In Need of Peace
I rarely have difficulty falling asleep at night. In fact, my husband says I often fall asleep even before my head hits the pillow. The trouble for me is staying asleep. I wake up in the wee hours of the night and my mind begins to race with reruns from the previous day along with possible scenarios for tomorrow. Unfortunately, as I fight to quiet my mind so I can fall back asleep, my thoughts can easily become anxious and afraid. I fret over the smallest of details and the worst-case-scenarios. I agonize over the circumstances in my life that are unfair and cause me great sorrow. As I struggle to sleep, I often remind God of His promise to give sleep to those He loves (Psalm 127:2).
The other night, I had plenty on my mind to keep me awake for the rest of the entire year! I’m sure I’m not unique in this. We all have details in our lives that can easily cause us to panic; a scary diagnosis, the loss of a loved one, relationships that have been damaged, demands at work, or fears for those we hold dear. And after I reminded God that He loves me and should, therefore, give me a good night’s rest, He reminded me of a verse that I desperately needed to put into practice.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).
Don’t be anxious about anything? Even the overwhelming and painful things that seem out-of-control? Yes! I believe that no circumstance, no sadness, no ill-treatment, no crash in retirement plans or threat from COVID-19, not even our worst-case-scenarios, are exceptions.
But how? We need to replace our worries with prayer. And not just requests and cries for help or filling Him in on our ideas of what should be done. We get so caught up in what we consider to be the best end result, that we forget to surrender our desires to His. Your will be done in my life, Lord, not mine. You are trustworthy and faithful. You are always good and in control.
Worry weighs down the soul. It crushes hope and expectations for a better tomorrow. We must take the worries that keep us up at night and shape them into prayers. Even though I am afraid, I will trust You! I believe You are more than able to work in these circumstances for good (Psalm 56:3. Romans 8:28).
Furthermore, our prayers should be bolstered with thanksgiving. We can be thankful that He is with us and has great compassion for us (Isaiah 30:18). We can thank Him in advance for what He will do, and then we should be on the look-out for evidence of His grace in our lives and be grateful. The Passion Translation puts it this way, “Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude (Philippians 4:6).
The beautiful result when we transform our anxieties into prayers is that God’s peace guards our hearts and minds. Our prayers can transform our panic into praise as we trust Him. Do you believe He cares for you? Then cast all of your cares upon Him! Trust that He is working all things together for our good and His glory. Believe He will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (1 Peter 5: 7,10-11; Romans 8:28).
Lord, I am thankful that Your peace makes it possible to celebrate in every season, and even during sleepless nights. Therefore, at the first hint of panic setting in, I will shape my anxieties into prayers with a heart that overflows with gratitude.
