This is our reality. It has always been there. So many of us have been gifted a life with less of it. We have learned to avoid it. Avoiding it meant that we would have to avoid the situations that could cause it. At times, it has been thought that anxiety is sin. God gives us discernment, and I must admit that I have used it to avoid stressful situations; it really is the wise thing to do, because, well, we aren’t supposed to go looking for trouble.

The trivia about all of this is this: what do you do when trouble finds you. This year we have found trouble. Birth pains have come upon many of us like a thief in the night. We can’t avoid this virus, and its affects, other than to do what what we are use to doing, and that could mean that we avoid every situation that causes us to feel the anxiety that we are NOT accustomed to.

This virus is our reality right now and with it will come anxiety. You must forgive yourself for the anxiety that you have experienced. Remember: anxiety is normal in this evil world, and since we live here, we will experience it at times.

Anxiety is something that many of us will experience, but you must remember that anxiety is NOT something we should keep.

Phillipians 4:6-7 (NIV) tells us:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, that transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This passage was not written as a commandment as if you are sinning if you experience anxiety. Anxiety is a reality that many of us will face. Anxiety becomes trouble when it reaches to your heart.

Proverbs 12:25 (NIV) says:

An anxious heart weighs a man down,

You might feel anxiety rise up within you at times, but when you do, if you present that anxiety, and everything surrounding that circumstance, to God with thankfulness, you will experience the peace of God that “transcends all understanding”.

I am so thankful for a loving, understanding God. As these birth pains are experienced around the world, God makes it known to us that we are not forgotten and that his mercy and grace is still here. His mercies endure forever.

Go forth and be blessed my friend.