Heart Trouble
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” John 14:1
It seems like everyone I meet is stressed out, overwhelmed, and out of margin. You might even be starting today with a mild form of anxiety because your life has been a little too much. And while it's tempting to feed this anxiety by stepping on the gas and charging after your day, this is not the best choice. Notice the strength of the words, "Let not." Now there is nothing wrong with a little hard work, but the man who believes that hard work is the only solution misses the point in Jesus' command above. And Jesus asserts that our anxiety problems are at the core a belief problem.
"Belief in God" is a command for you to trust him in the anxiety. Jesus indicates that while you'll experience occasional anxiety, you must learn to move from trust in yourself to trust in him. And while you may not realize it, trusting in yourself is what produces human anxiety in the first place. As you move toward "believing in God," human anxiety will fade. This is because human anxiety becomes a holy fear when you "believe in God."
DO THIS: Don't stop believing.
PRAYER: God, today I'm choosing to trust you when anxiety strikes. I pray that you will not take my troubles from me, but use troubles to drive me to you. Turn my heart away from my trouble toward belief in you.