We often hear, “Do not be anxious about anything…” from Philippians 4:6, which continues, “… but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” But that feels so out of reach most of the time, doesn’t it? I don’t usually hear the context, especially verse 5, which concludes: “The Lord is at hand;…”

Wait. Verse 6 is not a new sentence! It is the “therefore” to follow this truth about God. Because He is here, near, we need not be anxious. This instruction is not in a vacuum; it is given in God’s presence. His presence is the atmosphere around us, and that is what makes it possible to forego anxiety and to choose gratitude and prayer.

I think anxiety crowds out prayer. It shows us lies or – at best – only part of reality. Praying is how we declare we are not alone or forsaken, because it assumes God is listening. Through asking God for what we need, we give anxiety a shove and our souls a place to land. Thus, the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds.¹

If peace has to guard us, anxiety must be a sort of attacker or thief, or at least a deceiver or hacker, or quite possibly a terrorist. An unwelcome thing. But let us not fear anxiety; the Lord is at hand.

He keeps him/her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him, because he/she trusts in Him.

Isaiah 26:3

Here, too, God is protecting us. “The Lord God is an everlasting rock.”² “We have a strong city; He sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.”³ When the Hebrews came to the Red Sea, having been pursued by the Egyptians, Moses told them, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”⁴ Some translations say, “… only to be still.” This calls to mind Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that —” (Can you finish this verse?) “— that I AM God.” Earlier in this psalm, we read, “… God in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.”⁵ And “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”⁶

Scripture shows us an understood reality that God being God, and God being with us, means we are Safe. That, ultimately, in the most important of ways, we will prevail. The attacker, whether anxiety, an external foe or challenge, or a more spiritual oppression, will have to give way.

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, Moses asked God for a sort of sign that he had God’s favour. God said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”⁷

Is not rest the opposite of anxiety? We only rest when we can let go, but anxiety roams, grasping for a way to control and manage what feels too big. Our shepherd leads us well. He gives us green pastures and still waters where we rest and are restored. Psalm 23 goes on in verse 4, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

I think most of these verses are familiar to many, but I want all of us to really take God’s presence seriously as a gift and a shelter. Every day. Nothing else suffices; He himself is the answer.

Now what remains is to resolve how we will press into his presence as a matter of living, for our survival and our joy.

¹ Philippians 4:7

² Isaiah 26:4

³ Isaiah 26:1

⁴ Exodus 14:14

⁵ Psalm 46:5

⁶ Psalm 46:7

⁷ Exodus 33:14