“So, letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”—Romans 8:6 (NLT)

I couldn’t give you a percentage, but I can tell you that most of the things I have worried about, don’t happen. Thinking about worst case scenarios and the “what-ifs” just raises my blood pressure and I don’t want to end up on medication for it.

When I fret over something, I am choosing to live in the flesh not the spirit. I become enslaved to worry when my mind is on the world. When I am filled with the spirit of God my mind turns to trust and I am able to do His work. I can’t be living and loving like Jesus if I am living in a state of panic.

I have been transparent and shared what happens to me the I don’t go to God first with my concerns. I slip back into negative thinking and let it control my thoughts and actions. When I listen to the enemies lies rather than focus on the truth of God’s Word, it steals my peace. 

With all that is going on with the unrest in our country today, if I believed everything I read or heard, I would be an anxious mess. One of my nephew’s got married this past weekend. Because of COVID, many people cancelled. I am sure it wasn’t the dream wedding that they had envisioned but they made the best of it. The church required everyone to wear a mask and had us sit in every other pew. Looking back at wedding photos from the church will be a reminder of these times. 

One thing that resonated with many of us was that the priest said to them, “you chose love over fear.” This was the first wedding he had done since March. My father had a saying, You can’t live in fear. While my father is no longer with us, we all remembered him fondly at the reception, knowing that his advice would have been to not let fear rule their decision on getting married. 

My husband hasn’t stopped going to work. Because we don’t have underlying health issues or considered a high risk, we still go to the grocery store once a week and Costco a couple of times a month. When the restaurants and gyms reopened, we were there. For me, going to a wedding wasn’t much different than being in these public places where I am probably exposed to more people.

However, with that being said, when my daughter had to cancel because where she is working would require her to self-quarantine for 14 days if she attended, I started to question whether we should go or not. Up until this point, I had peace about it, but the enemy knows how he can sneak into my head and try and steal my joy. He will do whatever he can to weave anxious thoughts through my mind to cancel out any calm or contentment that I may have.

Worry is a deep-rooted habit that is a daily struggle for me to break free from. Because I am human, there are times when I can let it get a stronghold, but not this time. We all have the fabric of Jesus woven into each and every one of us and that is good news! Every one of us has access to the power of the Holy Spirit within us to cancel out the noise of the enemy. 

To keep myself from dwelling on it, I spent that day sewing with a friend. They next morning during my quiet time, I had this overwhelming sense of peace. While I was sitting in my chair getting ready to do my daily Bible reading, a red cardinal landed right outside my window and a few minutes later, the female had twigs in her mouth on our patio. 

I hadn’t seen the cardinals in our backyard like this since June 15/16th when I was needing comfort and here they were again, to calm my anxious thoughts. No, I don’t want to get sick, but I am not going to live in fear of getting a virus with a 97-99.75% recovery rate and again, I don’t have other health issues.

I want to live a life like my father. Despite his heart disease and artificial valve, he didn’t let that stop him from traveling and living life. He knew his time on earth was limited and he didn’t let that stop him from making the most of every day that God had given him.

Dear Lord,

In the midst of anxiety, I am thankful that Your spirit within me will give me the strength to remove negative thoughts as they enter my mind. Thank You that You alone can settle my anxious soul. I lift up those who are struggling with fear. I ask for You to fill them with peace. Thank You for being a God that brings peace and hope. Help me to share that with others this week. It is in the name of Jesus that I pray these things. Amen. 

 July Memory Verse

Will you join this month in memorizing Jeremiah 29:13 as a daily reminder of how we should be seeking God with our whole heart. When we do, we will always find Him.

“If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”—Jeremiah 29:13 (NLT)

Please make sure you tweet @KnitPrayShare or share your projects on the Knit, Pray, Share Facebook page or Instagram using the hashtag #KnitPrayShare. Be sure to attach a tag to whatever gift you make.