June 11. Proverbs 12.
Happy Tuesday, dear one. Oh, this chapter was RICH, wasn’t it? I found my little proverb, though, quite easily. I have an amazing testimony of God’s rescue of me from crippling anxiety. The short version of the rescue can be summarized in five words: Turn Your Worries Into Prayer. When I actually started to do that, every single time I worried (which was pretty much all the time!), God started the process of re-shaping how I thought. He taught me to go quickly to Him, hundreds of times a day, until one day, I quite literally felt anxiety “leave.” That’s the best way I know to describe it. It was a long, hard battle and it required persistent prayer. But Philippians 4:6 encouraged me to “turn my worries into prayer” and when I obeyed, things shifted. After a long period of time, I was free! That’s my story. So, it won’t surprise you to know which verse I chose. Read below … after (of course) you have read for yourself and chosen a verse – the one God marked out for you, today.
My verse: Proverbs 12:25 “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”
My response: Thank You, Lord, for this reminder of how to help someone who is anxious. First, anxiety is heavy. It weighs the person down and is kin to depression. Oh, the sadness of feeling burdened and under a weight that won’t lift! You, Lord, tell anxious people to pray, and to give the impossible burdens to You.
But what can I do? I can’t take their burden. I would then be just as anxious. Only You can carry our burdens and make them light. I can be kind. That’s what I can do. How simply sweet is that? I can cheer someone up by being kind to them – noticing them – being tender with them. Teach me greater kindness, Lord, especially to the anxious.
