Peace—or not?
Do you realize you have infinite eternal worth?
Whether you believe it or not, you do…and anxiety wants to rob you of that reality.
Anxiety disorders affect 18.1% of the population in the US every year? This means that approximately 40 million adults in our nation above the age of 18 have at least one form of an anxiety disorder and 300 million worldwide.
Where does anxiety come from?
Difficult experiences become the common trigger for all these anxiety issues. Going through stress and trauma when we’re very young is likely to have a particularly big impact. Whether those experiences came in childhood, adolescence or in adulthood they are real, and they will not just go away.
Anxiety has two goals in mind—to make known that which needs to be dealt with or “to destroy”. As you have recognized by now, if we do not deal with our stuff, anxiety can rob us of our God-given right to peace. We must see it as a threat, and we have to ask God to help us see what we cannot see.
One of the biggest challenges about the anxious thoughts we have is that there is some truth in them. That’s why they can be so powerful.
If there was absolutely no truth to our thoughts, we wouldn’t be tempted to dwell on them. But half-truths are only half true, so they must be replaced with full truths.
You might find yourself thinking, I will never be good enough. That’s partly true but not entirely. The entire truth is you will never be good enough on your own. But the Bible says that through Christ you are more than enough.
Shortcomings, according to the Bible, are superpowers because they can lead you to experience God’s supernatural power.
Maybe you think, I can’t change. That is partly true, because you can’t change on your own, but Christ can change you and will change you if you surrender and walk with him. God can turn around and transform your life. You can leave your past in the past with his help.
You might struggle with thinking that your value is found in how you look, where you work, or what you earn. Here’s the truth: other people can determine your value by where you work, how much you earn, or how you look, but the opinions of other people don’t matter and won’t last.
Your true worth has already been defined by God. He finds you so valuable that he gave his life for you. That’s how much you are worth. What matters to the world does not matter to God. Are you going to let it matter to you? Will you let what others think define you, or let what Jesus did on the cross define you? That’s a choice you must make. We can rest in that or get on the Anxious Express Train that loves to speed toward panic lane.
This month let’s remember that there is a choice in the road we take, one will always lead to destruction and the other to peace. Let’s choose peace!
