures acknowledge that even when we’re willing, another party’s stubbornness may not make peace possible. In such cases we can be at peace knowing that we exhausted all of our options. Furthermore, we can maintain a readiness to be restored if their position changes.

Phil Moser is a pastor and author of the Biblical Strategies series and 4M Training for Men.  His books are available on Amazon and at biblicalstrategies.com

The 136th Psalm provides an excellent pattern for developing your personal praise journal. Read the Psalm, purchase a blank journal or notepad and get started.

How are you responding to the authorities God has placed over you? Submitting to those with whom we agree is rarely challenging. But surrendering our desires to those who wish to do something that we don’t, can be especially difficult. Particularly, if their wisdom is flawed, there are inconsistencies in their character, or they don’t have our best interests in view.

Jonah had an anger problem.  A really big one. Sure he could push it down for a chapter or two (his book only has four chapters), but before long it would come roaring back again. The final chapter closes with Jonah sitting on the side of a mountain being good and angry at God’s gracious ways.