Greetings, beloved. I am Dr. Mark Chironna and this is God Today. Both Jesus and Paul say the identical words. One in the Sermon on the Mount, one in the book of Philippians. “Be not anxious.” Now, both of them go into a little bit of detail about the nature of anxiety.
Anxiety is a part of the human condition. And if you have lived any length of time, you know what it is to be anxious. But, there are certain seasons of life, and I have been there, where you endure a protracted season of uncertainty that can lead to anxiety and feeling that you want to jump out of your skin. Paul says, “Be anxious for nothing.” That is not always easy when you are battling intense anxiety. But he goes on to say, “But in all things through prayer, “ which means you bring it to speech, “and supplication, “ that means you have to own those deeply disturbing, uncalming emotions and attitudes, That takes time. In other words, you have to bring all that to speech. Prayer brings everything to speech. Don’t hide it, don’t run from it. Don’t try to resist the anxiety. It is moving through you. Be with it in a way where you can give it a voice and describe what it feels like. And do it thanking the Father that even with the anxiety you are loved, you are accepted, and you will never be forsaken.
If you are persistent in that, you will discover that eventually, those intense feelings will subside. Some of us are more prone to anxiety than others. And so, we have to practice that frequently. But, I want you to know it is okay to admit that you are anxious. It doesn’t mean you are sinning. It doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you. It doesn’t mean there is something broken inside of you. It means you are a human being that is wrestling at a human level with all the things that are pressing in on you.
And so, I want you to be encouraged because the same apostle who said, “Be anxious for nothing, “ said, “I was with you, brethren, in fear, and weakness, and much in much trembling.” And in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus collapsed under the anxiety, which is what the Greek word says in the Gospel. He collapsed under the weight of the strain of what was coming. So, even the best of us, including Jesus the God-man, knows what it is like. He is touched with the feeling of your infirmities. There is a way to move through anxiety and Jesus is that way. Bring it all to speech. I am Dr. Mark Chironna. Thank you for watching God Today.