The Antidote to Worry, the Source of Peace

I struggle with worry.

If you have read my scribblings around here for long enough, you know that.  God's constantly trying to teach me how to trust, despite my circumstances.

I had another lesson in trust yesterday, partially due to my mother.  My mother, who has been blessed by this woman, dear Ann, and who in turn has been able to bless others.  My mother, who said once,

Thankfulness is the antidote to worry--

the source of peace.

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Yesterday I was reading Ann's words in her amazing book, One Thousand Gifts.  
I realized, once again, how my fear of the future can be conquered.  How my worry about the unknown can be vanquished.

Thankfulness.

How does this work?  Well, like everything, it starts with God.

God, who loves us so much that He has given us everything-- from the food in our refrigerators to the incredible forgiveness won for us by His Son on the cross.

God blesses us.  He promises in His Word that He will always bless us.  He will always make sure we have everything we need (see Matthew 6).

We look around us, and see those blessings, and count them.  (I sporadically keep a gratitude journal... working on making this a daily habit, and I highly recommend it.)  When we recognize those blessings, and thank God for them, we are reminded of His faithfulness.

We are reminded that He ALWAYS keeps His promises.

That means He will continue to bless us.  When we look toward the future, we can know, with absolute certainty, that God will provide for us there as He has in the past.

Then we can kick that fear out of our hearts.  That worry about the future?  It has no place in my life.  God's got the future in His hands.  That fear of the unknown?  God knows everything.  He has seen what I needed in the past and provided for it.  He knows what I need for the future.

How does thankfulness become the source of peace?
When we realize that as God has blessed us, so He will continue to bless us.  We can count on Him.

We can trust Him entirely.  He has fulfilled the promises He made in the past-- we KNOW he will fulfill the promises He's made for the future.  We can have absolute faith in that fact.

This kind of faith brings joy, joy that isn't dependent on circumstances.
It brings peace--peace that passes understanding, because it is a peace that comes from the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  Not a peace the world can understand.  Peace that God alone gives.

Just like He gives everything else.

God's blessings lead to our thankfulness for those blessings.  Our thankfulness leads to the strengthening of our trust in Him, because we can count on Him to continue to bless us.  Our trust leads to peace and joy, because we have nothing to fear in this life.  Nothing at all.

Blessings.
Thankfulness.
Trust.
Peace.
Joy.

All gifts from God... all starting with the amazing love He has for us.


Linking today with: The Fontenot Four, black tag diaries, Loved and Lovely, lovely little whimsy, There's Just One Mommy, Our Simple Country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows