gracEmail
Edward Fudge

HANDLING ANXIETY (1)
"Life seems overwhelming," a gracEmail subscriber says. "I don't know how I can handle another day."
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I am very sorry for your troubles and I pray for God's constant presence with you, for his protection around you and for his power within you. You rightly note that we live just one day at a time. For encouragement in living each new day as it comes, let us look to Jesus our Savior -- "a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs" (Isaiah 53:3). He sympathizes with our weaknesses and he invites us to come to him for grace to help in our times of need (Heb. 4:14-16). Jesus' own example provides us valuable insight into handling anxiety.

1.  REMEMBER GOD'S WORD (Matt. 3:16 -- 4:11). No sooner had God confirmed Jesus' identity and mission at his baptism than Satan called it into question in the wilderness temptations. Each time, Jesus responded by saying, "It is written," then quoting from Deuteronomy -- the ancient record of God's "son" Israel, who also went through the water into the desert to be tested regarding trust in God. Fill your heart continually with God's Word -- the Holy Spirit will use it to encourage and strengthen you in times of trial.

2.  DO GOD'S WORK (Matt. 8-9). As Jesus entered on his ministry of teaching, healing, and exorcism, the needs were overwhelming. He faced the situation without despair by doing what God had sent him to do -- day by day, one person at a time. When the task seems too enormous to bear, remember that we breathe one breath at a time. Simply do whatever you know God has given you to do for that moment and that day. God will give strength, wisdom and guidance for each new occasion.


gracEmail
Edward Fudge

HANDLING ANXIETY (2)

"Life seems overwhelming," a gracEmail subscriber says. "I don't know how I can handle another day."
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3.  REST IN GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY (Matt. 11:20-30). Some cities which saw most of Jesus' miracles still did not believe in him. Jesus' response was a joy-filled heart and a prayer to God -- who is always in charge and whose work will never be defeated. When your agenda crashes and your hopes and plans fail, rest in the knowledge that God has an eternal purpose, and that no one will ever thwart his master plan for the salvation of all those who rely on him.

4.  SEEK GOD'S PRESENCE (Matt. 14:12-13).  When word came that John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, forerunner and friend, had been beheaded, Jesus went out in a boat to a lonely place by himself, apart from all human company. From these times of intimate communion with the Father, Jesus drew strength and direction for his messianic task. The same guidance and power is ours also, if we will seek and receive it, for the work God has entrusted to us.

5.  TRUST GOD'S FAITHFULNESS (Matt. 26:36-44; 27:46). In the Garden of Gethsemane and again on the cross, Jesus entrusted himself to the Father's keeping -- confident even in his godforsakenness that death would not have the final word. Sometimes, life reveals no answers, no solutions, no escapes. But God is always faithful, and we can always entrust ourselves to his care with full confidence and without any equivocation or reserve. The last chapter has not yet taken place. When it does, we will see that God is faithful and that our trust in him was never in vain.

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