Momentum For Monday, August 14th 2023
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
I've never really done a book release. My last book was kind of "accidentally" published and released in March of 2020. You can connect the dots on how successful that went. As the book launch for the newest book gets closer, anxiety has been getting the best of me. Nothing has gone as planned. Everything has taken longer than anticipated, if not more than anticipated. Needless to say, I'm getting all kinds of learning experiences.
While the anxiety and stress has been constant, it’s not all been bad. Even in the frustrations, I’ve been sensing God and I’m so grateful for that. The awareness of the anxiety and what it’s rooted in has brought the opportunity to trust God when I’m struggling the most.
When I faced my feelings and what was at the base of it all, I realized it was fear. When I felt stress, I wasn’t sensing fear, but anxiety/stress is fear in it’s core identity. In my honesty, I came to see that it was a fear of failure that I was struggling with.
Even though I had prayed and felt like God was the one leading this project that had begun years ago, I still don’t want this to fail. Too much has been invested in this for me to be ok with it failing. And while failure has never deterred me from trying in life, at the end of it all, I want to know that I did everything I knew to do with what has been entrusted to me. However, I’m sharing this to be transparent with you and to further my next point.
At the height of my anxiousness, with a pit in my stomach and discomfort in my soul, I started to react by making more efforts when I suddenly stopped in my tracks. Instead of pushing myself to get more done and try more, a verse came to mind— “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication…” (and with that, I prayed). Not only did I do that in that specific moment, but in several moments following. Anxiety became my new alert for prayer.
Not only did I figure out my need for prayer, but even more, I realize that I lacked the trust in everything that God had led me to making the decision to write and eventually, publish this book. I needed to recall it to mind and choose to trust God with everything I need to learn and every deadline l need to meet. If I’m doing everything I know to do, I need to trust God with the rest.
While I’m sure I’ll be quoting that same Scripture from Philippians for the next several weeks, I’m challenging you to join me. When I’ve chosen to pray and trust, peace has followed, even if things weren’t fixed. When you feel anxiety and stress, stop and pray, make every request you need to. May you and I both experience more and more peace this week.
“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”
(Psalm 56:3)