With high gasoline prices and terrorists in London heading to the U. S. there is plenty of anxiety to go around. As troubling as global issues are, there are matters that are closer to home. Everyday you are facing challenges in your family, your fitness, your finances and your faith. However, our generation and the events of our day did not invent or discover “the process of worrying”. Every generation has been challenged with the stresses of life.While the sources and levels of emotional tension may vary, the resolution to worry is to not only know the source of worry but to know the solution. The normal response to anxiety is to try to change the circumstance that is the source of unease. In a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to his student Timothy, Paul said that the answer to fear is love.
At first glance, this seems like such an odd conclusion. Paul had found the secret to being secure in troubling times and circumstances: Trust in God’s love for us. Paul had faced everything that a person could face. All that he had achieved in life had been taken from him. For Paul, social position in life, possessions and life’s pleasures were things of the past. He had traded all of these to follow Christ. So, he was passing to Timothy the secret to true happiness. When we know that God is for us, and we are living our life to fulfill God’s call on our life, then, whatever we face seems so much smaller. Paul reminded Timothy that God plans for us to walk in power, love and clarity of mind. The answer to worry is taking everything to God in prayer. He is able to do something about the problem. He is the answer to the problem. He gives peace even if the problem persists. This is different from our normally preferred solution. We pray for the problem to go away and it may. However, God’s love and peace will take over our lives even if the challenge is still in front of us or part of our history. This is a powerful kind of peace.
God invites you to enter into a new level of existence where your focus is not on events in your life but rather on His plan for you. As Paul reminded Timothy that his calling in Christ supersedes all else, I encourage you to rise above the momentary challenges of today by committing your life to bringing glory to God and to bringing people to Christ.