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I love it when the Bible writes my blog posts for me. I read this earlier this week and knew I had to share:
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. ~Philippians 4:6-7 MSG
Don’t you just love, love, love that last part? When Christ displaces worry at the center of your life…
I’m actually not too much of a worry-wart. But I’ll admit it hits now and then. You?
And sometimes…sometimes it’s not worry shoving toward center stage in my life. Sometimes it’s goals…stress…an overly-crowded calendar…work…other people…and most prickly of all, ME.
Really, any of those things fit right into that verse:
And what’s that wonderful thing that happens? Just look one sentence earlier:
Wholeness.
A sense of everything coming together for good.
Peace.
What word would you use to fill in the blank? Worry or something else? Do you find that prayer helps displace worry or _________ so that Christ is center of your life?
Comments 24
Ah yes. Like you, I wouldn’t say I’m a big worrier but I certainly do have my moments! And this is one of my favourite scriptures for when I do find myself rushing down that track.
I would use the word ‘worry’ in there or else ‘self’….so many of our issues go back to focussing too much on ourselves, don’t they? Even worry is usually to do with ‘us’.
Great post 🙂
“So many of our issues go back to focusing to much on ourselves.” Amen to that!! So very true. Thanks for stopping by, Susannah!
Anxiety! Sometimes I get worked up! Lovely post today, Tagg!
Anxiety was like my constant companion late last year. I hated it. 🙂 Which is why I love verses like this…it’s a choice to walk away from it!
Two of my sisters are stressing each other worrying about my mom’s health. I’m concerned, but I’m fighting worry and anxiety. It’s an old friend I’d rather not get reaquainted with.
~ Wendy
I’m sorry about your sisters’ worries and your own concerns–and praying for your mom’s health. Yes, anxiety is like this slippery slope…once we start down the hill, it’s hard to work our way back up. So thankful God can pull us up!
“Me”.
I’d put me in the blank.
Nuff said.
Yep. And…yep. 🙂
I love that passage. What a great reminder! When I don’t have my daily God-time, I get discombobulated and anxious.
Discombobulated. Now that’s a good word. 🙂 And so applicable for days without time with God!
I’d fill the blank with anxiety–not often, but even every once in a while is too much. I love those scripture verses. my antidote for worry or anxiety? Start with the letter A and find something to praise God for, then move to B…
Anxiety–that seems to be a common theme for many of us. Your cure, gratefulness, is awesome!
Thanks for sharing these thoughts today, Melissa, they really encourage me.
How about:
It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces “I can handle this myself” tendencies at the center of my life.
You’re welcome, Beth. They encouraged me, too. Exactly what I needed to read this week as I thought, “How in the world am I supposed to do all this?” And yeah, I can tend toward that “I can do it myself” thing, too. Glad there’s help for both of us. 🙂
Great post, Melissa! Love the verse that follows these, too. After we surrender our worries to Christ, and experience His peace – check out what happens: our minds are able to think on the right things – things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, etc. Isn’t God good?! Have a blessed weekend! 🙂
Oh yes! Those verses rock, too. I looove Philippians!
Busyness. Worry. You name it, I’ve got it in my life…unfortunately.
Something has been really bugging me lately…emotions that I had yet to really deal with. I’ve just been too busy. So instead, I worried and worried about it…without bringing it to God, really. This morning, I decided to wake up and have my quiet time first thing. Amazing how much better I feel just by telling God about my worries and fears.
Love you!! Hope you have a fabuloso weekend. Yay, it’s Friday!!
Sorry about the busyness and the pesky emotions, Linds. Those patches of emotional ugh are annoying. I love that you had some good quiet time this morning and were able to give the worries over to God. Praying for you! Love you! Text or email or even call anytime. (Or tweet…or FB…carrier pigeon… 🙂 )
I love wholeness, but it’s something I feel much less than I should. I love when prayer replaces fear, when I am able to offer up my concern for the future into His more than capable hands and rest assured that no matter what happens, I can trust His sovereignty.
I have a feeling the search for wholeness is a common human condition. 🙂 It’s like, no matter how much I know my identity, my self-worth, my very being–in other words, wholeness–is found in Christ, I still find myself looking to other things to take that center stage spot in my life. Which is just silly. I love what you said about God’s more than capable hands–so true. We can trust him!
Love the absolute simplicity and truth in this post! A few years back our pastor preached on having God as our core and that so stuck with me. If He’s in the center, then everything else seems to fall in place and you do feel whole – love the version of this verse you shared!
Oh, I’ve been in and out this week with the family, and I just came across your ACFW blog post from Wednesday – LOVED IT! (I’m doing a lot of ‘loving’ this morning, huh?)
Have a great weekend, Melissa!
Hey, thanks for checking out the ACFW post! That was my first foray into the ACFW blog and it was fun. Plus, as soon as I got stuck in that dress, I knew I’d have to blog about it somehow somewhere… 🙂
Hope you have a great weekend, too!
Hi Melissa,
Yes, the verse is so powerful in its simplicity. Thanks for the reminder.
I tend to let myself get burdened by my responsibility – I try to do too much so I suppose the word I’d put in there is busyness. I sacrifice things I shouldn’t to “git er done” – like sleep, quality time with my family, sleep….
I’m reading a book about sleep deprivation that leads to time travel – yikes. Not sure I could handle that with my plate so full right now.
Blessings,
Becky
Hey Becky–yeah, aren’t some of the most profound truths so incredibly simply? Don’t know why I make things complicated sometimes.
Hey! Is the book you’re talking about Dreamspell? I read that! Totally different than anything I’d read in a long time, but I was absolutely sucked in. 🙂