Rejoice in the Lord always. 

I will say it again: 

Rejoice! 

Let your gentleness be evident to all. 

The Lord is near. 

Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in every situation, 

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:4-6 NIV

We love to take verses like "do not be anxious about anything..." as some kind of edict that we should all be living some kind of garden-of-eden-before-the-fall kind of life.

First Paul is writing to people who do have anxiety. They are worried. They've got stuff going on that is tough to deal with. What he calls "every situation".

And Paul has already expressed his own concerns and anxieties both for others, and for his own situation.

The Bible is about keeping it real.

So he says:

Lean into God.

Live out his grace as you can

Know the Master is near

And in that context, doing those things, knowing that truth, don't be anxious.

When we lean into God we have somewhere to go with our anxiety, our fears.

When we're looking out at others we get perspective, and it keeps us moving.

When we hold the Truth we combat the lies that run around in our heads.

This is a whole of life approach to dealing with the anxieties and fears we have. 

And then, pray.

#lockdownlessons