September 7th, 2023
by Pastor Matt Cottrill
by Pastor Matt Cottrill
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34 KJV
If you’re shy, you can become anxious when you are in a crowd. If you play sports, you may be anxious about the next opponent. There are expectations to meet, the fear of doing something wrong, and people you want to impress. And life isn’t slowing down, is it? There seems to be no end of things that place you in the hands of anxiety, and the stress can be overwhelming. Anxiety is real and it demands to be your first response.
Anxiety can be so normal to you that depression begins making inquiries into your life story, with a plan to rewrite the ending. You can get caught up in a life of “possible” outcomes. The problem is that all the outcomes you think about are worst case scenarios. Why do you think this is true? If this is how you think, then it's easy to understand why you'd feel depressed.
God wants you to pay attention to what he's doing, and his reason is pretty simple. He's doing good things in the lives of people. He's done good things for you, in you, through you. Stop thinking about how bad things could be, and remember how good God has always been. Remember the specific moments when God did the incredible in your life and then the lives of people you know.
There's no good reason to be anxious, but that doesn't mean that you'll never feel anxious. This condition could be due to a chemical imbalance, and if that's the case, it needs to be addressed by your doctor. But feelings of anxiety could also be caused by a failure to pay attention to God. You can't get rid of anxiety just by wishing you weren't anxious or even telling yourself it's dumb to feel that way. You might wind up condemning yourself and, in the end, feel worse than before.
God never asked you to be anxious, but he does offer to take the burden you carry and deal with it- even when you think he can't.
Thursday Thoughts............
If you’re shy, you can become anxious when you are in a crowd. If you play sports, you may be anxious about the next opponent. There are expectations to meet, the fear of doing something wrong, and people you want to impress. And life isn’t slowing down, is it? There seems to be no end of things that place you in the hands of anxiety, and the stress can be overwhelming. Anxiety is real and it demands to be your first response.
Anxiety can be so normal to you that depression begins making inquiries into your life story, with a plan to rewrite the ending. You can get caught up in a life of “possible” outcomes. The problem is that all the outcomes you think about are worst case scenarios. Why do you think this is true? If this is how you think, then it's easy to understand why you'd feel depressed.
God wants you to pay attention to what he's doing, and his reason is pretty simple. He's doing good things in the lives of people. He's done good things for you, in you, through you. Stop thinking about how bad things could be, and remember how good God has always been. Remember the specific moments when God did the incredible in your life and then the lives of people you know.
There's no good reason to be anxious, but that doesn't mean that you'll never feel anxious. This condition could be due to a chemical imbalance, and if that's the case, it needs to be addressed by your doctor. But feelings of anxiety could also be caused by a failure to pay attention to God. You can't get rid of anxiety just by wishing you weren't anxious or even telling yourself it's dumb to feel that way. You might wind up condemning yourself and, in the end, feel worse than before.
God never asked you to be anxious, but he does offer to take the burden you carry and deal with it- even when you think he can't.
Thursday Thoughts............
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