Thought for August 5, 2023

• 1305: William Wallace captured
• 1864: Admiral David Farragut yells, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" at the Battle of Mobile Bay 
• 1884: Cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty laid
• 1914: First electric traffic light installed
• 1936: Jesse Owens wins his third gold medal at the Berlin Olympics
• 1957: "American Bandstand" premiers on network TV
• Born: Neil Armstrong, Herb Brooks, Maureen McCormick, Patrick Ewing
• Died: Richard Burton, Alec Guiness

Thought:

Reading Philippians 4:6-7 this morning. All of us are anxious at some time in life. Anxiety is defined as painful uneasiness about an anticipated ill; disquieted over a future event or the unknown. The English word comes from a root that means to cause pain or choke. Anxiety is worry that becomes obsessive and often causes physical symptoms. Paul says that when circumstances, fears, worries attack us, disturb our peace, disquiet us, here is what we should do--pray with thanksgiving.

Interesting that Paul would add "with thanksgiving" to prayer and supplication. When fear and doubt attack, when a worry make us anxious, we are to go to God in prayer and make our requests known with thanksgiving. Think about how you pray when anxious. Are you like me? We ask God to change the circumstance or to make the future anticipated threat go away. I am always asking God to answer my prayer by changing something other than Larry. Maybe my prayer should start by being thankful--thanking God for all the blessings He has bestowed on me. This alone may cure my anxiety because if God has always been faithful, always provided, always been there, then why do I question His working in my future. His past faithfulness cures my worry about the future.

But then rather than asking God to fix the circumstances, cure the disease, fix the relationship, provide what I think I need, perhaps I should examine myself. Maybe I should be asking God to give me more faith, more trust. Maybe I should be asking Him to help my unbelief--for when I am anxious, I am doubting His love, His provision, His plan, His purpose. Maybe I just need to rest on His promises. Sometimes when I start laying out my requests to God, I look at them and wonder what God must think. 

Now the promise. When I make my requests to God with thanksgiving, I receive His peace. Reflecting on Him and His past blessings and giving thanks, gives me confidence in Him for my future. Asking for the right things--more love, more faith, more hope, more patience to wait on Him. These give me a peace that passes understanding. As I lean on Him and His promises, all the weight and burden is transferred to Him. Then my soul is quieted and I rest in Him. Peace comes with a calmness the world cannot understand. Now notice, the peace of God comes to guard my heart from all the arrows of doubt of Satan. In Ephesians, Paul call this the shield of faith. When my heart and mind are protected from the fiery darts of doubt and fear, I rest in perfect peace. 

That old hymn gets it right: "O soul are you weary and troubled, no light in the darkness you see. There's light for a look at the Savior and life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace." You might want to know that the author of this hymn, Helen Lemmel, was once wealthy after marrying a rich European. But, he left her when she became blind and she lived most of her life on government support. When asked how she was doing, she would reply, "I'm doing well in the things that count." How are you doing in the things that count today?

Blessings

Larry