Journey Through The Bible
   Old Testament Reading: Daniel 4-6
   New Testament Reading: Philippians 4

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

We hear about addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling, and pornography, but we seldom talk about the addiction that affects more Americans today than any other. We rarely see the addiction to worry in the same light as those other addictions, but it can be just as devastating to the life of the addict.

Many of us are addicted to worry because we simply don’t view it as being sinful. It’s become acceptable, something we casually excuse without a second thought. After all, it doesn’t have the same obvious harmful effects as those other addictions. It seems more like a normal part of the human condition.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commanded us to not worry. Five times in the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus told his followers not to worry: Don’t worry about your life (v25), Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? (v27), why do you worry about clothes? (v28), So don’t worry (v31), don’t worry about tomorrow (v34).

The worry Jesus condemns is that which causes us to be mentally harassed and emotionally agitated, preoccupied with distressing fears, and burdened about the things that have not and may not happen. The Apostle Paul reveals God’s way of freeing us from the sin of worry. God’s rehab program for worriers is summed up in six therapeutic words:

Worry About Nothing – Pray About Everything!

Some Christians may say, “I Don’t worry at all. I take care of what I can, and if I can’t I give it to Jesus.” They are missing the whole point of what Paul is teaching. You need to pray about everything, big or small. A lady asked Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, the great pastor of past generations, “Do you think we should pray about the little things in our lives?” And Pastor Morgan replied, “Madam, can you mention anything in your life that is big to God?”

There is nothing too big in our lives for God’s power to handle and there is nothing too small in our lives that His love is not concerned about. Every little thing in our lives we need to take to God in prayer with thanksgiving.

Paul doesn’t say our prayers will be answered, but what he does promise us is, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (v7).

Imagine God sitting on his throne in heaven and the peace that he must have. The omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God doesn’t worry about anything. Paul said the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. We can try to imagine the peace that God must have, but it is even more than we can ever imagine. And that is the peace God desires for you to have.