“Historians will probably call our era ‘The age of anxiety’.” Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and his will for us.” - Billy Graham. Billy Graham wrote this in 1965 and over 50
years later this is still an accurate description of this present era.
The news that we are bombarded with daily is not encouraging. Our world is in chaos and evil abounds. For some, this causes fear and anxiety to set in and the enemy uses it to distract us from our relationship with God. If we
allow it to, anxiety and fear will cripple us and take over our lives. But there is hope! 2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind.” This verse says God has given us power! We do not need to fear! Philippians 4:6-7 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Phillipians 4:8 tells us what we are to be focused on: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.” If you read on, verse 9 tells us that if we put these into practice the God of peace will be with
us.
Are you allowing fear and anxiety to control you or are you focusing on the things that are true, lovely, pure, admirable, etc? The circumstances in our lives or even in our world may look grim but we can choose what we put our focus on. We can choose hope and peace over fear and anxiety because John 16:33 tells us that Jesus has already overcome!
By Elton Gingerich
