Hey guys! I hope you are having a great week so far. Today I am introducing a new category to the website titled: Word of the Week. Although similar to the inspirational segment of the website, this category takes the word of the first day of the week (which will be Mondays) from the bible app and expounds on it.
Image courtesy of Unsplash
So this past Monday’s word was taken out of the book of Philippians 4:6-7, which says—“Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus.” (NKJV).
Dealing with Anxiety
Life can be so complex; filled with twists and turns, ups and downs, feelings of happiness and sadness, often intertwined with each other, with humanity wondering to what end? There are a lot of things which cause us to be anxious. For me I know I was filled with feelings of nervousness as work was about to resume. Not because I hate my job or the people I work with; they are a great team. But because of the stress I deal with just trying to make it to work each week (the insane traffic, the bad roads, the rough danfo, keke and okada drivers!)
A few days before work resumed, I was driving in the car with my cousin, and one bus driver cut me off. I said to him—“don’t make what has been lying dormant in me for two weeks to come out.” And my cousin burst out laughing! Then I realized how tense I was thinking about the craziness that is Lagos roads. Before the year ended I got in a wreck, the bus driver was trying to escape some road safety officials and ended up running into my vehicle, destroying the driver’s door and other parts of the car.
All of these things have caused me to be anxious. There are also things that we might be trusting God to accomplish in our lives which brings about the feelings of anxiety. Since we are plagued with thoughts like: Is God ever going to fulfill this particular thing? Or am I ever going to come out of this situation? In a world where it is so easy for us to get caught up with our emotions and feelings of depression, God’s response to our chaos is simply—“be anxious for nothing.”
You might wonder why His response is so calm, (but yet very powerful) that is because He knows He has everything under control. You see, as a child of God, God does not want anything to steal our joy and peace of mind. He doesn’t want us to be dependent on ourselves, He wants us to rely on Him knowing fully well that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and every anxiety or depression that we might suffer is subject to His authority.
Bring your requests to God with thanksgiving
God wants us to share everything with Him that is bothering us. He does not want us to internalize them. God is the only person who you can tell Him how it is doing you (as we say in Nigeria), and feel no fear about if He is able to handle your emotions because He can handle it.
He wants you to rid your mind of all your worries, and feel it back up with thanksgiving. Irrespective of what we might be dealing with, there is always something to be thankful for. The fact that you are alive means that there is hope. There is always hope in Jesus. After we have done all these, verse seven of that scripture says that the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
So what issues are you dealing with or scared of dealing with? Is it your commute to work that is driving you nuts like me? Or is it a hostile work environment that your dread returning to? Is it a lack of finances or health issues? The list can be endless, but God’s response is the same—be anxious for nothing. He gat you!
What do you think about this week’s word? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below, and also remember to like, share and subscribe, never to miss an update.
Don’t stop here; click this link to explore more on our Word of the Week page.
About The Author: Evi Idoghor is a Christian, writer, and content creator on Letstalknationblog.com. She is a chemical engineering graduate from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Consumed by her love for writing and desire to effect change, she launched her online platform––Let’s Talk Nation––to tap into her creativity and start meaningful conversations that would make a difference around the world.
Most of her writing has been influenced by her time spent in America, where she lived for about 11 years. Also, she lived in Nigeria and South Korea and currently loves traveling the world while learning about other fascinating cultures. You can find her on all social media platforms with @eviidoghor.