Are you anxious?

Life can be hard and it’s easy when things are going tough to get anxious. Yes, even Christ followers get anxious. It’s easy to tell someone who is going through a tough time to just pray about it and it’ll be okay, but I think it’s a bit more complicated than that! The troubles of this life are real and so are the inner struggles that go with it. That is where the battle begins! When trouble comes, the enemy attacks because in our weakened and distracted state our thoughts can be easily persuaded towards unhealthy and negative thoughts. If we are not on guard in our thoughts we can go down a dark rabbit hole of sinful thoughts that when fully manifested could lead to sin. Philippians 4:6-8 tells us not to be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
So when troubles come, first we pray. Listen to the next part though. It says: Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure , lovely, and admirable – if anything is praiseworthy, think about such things.
We do have a part in this. We have to decide what we think about. Do we focus on the troubles and allow ourselves to sink into a bad mindset or do we intentionally think about what is good? And how do we think about what is good when the bad is on our minds? That’s tough! First I would say to be constantly in God’s word and pray, pray, pray. But I would also find someone you trust and talk to them and get them praying! It’s powerful pulling in another believer or two! We are all in this together and the enemy wants nothing more than to make us unaffective in our witness. If we help each other through these times then imagine how others that are suffering in similar ways would want to be a part of our Heavenly family!! Thank you Lord for helping us through this life and for the promise of a better one to come!!
Love y’all.