Have you been feeling anxious? Anxious about the school year ending, anxious about your upcoming new roommate situation, anxious about relationships or how things are going to work out? Anxiety levels in high school and college girls are at a record high right now. Panic attacks are some people’s reality, maybe even yours. Anxiety is high in guys and girls, adults and children. I wonder what God’s heart feels like watching us live such anxious lives? Today I want to write to you about anxiety’s healer, peace.
The definition of peace is “freedom from disturbance, a state in which there is no war.” A life of peace is absent of worry but has the presence of trust. It is a life absent of worrying about how things will play out but has the presence of trusting an all knowing God. When I struggle with things like anxiety, stress, or worry I am reminded of the cross. Jesus went to the cross so that we could be free from those things.
We read a devotional at my internship this week that talked about how the cross satisfied God’s anger. Jesus dying on the cross took the place of the sacrifice we would have to pay. The same goes for our emotional toil. The cross satisfied anxiety. The cross, Jesus, paid the ultimate price so that you could be free from the debt of bad mental health.
You know as well as I do that living from that place of freedom is a lot easier said than done. You may feel free tonight but then feel anxiety creep back in tomorrow. If peace is the state of “no war” then the opposite would be the state “of war,” this being spiritual warfare. The anxiety you are experiencing is deeper than the moment, its spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare isn’t a battle you finish in an instant but is an ongoing battle that we already have the victory over.
Our life here on earth will be full of spiritual warfare until the day Jesus calls us home. Spiritual warfare is a sign that you are doing something right for the kingdom, because if you weren’t, the enemy would have no reason to stop you. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces.”
Your struggle with anxiety isn’t physical, it’s spiritual. Your struggle with fear isn’t physical, it’s spiritual. Your struggle with making the decision, living a new way, turning from old habits is not just a physical challenge for you but it’s a challenge for the enemy. If he can’t stop you from living a life worthy of your calling then he will try to fill you with anxiety and worry as you do it. When you feel these things, don’t get in your feels and give up. Be inspired that you are doing something right and the enemy knows it. Would it inspire you to fight with the spiritual weapons God has given us.
The bible equips us with a full passage on how to fight spiritual warfare with heavenly weapons.
We find these in Ephesians 6:14-17 where it says, “stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. These are the unbeatable weapons that we get to fight with. Verse 15 says that fighting with peace is one of those weapons. You can fight with peace as you also learn how to receive it.
The next time you start to experience fear, worry, anxiety, or panic would you turn back to God’s truth and let it fill you with peace. Be uplifted because you are in the right lane and be inspired to fight the good fight God has already won for you. I’m proud of you, because if there wasn’t a power flame inside of you then there wouldn’t be a reason that the enemy wants to hold you back. God has so much waiting for you in a peace filled life
xo Scarlet