Do not be anxious about anything. – Philippians 4:6
If you were to take flying lessons, you would discover that you cannot rely on air traffic control to make your take-offs and landings. You have to learn the instruments in your cockpit, and what their readings mean. If you encounter a cloud bank that you must fly through, you lean heavily on those instruments. You might first check the one, called attitude, which shows you where you are in relation to the horizon, since getting disoriented happens easily. From there, you need to know your altitude, how far above the ground you are, airspeed, turn coordinators, compass, headlong indicator, and vertical speed indicator. There is much to know, and reliance on fully functioning and honest readings is critical. Pilots tend to become anxious when their instruments fail!
God has given you a full “cockpit” of guides in the Bible that are instructional for living. They are time-tested and true and, when you follow them, you will arrive at your destination, leaving all anxiety “grounded.” The precepts and principles of the Lord never fail.
For some, the move from self-reliance to reliance upon God and His provision may be an anxiety-filled change. He has given you His Word as your instruction manual, pastors, teachers, and spiritually mature friends to help guide you, and the Holy Spirit in your personal “control tower.” Some have said they have Jesus as a co-pilot: Better to let Him be your pilot and you occupy the second seat! Give your anxieties to Him today. Intercede for judges and justices to rely on truths found in God’s Word in addition to their legal volumes, for the sake of righteousness.
Today’s Verse: Philippians 4:6
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Matthew 6:25-33
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
