I need to talk to you about this, God...

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (Philippians 4:6-7)

What makes you anxious? There is something - even if you are the most well-balanced, totally 'put together' individual. It might not be consistent, but there is some stress in your life on occasion that makes you a bit on edge. There are others of us that are anxious all the time - there is not a moment that you don't feel 'on edge' and about to be crushed by the stress you feel. Anxiety is a feeling that impacts our functioning - at least at some point in our lives. God wants to address that anxiety - through is Word, by his presence, and with his overwhelming peace that cannot be moved by anything.

There will always be 'forces' attacking us. When it is only one thing that causes us stress, we can usually handle it. When the attacks come to us on many fronts, we can become overwhelmed by the multitude of 'forces' moving against us. Stress mounts, building to levels that make it hard to even 'think through' the issues at hand. Been there, done that, bought the shirt, wore it out! Anxiety isn't a sin - it comes to all of us. It is a signal something is about to occur that must be addressed. What we do with it when it comes is the important thing we must address. 

We are in need of time with God - taking the things that are about to overwhelm us to him. If we fail to take this much needed time, what happens? The anxiety builds and builds, until we are about to 'go under' because of the intensity of feelings associated with it. God wants to hear about the things that give us 'cause to pause'. Pause for what? To talk with God about the things that are bugging you! We may feel it is not important to pray about the things that cause us stress - that we somehow have to figure it out ourselves. The truth is that God wants to hear all about it.

God doesn't want us to meditate on the negative - the things that give us anxiety - but to talk with him about them. Why? These thoughts are not good for us - he wants us to move into the power of a sound mind. Prayer (talking with God) breaks the hold these thoughts have on us. No prayer - no peace. That may seem a bit harsh, but things unspoken, dwelt upon over and over again, will eventually overwhelm us. To admit we don't know what to do, that we don't feel we have what it takes, isn't a sign of weakness - it is a sign of strength. We admit we need our mind renewed. A change of thought pattern is often the beginning of the deliverance we desire, but we won't change that pattern alone. We need God and his peace. Just sayin!