Transformation: From Anxiety to Consolation
Ps 94:19
19 When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul.
NIV
Oh, the irony of life! The Lord made me a type “A” personality- the classic overachiever. Then He paired me with a high-strung personality. And a high-pressured job. Finally, He gives the command, “ Do not be anxious about anything…” (Phil 4:6)
Obviously, this makes me a candidate for needing a heaping helping of grace to meet this challenge! I want to walk in peace all the time, but when the pressure cooker of my life starts heating up, I begin to wrestle in prayer to find the homeostasis of peace that God provides for me.
Anxiety is a painful emotional state. Heart palpitations, stomach tied in knots, head about to explode, shortness of breath… it is a torment of the mind and body. In today’s verse, the Psalmist declares that “anxiety was great within me.” I have a feeling that he understood the malady of anxious feelings. He was well-versed in the pain of anxiety, and apparently in the antidote for it. God’s consolation is available to us when we struggle in life. He has the power to make it better. He has the power to bring joy to a life-tattered soul. He is more than able to lighten our load. His consolation can make us feel as light as a butterfly! Transformed from the ugliness of fear to the beauty of joy and hope!
Our lives seem to be geared anymore to excess. Excess in leisure, excess in busy-ness; excess in spending; excess in eating… We have lost the art of simplicity and balance- conditions that lend themselves to hearing God and staying in His rest.
How do we find simplicity and rest for our souls when life is seemingly bombarding us with stressors? I often feel like a gerbil on a wheel. I keep running, but I cannot get off. Every battle seems to end with another one beginning. One problem solved amounts to another problem revealed. Frankly, I get tired just thinking about it!
I have begun to ask myself the tough questions. How am I contributing to the state I am in? What choices am I making that keeps me frazzled, hurried and out of peace? It is unrealistic to set our lives up to be stress-filled and hectic only to pray for God to bring His peace to it. We can certainly call upon Him. But we must also operate in the wisdom and common sense He gives us to avoid placing ourselves in harm’s way, whether it be physically or emotionally.
We all go through seasons of pressure. God uses the pressures of life to form us, just like a potter does a clay vessel upon a wheel. Some of the pressure comes from within, through our own dysfunctions, fears or desires. Some of it comes from without- through life situations or perhaps even the hand of God. When pressure comes from both directions, we can know of a certainty that God is forming His will in us. We just have to commit ourselves into the hands of the Master Potter who is all-wise and skillful. As we do so, we will find that our life’s struggle are actually pain with gain. They are redemptive in purpose and work for us a greater good than we can see. They are transforming us into His image.
Are you feeling anxious and overwhelmed in spirit? Call out to God. Seek His face. Earnestly cry out to Him to rescue you! Ask for His direction to know if action steps are needed on your part. Then begin to trust in the consolation that will surely come. He will not leave us without help or remedy. His faithfulness will not allow it!
Dear God, I am in a fix! Work stressors, family pressure and life in general have bombarded me with more than I can do or handle. I need you to come to my aid, Father. Move the mountains! Speak peace to my storm! Give me wisdom and grace to walk in obedience. You are my redeemer, my hero. My soul waits for you, and rejoices in You, O Lord. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Bless you dear.
Thank you, Denise.
A written note left for me by my mom: “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” Ps. 145:8 I need this reminder daily. Thank you so much for sharing feelings that I can so easily identify with.
Thank you, Libby. It is encouraging to know that I am not alone!