Make A Trade

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On a recent trip to Nashville, I had an opportunity to sit with several Christian music artists and hear them share their stories. I was struck by the number of people who have been dealing with panic attacks and depression. Debilitating distress and anxiety have been their companions of late. They shared how they sought medical treatments and therapy and while some helped - their symptoms and suffering didn't go away.

While the struggle is still present at times, each of them shared a similar discovery during their journey. A weapon that helped every one of them combat their enemy. Gratitude. Thanking God for being with them. Actually writing down the names of people and things that they were grateful for became a tool to help their mind and heart feel more at peace. Multiple scientific studies have noted that gratitude can help to short-circuit the pathway to anxiety. God hard-wired our bodies to respond positively to an attitude of gratitude!

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) gives us this instruction...and this reward. "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." The Message puts it this way: "Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

Lean into this equation that Jesus offers us today. He is reminding us that He will give us His peace if we will give Him our worries. What a trade!!

Read more devotions written by Denise Harper at Treasured Inside
https://deniseharper.blog

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