Be Anxious for Nothing

(Written Dec 2006)

Thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayers and for answering so very quickly!

I began my quiet time this morning with an earnest plea to the Lord. There is a battle waging inside me. It’s the typical battle of my soul yearning for intimacy with the Lord, but my perfectionist personality arguing back that if I can’t do it to the fullest, why even try! I feel that I need hours and hours to focus on the Lord in a lengthy quiet time and Bible study. But, with three kids who may or may not sleep at night, I’m just too exhausted to get up hours before they do, and there is just so much to occupy my day. I don’t have hours to sit and read and study and lock myself in a prayer closet. I asked the Lord to help me learn to maximize my concentrated time by being mentally focused while I’m physically tied to other tasks.
My habit of late is to open my devotional book see what Scripture is associated with the devotion of the day, and determine the context of that Scripture passage before reading the devotional. This morning was no different. The verse was a very familiar one. It was Phil 4:4, which reads, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” I love the passage – I’ve read it over and over and have committed it to memory. I didn’t expect any surprises there as I reviewed this familiar section of God’s Word. Oh, how can I forget that His Word is ALIVE?! How can I even begin to think that He can’t speak through the familiar, no matter how many times I’ve read it!
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil 4:6) Anything and everything are pretty inclusive words. What a shock to me when God reminded me that NOTHING is excluded, not even my relationship with Him! I should not be anxious about my relationship with Him! Does that mean I should just let it slide? No, of course not! But, I spend so much time fretting that I’m not spending enough time with Him. All of my life I have worried that I’m not doing my quiet time the “right way.” I exert a great deal of effort trying to organize my prayer life. In short, I am being anxious about something, and what a something that is!
So, what is my action? I must submit this to prayer, with thanksgiving, and bring my request for a closer relationship with God to God! How incredible! How did I miss that everything includes this?!
Thank You, Lord, that You don’t leave us to do anything on our own! Thank You for allowing me to bring even this inadequacy to You. Thank You for erasing the stress that I have felt for so many years – the stress of wondering if my quiet time is adequate and if I’m doing it right. My only wrong is to worry about how I’m doing it! If I’m in Your Word and submitting to You in prayer, You’ll take care of the rest! Wow! Thank You, Lord! Thank You, Lord!