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             Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

It has been a tough few days. Wednesday night, my “good” knee became my “bad” knee in a melodramatic incident. I handled the emergency fairly well, I think, but it’s taken several days to my knee to recover to the point that it has, which isn’t quite where I’d like it. I had downs and ups about an assigned article and my story, but I thought I was doing better. On Sunday morning, my pastor preached a great sermon about hope. Then I came home, and things slowly failed to be as productive as I wanted. It doesn’t help that I started into a process online that just can’t be simple. No great surprise, really. But by bedtime, I had spiraled down into anxiety. No great surprise, really.

I prayed. I whined. I screamed in silence. And this morning I got up with my usual “Help me, Lord.” And that’s OK. Then my desk top computer decided I didn’t exist. All my files, gone. I finally rebooted, and we seem to be back. I went outside and cleaned off my truck and shoveled some snow. That used some energy, so it’s good, but my knees are starting to whisper behind my back.

It will all be fine. God’s still in control and I’m glad of it. But so far, only the snow removal has helped against the anxiety, which tends to have a life of its own, sort of like my knees!

Today’s verse is one we need to return to, probably a few times per day. Every day. It doesn’t say, “Don’t let anxiety show up at your door.” Anxiety, like anger, can tell us something is wrong, and can give us energy to do something about the situation. But just because it’s knocking at the door doesn’t mean we have to answer, let in, or cooperate with it. But, we need to remember that it’s a battle. Anxiety steals, kills, and destroys if given a chance. It attacks our weakest points. In that, it does us the favor of identifying problems and weak places. It attacks us rather than the problem. And we tend to help it.

So what do we do when anxiety is slamming its battle ax and two-ton ram into the gates and doors of our life? We’re told to pray and give thanks in every situation. Not for every situation though that may be included. When Corrie Ten Boom and her sister were in a concentration camp, Elizabeth helped Corrie learn to give thanks in all circumstances. Corrie couldn’t be thankful for the fleas and lice that infested all the bunks in the women’s “dorm.” But Elizabeth pointed out that because the German guards didn’t want to be infested, they gave more freedom to the prisoners in the dorms than anywhere else in the camp.

I can’t see a blessing in having arthritis, yet. The things I ran away from last night remain to be done. But I did pray. I’m listening to and singing along with Christmas music. I have turned my attention away from the crises, and done what I could with what I have, where I am now. I’ve made progress on little things that I can handle. All these diminish the power and threat of anxiety. And, I have a nice long list of requests that got presented to God. That turns my eyes away from the anxiety, and toward catching sight of the answers.