The Antidote For Worry

“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 your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I didn’t fully understand what it meant to live by faith until I started earning my living by commission sales. From 1966 when I graduated from Colorado University until 1985 I was wholly involved in Christian ministry as a seminary student, pastor, and Campus Minister. Although my salary was small, it was still a regular salary. I knew how much income to expect.

My salaried life stopped in 1985 (yes ministerial positions can be “downsized” too). The Lord led me into real estate for my financial support, like Paul had his tent-making business. Since then, I have rarely known two months in advance what my income would be. At times there have been several months with no income at all. Other times the month’s income would not be sufficient to meet bills. And sometimes I would bring in twice my monthly budget in one month. In short, I had to start living by faith—for real!

I had to trust that if I planted the seeds and did the work, God would bless my work with success. Living by faith in real estate can mean trusting God instead of worrying when after working with a client for months (and even years) the property doesn’t sell or the buyer goes off and buys a home with another broker. It also means that most of the time I can expect the seeds I planted will produce the needed harvest.

However, like Habakkuk I have to say that living by faith means,

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior." (Hab. 3:17,18 NIV)

Living by faith involves more than income, of course. When illness, job uncertainty or loss, marriage difficulty, trouble with children, threat of terrorism or a myriad of other problems threaten us, our “fight or flight” mechanism kicks in and it is natural to become anxious. Worry can quickly replace peace of mind.

Many years ago I memorized Phil. 4:6,7 in the King James Version. It starts out “Be careful for nothing…”. That sounded strange for a while, until I realized it meant “don’t be full of care”, or “don’t worry”. The NIV’s “Do not be anxious…” hits home more today, with so many anxiety-producing events in life.

We commonly use another word, stress, to describe what we are experiencing: “I’m under a lot of stress.” When someone says that, you can almost feel the burden that is weighing them down—what it is that they are “under”.

This passage in Philippians gives us the antidote for worry, the stress-buster that works. After having it memorized for years, an exercise of meditating on these verses this week made two words stand out. It is not just prayer and petition; it is not just presenting my requests to God that brings peace of mind. It is when I pray with thanksgiving that the peace of God guards my heart and mind (my emotions and my thoughts).

Try this when you start to worry about something this week. Instead of just asking God for help with your problems, list out loud to God those things in your life for which you are thankful. Once you start, it will be hard to stop. [If you have trouble starting, imagine that your home was one of those flooded out in New Orleans or blown away in Mississippi by Hurricane Katrina.] Now, present your requests to God with confidence that He who has provided for your needs in the past will continue to do so in the future.

About this time in your exercise of faith, your shoulders should be dropping back to their normal position, your muscles should be feeling less tense, and you should be able to breathe more easily. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will be guarding your heart and your mind. Thanks be to God.