The anxiousness that many experience, I believe, is one of the most overlooked sins. It is overlooked because no one wants to cast the so-called “first stone.” All of us are guilty of worrying about something and perhaps feel unsuited to rebuke another in this way. For this reason we continue to encourage one another in it. We hear of someone who is anxious because he lost his job and can’t pay the bills and say, “Oh you poor thing.” Instead of, “Our God is greater and takes care of the birds in the fields, how much more will he take care of you?” What a hindrance we can be to obtaining the peace that God has to offer.
I would venture to suggest there are only two reasons why we lack the peace that passes all understanding. First, we have not done what we should have done or did what we shouldn’t have. For instance, if you do not study for an exam and feel anxious about it, the reason is you sinned by not doing what you ought to have done. Likewise, if you spend most of your money on material goods and are anxious about the bills you have to pay, it is because of your sin. On a side note, most financial crises occur because people have loved the world more than God. The second reason is because of a lack of trust in God. We often feel anxious because we do not have the right understanding of who God is and his attributes. We mistrust his word and in doing so mistrust God. Most often this is a result of not meditating day and night on his word and thereby renewing our mind. My favorite verse says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you,” Isaiah 26:3. By implication if we do not have peace it is because our mind is not stayed on God and we do not trust him. In either of these two cases, the lack of peace is a result of sin. If, you are anxious, it is because you are sinning. If, I am anxious, it is because I am sinning. This sin is not a small thing to be taken lightly, for it is the reason Christ died for us.
Now,what a glorious truth that is! Happy is the man who sees his sin because he has hope, but pity the man who refuses to see his sin. Until we recognize our sin we will continue to lack peace whenever circumstances in our life challenge us. If, however, we recognize our sin what hope there is for us! For, Jesus died for our sins, not so we can keep on sinning, but so that we might become like Him, holy and blameless. He gave us his Holy Spirit to enable us to overcome temptation and not give way to false ways of thinking. If you study 1 Peter, you will see that our battle takes place within our mind. Satan has waged war on our thinking and our thinking leads us to peace or away from it. We will continue to sin? Yes, but it does not have to remain the way it is. There is not only hope in the life to come, but in this life too! We can trust that Jesus can make our joy complete, beginning, even, in this life. Therefore, take courage my friend and trust in the Lord setting your heart and mind on Him who is above and the things that are above and see what peace will be given to you.