“I have four kids, including a newborn. I homeschool and the house is always a mess.” The words tumbled out of my mouth at a church class.
We were talking about how to have true heart change, how to go from having sinful actions and attitudes to God-glorifying ones.
“How can I have peace when everything feels out of control?” I continued.
The next words my pastor said pierced my heart and brought tears to my eyes. “Anxiety says everything needs to be a certain way in order to have peace, but God’s Word says we can have peace despite our circumstances.”
Those words were the balm my anxious, weary mama heart needed so desperately.
Peace felt out of reach for so long. I tried to create peace by meeting my kids’ needs, being a good mom, tackling the house when it got too messy. But despite my best efforts, my anxiety kept growing and growing to the point where my chest would sometimes feel tight. Nothing ever went how I thought it should, and because of that, my anxious thoughts and feelings constantly increased.
Those words from my pastor were a turning point for me. The anxiety didn’t magically go away, but I started noticing when it was creeping up. I would pinpoint what my heart was whispering to me, what it was telling me needed to happen to obtain peace, and I started to replace those subtle whispers and false beliefs with the truth of God’s Word.
As I uprooted the lies of anxiety and became rooted in Scripture, anxiety stopped being a daily battle for me. Praise the Lord.
I finally learned that a clean house is not my peace. Jesus is.
A smooth day is not my peace. Jesus is.
Perfect relationships are not my peace. Jesus is.
Jesus. Jesus is my peace.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Featured Image by Cindy Lever from Pixabay
