Monday
Proverbs 12.25 “An anxious heart wears you down, but a kind word uplifts the heart.”
We’re all familiar with that background uncertainty about how life is, that easily slips into worry, often about things we can’t do anything about. Faith, confidence, belief and trust, – these are the words we use to describe the ideal Christian disposition as we make our way through the days and years of our lives. But we are human, and all of us vulnerable to the triggers of anxiety. The wisdom of our verse is that it both recognises the downward drag of worry, and encourages us to look out for each other and be the upward pull that makes a difference to someone else’s day.
Tuesday
Philippians 4.6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
We can’t usually talk ourselves out of worrying, but Paul tells us to pray our way out of it, or through it, or even while still engulfed in anxiety. Prayer is to put into words what’s troubling us, and saying it to God. Paul’s advice is brilliant psychology – bring whatever is making us anxious before the God of grace and mercy and peace, name it, be thankful for the truth that God is all of this and more to us, and seek God’s strength to trust the peace that always, but always, stands guard over our heart.
Wednesday
2 Corinthians 11.28 “Apart from everything else, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.”
This is the same Paul who wrote have no anxiety about anything! For him, and for each of us, the life of faith is never straightforward. Nor can our response to hurts, difficulties, and challenges always be unbroken trust or consistent confidence in God. Faith is a struggle, for Paul and for us. Life is a source of all kinds of anxieties and sometimes they come at us like the groceries going through an Aldi checkout – too fast for us to keep up! But God said, to Paul and us: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12.9)
Thursday
Matthew 6.25 “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?”
Food and clothes, two of the big things the human family still worries about. We have created the phrase ‘food security’. In a globalised world with an ever increasing population, and a dangerously compromised climate system, more than ever we are anxious about the future. We are back to that line in the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Give us, not just me. Until we learn how to share better; until our tables are places of welcome; until bread is broken and shared in an economy geared more to justice and human welfare. Until then, we pray this prayer for all those in our world anxious about where their children’s next meal will come from.
Friday
Matthew 6.25 “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?”
Having prayed that others might have daily bread, those words of Jesus still rebuke our obsession with stuff. Life is indeed more than bread and clothes. There is a place in the competitive economies of our age for quiet and determined Christian witness, a protest against the machinery of more and bigger. The doctrine of the providence of the Creator is a foundation principle of Christian trust and dependence. God feeds the birds; humans matter even more; how much more will God feed and clothe his children, and call them to live in shalom, under the security of One we call Father?
Saturday
1 Peter 5.7 “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because he cares for you.”
Is Peter remembering Jesus’ words? “Come to me all who are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I think so. Worry is an inner burden, an ache of the heart, a weight on the mind. Throw it on to shoulders that were strong enough to bear the weight of the world’s sin, and its fears, and wounds and broken hopes. God is neither unaware, nor unconcerned about what’s happening to us. God’s care is personal, specific, faithful, the present practical expression of love that is eternal.
Sunday Prayers
Father, give to us, and to all your people, in times of anxiety, serenity; in times of hardship, courage; in times of uncertainty, patience; and at all times, a quiet trust in your wisdom and love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold fast that which is good’ render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the faint-hearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honour all people; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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