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Written by Dawn Ivey for “Drawing closer to Christ” @  https://drawingclosertochrist.com

Original post @  https://drawingclosertochrist.com/2024/04/29/no-need-to-worry-2/

No Need to Worry

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

These are verses that are familiar to many of us. And they’ve been on my mind quite a bit over the last week. As we all know, life can be tough and gives us many reasons to worry. However, God is giving us another option. He invites us to choose to be thankful and present our worries to Him in exchange for His peace.

Photo by: Oleksandr P of the Ukraine 

I am convinced that choosing not to worry takes some intentional effort. Even though we may not want to worry, worry often consumes us and we find ourselves struggling to trust God. Trusting God can be especially hard when we do not see immediate answers to our prayers. But nevertheless, we have a choice. Even when we do not see the immediate answers we hoped to see, we can still open our hearts to receive God’s peace.

Since choosing not to worry takes effort, then prayer is an essential first step. No matter where we are or what we are doing we can whisper a prayer to God. We can repent for not giving God our worries in the specific situation (repentance refreshes us, Acts 3:19-21) and then we can ask Him for His help not to worry. It is such a blessing that He is always willing to help us do the things He instructs us to do. We can also pray for discernment and wisdom in our situation and God will show us what He wants us to know or do. And through all of this, we get to receive His peace as He guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Photo by: M Venter of South Africa

Through these verses in Philippians, God is inviting us to relinquish control of people and situations and trust Him. Trust His goodness, trust His justice, trust His mercy, trust His provision, trust His faithfulness, and trust His love.

God is a good Father, who wants the best for us. His desire is for us to walk in His perfect peace. I pray that we will quickly pray and learn to receive His peace, no matter what we are facing.

Isaiah 26:3-4, ”You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”

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P.S. (from bruce)  When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…

Picture credit: https://www.google.com/search?q=image+phil+4%3A6-7&rlz=1C1UEAD_enUS1112&oq=image+phil+4%3A6-7&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDc5ODlqMGo3qAIIsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#vhid=FA7RRgfDY86gRM&vssid=l