When I poked the 3rd Christmas chocolate into my mouth and was thinking about what else I could eat, it dawned on me. I was incredibly anxious about the goals I set for myself. I was pushing to redeem my time as the end of the year drew to a close. Now my goals are based on a vision I believe that God gave me, but as I began to write down my goals thoughts started to come into my mind. How in the world could I do this? What am I really doing? What was I thinking, that I could start my own business? Notice the subjective pronoun in each of those questions. You got it. “I” I did mention that I believe that God gave me a vision, yet, once again, I was running my race without Him! Oh, what would we do without His grace… His gift of the Holy Spirit began to calm me down with His comforting words.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6
As I prayed, bathed the kids, and washed the dishes, My God continued to comfort me….
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
This reminded me of the dangers of going ‘solo’ even when you believe you are following the path God has predestined.
Are you feeling anxious about your goals and next steps for your life? Is the anxiousness causing you to be inefficient and ineffective in what you had set out to do? Are you finding yourself almost frozen with fear of the unknown. You are not alone! Every human being experiences this, hence why it is in the scripture to not be anxious! The key then is coming up with a plan to deal with the anxiousness quickly. Today I learnt to do 3 things to remove the anxiousness from my mind….. Reconnect. Repent. Reorganise.
Reconnect
Stop the activity that you were doing immediately when you feel anxious and pray. Ask God to help you, admit that you are anxious. Pour out your fears and thoughts to God. Then be quiet and listen. Look for a response from God through scripture and/or worship songs and receive the comfort of His word. You will be amazed at how quickly scriptures bubble up into your mind. Give God thanks for giving you purpose and meaning for your life.
Repent
Repent…. You may ask…yes… repent. Anxiousness is a result of us going “solo”. As Christians, we are not to go solo without God at any time. So, we must repent for our misstep. Like the Israelites when they left Egypt they were going to a place (part of their vision) where they have not been before. They had been in Egypt for 430 years! It is recorded in scripture that they saw many signs and wonders, yet still became anxious… more like terrified…. many times. Exodus 14:10 contains the beginning of their anxiousness. Notice God’s response in vs. 15.
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.
Reorganise
Review your goals and objectives. Is time with God first on your to do list? Is He ahead of you, behind you or beside you? Like the Israelites in Exodus we are going into new territory in our lives. Entrepreneurship, new career, going back to school, reconciliation of broken relationships, you name it! The scripture is clear that God needs to be ahead of us to guide the way. We do not know the way to go!
22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Ensure that you have planned your quiet time with God. Not with your agenda in mind. But with the purpose to hear His agenda for you!