Anxiety and Peace

Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NET)

Anxiety produces different reactions in people, but one thing that is in common is that we are not to be anxious about anything. For me, when I get into anxiety about something or someone, my stomach gets messed up, I feel like I got a lot of butterflies in my stomach, I can't eat...I just get messed up physically. At the same time my mind can think of nothing but what I have anxiety about. This happened to me this past summer. Someone said something about me and it wasn't very nice, and instead of praying and asking God what to do, I chose to dwell on what they said, which got me into anxiety. I also created different scenarios in my mind about potential outcomes. I did everything I wasn't suppose to do according to Philippians 4:6-7. When I eventually went to God in prayer about it, He very politely said "I'll take care of it." With that, the anxiety left and my stomach got back to normal. If I had chosen to pray in the very beginning, I wouldn't have had to go through all that nonsense. Jesus gave me 5 instructions for when I get into a situation that produces anxiety...

1) trust in God that He is taking care of the situation either by dealing with me or the other person

2) trust in God that He is removing obstacles that are in my way and that He is protecting me

3) trust in God that He will tell me what to do

4) when I have done all that I am to do...STAND in peace, be strong and courageous

5) and when I am done standing in peace, then STAND in more peace

We were not created to operate in anxiety, but in peace. Choose to pray and trust Him the next time you get into a situation that normally causes anxiety in your life.

Fear of Rejection

Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or tremble before them, for the LORD your God is the one who is going with you. He will not fail you or abandon you!” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NET)

One of my biggest issues in my past was "fear of rejection." I wanted to be liked so much that I would do just about anything for people just so that they would like me and want to be around me. This lead into a whole bunch of other issues, which, thank God, He has worked out in me. Through our lives we will meet people that will like us and people that will reject us, thats reality. Jesus told me one day that there will be people that will reject me, they may reject me because of opinion, my abilities, my looks, etc....I just don't need to fear it! When we are being rejected by people, we need to remember that Jesus loves us and He will stand with us and He will never abandon us! When we get the reality of Jesus inside of us, it will no longer matter if people reject us, because we can rest assured that there is One, THE ONE, who absolutely and unconditionally loves us. Whenver you are feeling rejected by someone, take your eyes off of that someone, and put them on the One who loves you, Jesus...He will always be there and you will never need to fear rejection again!

Buttons

We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NLT)

Sometimes, and usually it is most times, when we get angry, our anger is aimed in the wrong direction. The Apostle Paul said that are weapons are not "wordly" or "flesh and blood" weapons, but they are Godly weapons, used to destroy strongholds of human reasoning. Interesting that the only times the word "warfare" is used it is never in association with the devil, but with the human mind. Our own thoughts and perceptions are what get us out of peace and put us in anger and anxiety. Whenever someone does or says something that we do not like or that offend us, we get upset and angry with that person. But what is really happening is that a "button" was pushed inside of us that caused us to react. This is where the warfare takes place. Whenever someone says something to me that offends or angers me, I have to settle myself down first by saying "Kent, a button just got pushed inside of you so you need to settle down." I then say "Jesus, settle my soul" and I may have to say that 5, 10, 50 times, but He will do it. I then ask God "ok Lord, what just got pushed inside of me, why am I reacting this way to this person." When I do this, it takes the focus off of the anger toward the other person that offended me and puts it on the "button" that got pushed inside of me. At this point God will show me what happened and the healing begins. When we go to God and ask Him why (and not react to the other person), it is then that we can handle the situation in stability and peace.

Adding to what God said

Saul waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering. Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me and that you didn’t come at the appointed time and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt obligated to offer the burnt offering.” (1 Samuel 13:8-12 NET)

God, through the prophet Samuel, told Saul to wait for 7 days. Unfortunately Saul got impatient and started to go on his feelings. The 7th day was not completely over, but Saul decided to act on his own. Doing that went against what God said and Saul paid the price for it, which was the loss of his kingship over Israel. How many times does God tell you to do something, and then you decide to add to it? It has happened to me on a couple of occasions. When I started mountain biking God told me He wanted me to do this because it relaxes me. But then my brain took it further and I thought "I'm enjoying this so much I want to show others." One thing led to another and I started leading rides, work groups, etc. I started getting quite tired and over committed. Thing that God wanted me to do to relax me was now making me very tired. When I went to God about it, He said "I never told you to lead anything on the trails, I only told you to ride them." When God tells us to do something, we, as humans, tend to want to add to what God is saying, usually because we think we know better. Saul's story is a good example to do ONLY what God tells you to do. If more needs to be added to it, He will add it!

Its a Trust Thing

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] (John 14:27 AMP)

One of the major issues that Christians have is a total trust in Jesus. We trust Him that He has taken care of our salvation and that He died for us on the cross so that we could have a relationship with God. It is beyond that where we have problems. When things don't go our way, when things happen that we don't understand and when things don't happen when we think they should happen. The disciples, when crossing the lake and even after spending time with Jesus, got upset because of a storm, which was happening while the son of God, was sleeping in the back of the boat. They didn't trust Him fully, they lacked belief that He would take care of them. The same it is with us. We get all stirred up, anxious, intimidated, cowardly and disturbed when something doesn't go the way we think it should...and why? Because we choose to behave this way instead of choosing to trust God. It is a choice. Yes, you can choose to be agitated and continue to get the results you are getting, or you can choose to trust God and walk in peace. When you walk in peace, it really doesn't matter what the outcome is, because your total trust is in Him. Next time you find yourself getting upset, stop, breath, and make the choice to trust God with the situation, and then let Him handle it. 

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

There are many plans in a person’s mind, but it is the counsel of the LORD which will stand. (Proverbs 19:21 NET)

God gave us a brain to use, but through experiences, influences and beliefs, we don't always make the right decisions...and trust me we are constantly making decisions. Now there are decisions that are just plain common sense. For example, if its cold outside, its a good decision to wear a jacket, or if you have a test coming up, it is a good decision to study for it. There are also decisions that we have to make that are not so "common sense," in fact they seem almost impossible to make, and likely will affect other people. These are the times we need to go to God for direction, and when He gives us direction, we need to follow through with it. Sometimes when God gives you the right direction to go, it may not make sense or seem logical, but it will ALWAYS become evident that it was the right decision down the road. It make take days, months, weeks or even years, but you will always, at that point, be able to look back and say "thank you God!" 

Saying Yes and Saying No

Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds, for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans. (Isaiah 55:8-9 NET)

Not so long ago I found I was doing everything, saying yes to everything, leading up work groups on the trails, leading two bands, teaching a college class...the list goes on. Eventually I was wearing out. Finally I had to ask God what is wrong with me. He said "I never told you to do all those things." Then it hit me, I was saying yes to everyone, I was wanting to do everything and be the best at everything. I thought that was what I was suppose to do. But God had other plans. In fact for each of us He has plans, things He wants us to do. I learned that whenever an opportunity comes up, I need to go to Him and ask Him, "is this what I need to be doing?" He sees the big picture, He knows what is best for me. His plans are definitely superior to my plans, and what He wants me to do is definitely better than what I want to do. Now you may have to say "no" to people, in fact I guarantee you will have to say "no" to people at times, and they may not like it. Just remember, they don't have to walk in your shoes, only you do.