December 11th 2025

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Philippians is known as Paul’s “happiest letter,” and I love knowing that he wrote these words in a jail cell with such confidence… that he could really say “be anxious for nothing.” I think of my own experience with worry and anxiety, and that this “peace that surpasses understanding” really is possible. But I think what I love most about these verses is the promise that God will “guard our hearts and minds.”

So often when I feel a wave of anxiety or worry, I go to God, and by the end of my prayer find that I am deep in confession. I’ve found that as I have aired out my requests and the feelings that are tangling up my heart, Jesus gently unfolds what is really behind my worry. My prayers become me acknowledging the insecurity behind that conversation I fear is coming, or admitting to Him that I don’t really trust his ability to change something, or finally stating that I am ashamed of how I showed up in that one situation. I find he calmly leads me to face my own need for control, my lack of faith, or the hurt pride behind so many of my own worries. And in that, He really is guarding me from my own heart and mind.

It is such a relief to me that God can protect me from my own anxious narratives. Confessing them means I genuinely do know a peace that doesn’t make sense- clearly I couldn’t have come up with these responses on my own.

 So as we continue to encounter worry, or when you find yourself stuck in fearful narratives… how did you get there? What are the thoughts and feelings behind your anxiety?

Question to Ponder: What are the thoughts and feelings behind your anxiety?

- Maddy Phan