We had a guest preacher at church on Sunday. He spoke on rejoicing...always. He cited Phillipians 4:4-7 as his text, which in addition to saying we are to rejoice always says "Do not be anxious about anything..." Hmmm...that sounds a bit like a direct order from God, perhaps THE direct order I needed to hear this week.

I'll admit it - I have a hard time not being anxious. Gee, wonder what I have to be anxious about? But I, of all people, should know just how futile (and damaging) anxiousness is. I live with the queen of anxiety. Between her PTSD and her OCD, LuLu can take anxiety to a whole new level. And I see how that affects not only her behavior, but her physical body as well. It's exhausting to watch.

So, on direct order of God, everyone in my household needs to stop being anxious about everything! Just how is THAT going to work? The scripture says through prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving. Huh? I get the prayer and asking for help part (and we do that often), but thanksgiving?

There in lies the rub. We can recognize we need help, and we can ask for help and pray about it. But the anxiety doesn't necessarily go away. It's related to that thanksgiving part. But how can I be thankful for all the problems causing me to be anxious? Believe me, I have a lot NOT to be thankful for. The incredible truth, though, is as a person starts to be thankful for either what they already have (counting their blessings) or what they will have (faith in a solution to their problem), the anxiety truly goes away.

The preacher left us with this quote:

"Your candle loses nothing when it lights another."

And there it is. The way to capture that thanksgiving in all situations-- by reaching out to help others. Have you ever tried to remain worried and upset about your situation and do something nice for someone else at the same time? It can't be done. Once you shift that focus away from yourself, the anxiety disappears.

I've watched that work to a certain extent with LuLu too. (Ok, she's the queen of anxiety, so dethroning that takes a lot of work.) But if I ask her to help me or someone else, she's often able to put aside her anxiety and focus on the task at hand.

"Your candle loses nothing when it lights another."

In fact, it may actually burn brighter when you find ways to light up another person's day!

Thanks God...I needed that reminder...maybe my readers will find it helpful, too!