FIGHTING ANXIETY AT WORK

by Pastor Ed Noble

"How come I don't feel the peace I hear Christians talk about? I'm as uptight, high-strung, freaked out, jacked up as I've ever been and I'm not sure this prayer thing is working. This constant pressure at work is causing me to lose heart!"
Although not an exact quote from one person, this is a compilation of personal interactions with so many different individuals that I can't even count them. Raw anxiety is one of the most discouraging and disheartening things that we face in our work. Anxiety frequently seems to flood in upon us and quench all sense of peace.
Then, seeming to compound the problem, God Himself tells us that if we will just pray about it, we will have the "peace that passes understanding." If your experience is at all similar to mine, that is about the time when we quickly toss up a prayer or two and then, not feeling any immediate or lasting relief from our anxiety, our discouragement mounts even more. After all, what's more discouraging than feeling like God can't even get through to us?
We must take a closer look at the promise in question in order to help. The promise in question is Philippians 4:6-7: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
It sounds simple enough, a kind of spiritualized "don't worry." But, as is often the case, a verse grabbed out of midair usually leaves us there. This whole thought starts earlier, in verse 4, where Paul writes, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice." So suffice it to say that we can't just start in verse 6 with praying about it and expecting our anxiety to simply vanish into thin air. We have to start by habitually drinking at His well for joy, with an inclining of our heart toward Him throughout every moment of each day and every moment of life.
Today and in the coming weeks, try this. Continually walk around with the phrase "rejoice in the Lord" both in your mind and on your lips. Write it on a card. Put post-it notes on your mirrors and desk. Remind yourself and affirm with confidence the only true and reliable source for joy... rejoicing in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, all to the glory of the Father!
A WORK PRAYER
Lord Jesus, you describe Yourself as the bread of life. You promise us the living water of abundant life centered on Yourself. I ask You to help me switch gears from anxiety to rejoicing, with a fresh focus on and understanding of You. Thank You. Amen.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Read and ponder Jeremiah 2:12-13 along with John 6:35 and 7:37-39.
2. What dry broken cisterns are you digging that turn you away from your joy at work?