Therefore, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, so that He may lift you up at the appropriate time. Cast all your worries on Him because He cares about you.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Exchange Anxiety for Eager Anticipation
What worries you? On the other hand, what excites you and gives you a sense of eager anticipation?
In a way, anxiety and anticipation are similar. Both look towards the future. However, when we experience anxiety, we become worried because we do not know what will happen in the future. We worry about worst-case scenarios and “what ifs.” When we eagerly anticipate something, we are excited because we know something great is about to happen. This type of anticipation can also help us be ready for something better to come. For example, if I know I’ll be dining at a world-class restaurant tonight, I won’t be tempted to go to the drive-thru and fill up on junk.
God, in His great love for us, points us to a glorious and certain future through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus comes to us according to the promises of the Bible, evidenced by His rising from the dead, and He replaces our worries with eager anticipation. He does not tell us what will happen in this life, but He assures us that He is with us, and we are His. He will help us deal with our daily difficulties which often cause us anxiety.
He takes your attention away from your daily troubles and points you toward the ultimate future – eternity with Him! He takes away all your worries about eternity by taking away all your sins. All your sins have been crucified with Him, and His empty tomb is proof that there is no debt remaining. You don’t have to worry about eternity, don’t have to worry about whether God will let you in or not. You can look eagerly towards heaven.
Looking forward to eternal life with this certainty helps us hope for something better than what this world can give us. We do not need to be filled with empty promises and temporary pleasures of this world. We can be content and satisfied with God’s love and promises right now. We can leave our worries at the foot of the cross of Jesus and eagerly wait for the day when we will see Him with our own eyes.
Prayer:
Lord, take me to your cross and lift up everything that worries me and replace it every day with the eager anticipation of a glorious life with you forever. Amen.
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used with permission from Zondervan. All rights reserved world wide.
