What do you worry about? The usual lists of problems like job, health, and your kids. Then there is this sin. Nothing you want to talk about. Usually hidden in your subconscious. But you worry a lot about it. It is like running the red light. We know it’s against the law, but we’re always in a hurry, but we take the risk and get lucky that we don’t crash into someone. This sin hurts our relationship with God. Not that God will condemn us into oblivion, but that it makes us feel unworthy, when all God wants us to feel is how very special we are to Him. So what can we do with this back hole in our soul, this compulsive habit that prevents us from enjoying the beauty that God sees.
It’s a prescription offered by St. Paul who had his troubles and worries and tells us: "Have no anxiety at all." To some people this might seem like Pollyanna or playing down our sinful nature. But St. Paul is no naive optimist. He had his share of troubles and failings. A partial list includes public whippings, shipwrecks, snakebites, imprisonment, illness and putting Christians to death. Yes, even the worse sin that you can imagine. We might carry that same sin inside when we took the life of the unborn, or slandered a someone, or abused a spouse or child. These sins drive us crazy because in an impulsive moment we no longer reflected the love that God placed inside our hearts.
But stay with me here. Listen to what St. Paul wrote while he was in prison: "Have no anxiety at all." How did St. Paul overcome anxiety? He tells us: "in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God." His prescription against anxiety. First, pray - put our troubles and our sins in God's hand - make your requests known to him. Doesn't God already know what we need? He does, but He wants us to entrust our lives and our problems to Him. There is a person who has a prayer corner in there home. It has a cross, a candle and small basket. The person writes their concerns on small slips of paper and places them in the basket, handing them over to God. When this sinner practices this prayer, they experience wonderful peace. The first part of overcoming anxiety our sins is prayer, trust in God.
The second part of the prescription is thanksgiving. God does not make mistakes. When a human being is alive, it is because God wants him or her to be alive. We are here because of God's will and, even the bad things, even the sins. God only allows them because of some greater purpose. Perhaps so that we can humbly get down on our kneels and experience this blessed moment of peace. So in every circumstance, we need to give thanks. A grateful heart is a peaceful heart.
The image that I have attached is a moment while walking a trail in the Adirondacks in which a friend told me to look up into the trees. He noticed the beauty of the leaves changing and this stunning shot reflects the beauty that occurs during Autumn.
So I say to you look up to heaven this morning and pray to God and unburden all your worries and sins. Let God come into your soul to refresh your drooping spirit and experience the wonderful bliss that comes when we trust in His words. "Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God." (Philippians 4:6).
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends whose troubles have made them sick with worry and fear. Our world is full of greed, selfishness, betrayal and violence and we experience many disappointments yet help us to realize that – trust and gratitude is the secret to have no anxiety at all.
