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“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” This seems like a completely UNREALISTIC verse – especially in light of where we find ourselves today.

Do not be anxious about anything? What about those laid off from their jobs? What about small business owners whose business may not survive? What about an elderly parent or friend who has now been alone for 6 weeks? What about a loved one in ICU with COVID 19? What about struggles with mental health because of loneliness or isolation?

Thankfully, the author of this verse was no idealist who had no real world experience. In fact, he admits to struggling with anxiety himself. 2 Corinthians 11:29 – “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

So “do not be anxious about anything” comes from someone who had experience with anxiety and had many reasons to go down the anxiety path. Nor does he instruct us to just pretend or ignore our anxiety. He lays out for us the possibility of addressing our anxiety in any and every situation. In fact, he emphasizes this twice. “Do not be anxious about ANYTHING, but in EVERYTHING . . “

Ok, so what do we do when struck by anxiety? “In everything by PRAYER and SUPPLICATION (asking) with THANKSGIVING. So we take the situation and our anxiety to God. We start talking to Him in prayer. We ask for His help in the situation. We ask with thanksgiving. We remember His help from times past. We thank Him for His presence now. We recognize Jesus’ willingness to identify with human life by becoming one of us. We recall His great suffering so that we might have life.
Such a process reminds us we’re not alone in this situation. God has not forgotten us. God is faithful. God has looked after our eternity. So if He has looked after that, then we can trust Him to look after today.

Then the last phrase completes our initial response but it also raises another question. “Let your requests be made known to God.” So that means we actually tell God about our situation and our needs. Except – He already knows what we need (Matthew 6:8). So what is going on? I think we see here God’s respect for our choices and a test of our desires. Do we really want Him to get involved in our lives? Are we ready to admit our need for His help? Or do we just want Him to make everything normal again so we can get on with doing life without Him?

Yet if we sincerely desire His help, He is ready to provide us with an unbelievable gift, which we will talk about tomorrow. But for today, notice that this verse instructs us to take on our anxiety. We must not let it rule over us. Instead, bring any and every situation to God with thanksgiving for His presence and help. See if just that starts to help with whatever may trouble you today.

“Lord God, honestly, this verse seems unrealistic at first. We have plenty of reasons for anxiety. We face threats, opposition and physical or spiritual danger. Yet Paul experienced all this and still wrote about this reality. You helped him through everything he faced. Help us to trust you more to help us through today and beyond.”

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