I know the feeling. The weight of anxiety can creep up when you least expect it and then… bam. It hits you like a rock. Wave after wave of sheer panic come over you. Your heart begins to race. Sweat begins to drip from your hairline. This is the start of something bad. I know that feeling all too well. Over the past year or so I’ve had my fair share of struggles that I’ve had to overcome. Anxiety has certainly been one of the biggest. I am not going to tell you overcoming this terrible obstacle in your life is going to be easy. But who needs easy in this lifetime? I certainly don’t. I just need possible. And isn’t that all anyone needs? If we know it is possible, if we have even that tiny sliver of hope, we will always try to achieve that goal we are striving towards.
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Sometimes we forget that God never said life here on earth would be easy. In fact, we see in this verse that He has made it pretty clear that we will face many trials here on earth. When I first read the first part of that verse I became very sad. I knew time on earth would be temporary and that I would be with my heavenly Father for eternity, but I wanted to live a life that was worry free and full of happiness. But as I began to examine that verse after many years of just briefly skimming over it, I realized something extremely powerful. First, that God wants us to live in peace. He wants that with all of his heart. However, we can never achieve that peace apart from Him. He wants us to be close with Him so that we may grow in peace and in love. He knows us way better than we know ourselves. And that statement itself is extremely comforting to me. You may be going through something that you think is the worst thing in the entire world, yet God is working everything out for your good. He knows exactly what you’re going through. Each and every breath you take on earth is no surprise to him. Because he knows every hair on your head. He knows every move that you make. He is walking with you through it all. When you mess up, He already knew you would do that before you were born. God choose you for a REASON. You matter to this world and nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever be able to separate you from that fact. Lastly, we also forget that nothing can actually be “that bad”. Jesus has overcome the world. The battle is already won! We can celebrate and live our lives out in joy! We have the blessed assurance that Jesus Christ will walk with us all of the days of our life if we just let him into our lives and let him transform us and our hearts from the inside out.
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love”
Romans 8:38
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