“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 4:6-7

According to dictionary.com, the definition of dread is; fear or apprehension as to something in the future; great fear. Does that resonate with anyone? It does me. The power that dread can have over you is that it will suck the joy out of every moment. Rather than do what needs to be done, you let your thoughts wander to what “could” happen.

We can easily get stuck in that mindset when we have a task before us that we really don’t want to do such as doctor appointments, medical tests, paying bills….Seriously, is there anyone that looks forward to turning 50 so that they can have their first colonoscopy? Probably not, but as soon as I hit 50, I made that appointment so I could just get it over with and not have to think about it. I was just thankful I made it to 50 and that we have medical tests that can detect a possible problem with my body before it is too late. 

Procrastination only causes extra stress or more problems. If you are thinking about putting off that medical test that the doctor recommended months ago, just do it. If the Holy Spirit lays it on your heart to go to the doctor about something and that results in more testing for you, listen to that feeling because the test that is done may be the difference between stage 1 or stage 4 cancer.

I can’t tell you how many people I know that had the “gut” feeling that something wasn’t right and the test that the doctor ordered revealed the early stages of cancer. Had they put that off, they might not be here today. 

It’s not just our health that we may not be proactive about, it could be managing our household. Where I live in Texas, property taxes have sky rocketed. We got our taxes in the mail a few weeks ago. You have until May 15th to protest them. Sometimes, you can have success doing the online protest, which is what I tried first. Key word, “tried,” which means I wasn’t happy with the offer. After I received the online response, I felt God impress on my heart, that I should go the next day and meet with someone. Not really what I wanted to do but it had to be done and the longer I waited the more I would dread going. 

It’s not like it used to be where you would make the 30 minute drive and have to wait anywhere from 2-4 hours to meet with someone. You can call ahead and be put in a que and they tell you when to arrive. I had no expectations going into it. I was hoping to get it lower than the online offer but whatever the outcome, at least I would know I tried. 

I had about a 20 minute wait and during that time, of course, I knit. I was praying that God put me with someone that would have some favor on me. When my name was called, I had a good feeling about it. It was definitely worth my time to go in person. While going to the property tax office might not have been on my list of “fun” things to do for the day, I made a decision to embrace it rather than dread it. It is a choice we all have when we are faced with tasks that we rather not do.

Is there something you are putting off doing because you fear the outcome? I love verse 7 from Phlippians 4. In verse 6 we are told to not worry,  pray about everything, tell God what we need and to thank Him for all He has done. When we do this, verse 7 reminds us, “you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Don’t let anxiety weigh down your heart. When I catch myself letting negative thoughts swarm in my mind, I start praising God for all that He has blessed me with and pretty soon those thoughts disappear.

Dear Lord, 

Rather than face life with fear and apprehension, thank You for the reminder that when I go to You in prayer and let You know what I need and thank You for all you have done that I will receive peace that surpasses all understanding. I ask that any spirit of dread that may be lingering in my soul be replaced with a calmness that exceeds anything that I can imagine. It is in the name of Jesus that I pray these things. Amen.