“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6, NIV).
But I can’t help it! Can I?
Anxiety naturally rises up, filling me with stress and limiting my ability to move gracefully through life. In the month of November, I like to remember thankfulness. It always changes my perspective when I do. Maybe this anxiety struggle is a perfect way to apply gratitude to my life. Let me notice when I battle anxious thoughts.
Tough Choices
The first week in November, Jeff and I voted.
“Phew! Glad that’s done. At least it was less painful than getting a shot,” I joked as we left the polls.
I wasn’t happy about my choices. They were the best I had to choose from. The election made me anxious. I decided to use my stressed out feelings to find a new focus on thanksgiving.
I’m thankful to live in a country where we vote. Our freedoms are incredible! In some parts of the world people who speak against the government are thrown in jail. In some places, declaring the name of Christ means loss of income, home and even life. Though our country feels turbulent and divided, we have freedom! Maybe it is that very freedom allowing all the voices of fear, anger and discouragement to fill our informations sources. But it is also an opportunity to speak truth and light.
“God bless America, land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above”
(Kate Smith).
I remember on 9/12, the day after the horrific attacks of 2001, hearing this song from the lips of our nation’s leaders. How surprising and beautiful to see them united in asking for God’s blessing…even if only for a day.
When I am tempted to worry about the present or the future, I can turn that reactive feeling into prayer. I can pray that God overcome division and help citizens of our nation communicate. I can pray He will protect our freedoms. I can pray that things the enemy means for our harm will be tools that God uses for good.
I am first and foremost a citizen of Heaven. We live in a pretty good place, but it’s not our ultimate home.
As we pray, I believe we will discover our courage increase and our perspective enlarge.
God bless America, my home sweet home.
Thankfully in His Arms
It’s a pleasant autumn day. The wind is gently jostling the pines overhead. Daisy the Puppy sits, watching vigilantly for squirrel invaders in her domain. I stand, gently swinging Jeff in our hammock.
He bought it for me on our anniversary. To lie under the trees with sun reflecting off the pine needles and clouds drifting past is wonderfully relaxing. To hear the songs of birds and the low rings of my wind chimes restores my peace.
Now, though, he is the one in the hammock. Reluctantly, he admits how heavy his health struggle feels. He worries it will be too much for me, but I look up and send a quick prayer, Lord, help me keep my balance, as I push the hammock gently one more time.
His list of afflictions feels too big for one man to carry. He’s had more surgeries in 9 years than I can count on my fingers. He bears daily pain from neurological, joint, intestinal, and other causes. We need to keep vigilance over his skin… the burden grows heavier over time.
I remember that first season of crisis, more than 9 years ago now. His melanoma was likely to recur. Fear overwhelmed me. What would become of us? God met me there. He showed me the corner of the graph where some melanoma patience outlasted the dire diagnosis. He reminded me that Jeff and I are both Heaven-bound. If he gets to the finish line first, the Lord is still in control. He holds us in His care.
We are still together today. That Philippians verse comes back to me.
“Be anxious for nothing…” but I often am!
“Present your requests to God”… I know He cares for us. But I forget!
I give the hammock another push. I remember how my friend, Kate, used to change the words to an old hymn when pushing her son on the swing:
“Swinging, swinging, safe and secure from all alarms,
Swinging, swinging, swinging in the everlasting arms.*”
As I tell Jeff it’s ok, he can share his cares and fears with me, I tell myself it’s true! We are secure. When life feels too scary or too heavy, we can run to the One who holds the stars in their places.
Peace is ours for the asking.
With thanksgiving, I ask Jesus to hold us in His everlasting arms.
I know He will!
*The hymn, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, was written by Alan Jackson. I only knew the Kate Baer version for years, but the actual hymn is full of truth.
Dropping the Ball
Do not be anxious about ANYTHING…with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God…will guard your hearts…”(Philippians 4:6-7).
I used to convince myself that I could juggle. As a kid, I’d toss two balls up in the air and catch them without dropping either. So what if I was always clutching one of those balls? Neither fell to the ground. But add one more thing and they all tumbled down.
I begin my morning in an orderly way. I know how things SHOULD go. I feel peaceful, gentle joy as I move from one task to the next. I remember a rhyme I used to teach my students:
“Sixty seconds in a minute, how much good can I do in it?
Sixty seconds in an hour, all the good that’s in my power.
Twenty-four hours in a day, time to work and rest and play,”
(Author unknown).
I think I can juggle, until that extra “distraction” comes…
My best-laid plans soon go off-track. I set aside writing to walk the dog before it rains. My teen sweetly and unexpectedly asks me to make his lunch. I look at the clock and shift. I run out of the minutes I thought were mine to control…it turns out I can’t juggle skillfully after all.
Do not be anxious! Oops, I forgot!
“THIS is what He has given us to do, this task here on this earth, not the task we aspired to do, but this one…The great discrepancy between what we envisioned and what we’ve got forces us to be REAL,” (Elisabeth Elliott).
I remember! Caring for my family is much more important than keeping my schedule. The problem comes when I check my heart. I have no peace!
Anxiety snuck in when I shifted and pivoted to do the REAL important stuff. Without peace, I don’t do those things well at all. Though the dog got walked and a sandwich was made, I did those things in a graceless way.
I dropped the ball, striving without love.
If anxiety is the symptom, maybe gratitude is the key. Instead getting frustrated at my inflexibility, what if I lift up a “help me” prayer to God?
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart,
O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 52:17).
I’m sorry for pretending I could juggle. I’m sorry for holding on so tightly to when You want me to release… my minutes and hours are Yours, God!
A song comes into my heart, one I haven’t heard for awhile,
“And now, let the weak say, ‘I am strong,’
Let the poor say, ‘I am rich because of what
The Lord has done for us,
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks unto the Holy One,
Give thanks because He’s given
Jesus Christ, His Son
Give thanks!” (Don Moen)
The melody fills my heart with gratitude. I recognize that my neediness is His tool. I give up control of those seconds, minutes and hours…the One who will establish the work of our hands is in charge.
His timing is perfect.
I think of more words by Elizabeth Elliot, “Just do the next right thing,” and I move to finish preparing for my students. “Help me, Lord, I want to do everything with love. Show me how to find balance.”
I tend to be a silly goose, fretting and pressuring myself to get things done. I hope you can’t relate! If you, like me, feel tension build when your day goes sideways (mine shows up as an ache in the right shoulder or my sharp response to an interruption), don’t lose heart.
We don’t learn to love alone. The One who puts His finger on our stress also holds out His had to lift us up. That warning sign was for us all along. When you and I bring our fretting to God in prayer, He teaches us to rest in His strength.
One day we will find that He has taught us a more precious skill than how to juggle. He is making us fluent in the language of love. With practice and much help from the teacher, you and I will learn to move gracefully through days of unexpected events, stepping to the rhythm of the Master’s heartbeat.
Our balance is found in Him.
Genuine Gentleness
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The LORD is near. Do not be anxious about anything…” (Philippians 4:5-6, NIV).
Mom used to call me “gentle Anna,” and I believed her! I thought I was patient too! The longer we walk through life, the more likely we are to have our false self-image busted and find out we aren’t really as nice as we believed after all!
Family is complicated! I absolutely love Thanksgiving when we come together and share at least a meal. My full driveway indicates a glorious full house for a few days. The time together fills my heart as I see how my amazing adult children are growing.
Family also brings up all sorts of old patterns of thought, comparisons, and insecurities as we crowd in and share space. That was where I found myself this morning.
“Why can’t I stop taking things personally,” I asked kind Jeff. “I know better, but my feelings won’t obey my mind. I get so frustrated and I worry it will all come out in an ugly way.”
He gave me advice I might have offered a friend. He reminded me that our weakness is a tool for God. When I feel like I’m in control I forget that I need His help. But when I ‘fail,’ I run to the One who helps me in every needy moment.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me…for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NIV).
Oh yeah, he’s right. What if I ‘fail’ at gentleness and love? I remember where to go. I honestly lift my heart to the One who sees. Help! I can’t figure out how to love right now. I need forgiveness, strength and peace. What if I have to repeat this all day, all week, all the days of my life?
If I am compelled to run to God for help, I will know Him more. Will He fill me with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 6), including gentleness? I hope so! But even IF He doesn’t, He will use my dependence on His grace. My weakness is a tool in God’s masterful hands.
Bring on the Thanksgiving celebration. I’m ready now…or if I’m not, at least I remember what to do.
May your holiday be full of loving connections and grateful hearts. If you also struggle with complicated dynamics, I pray you find hope and help. May God’s peace guard our hearts and minds as we cast our cares on Him.
I thank Him for the open invitation to present my requests to Him. We can ask, seek and knock. He’s ready for us!
“And the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).
