Moving from Dublin to the West of Ireland was a massive leap of faith for our family. On our very first day, my wife sent me out on a simple errand to grab bread and milk. It should have taken ten minutes.

Instead, the GPS failed, my phone signal vanished, and I found myself completely lost on unfamiliar roads with my young daughter in the backseat asking, “Dad, are we lost?”

I smiled and said no, but inside, the “what ifs” began to avalanche.

• What if this move was a mistake?
• What if I run out of fuel?
• What if I fail?

Anxiety loves to trap us in a vicious cycle of worrying about things totally outside our control. Whether it is a changing job, an unexpected health scare, or the state of the economy, it is incredibly easy to spiral.

But the Apostle Paul, writing from the bleak reality of an ancient Roman prison, offers a radical solution in Philippians 4:6:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

When we get stuck in the elevator of life, we often panic and pace around instead of simply pressing the “Help” button. Prayer is our help button. You do not need fancy words or perfect theology to use it, because quantity produces quality over time. Just start talking to God.

There is a second part to finding peace, however, and it involves becoming a “control freak.” Usually, that is a negative term, but when it comes to managing your mental and spiritual health, it is a superpower.

The devil’s oldest trick is making us forfeit what we can control by fixating on what we cannot.

You cannot control:

• the economy
• the storms of life
• or other people’s opinions.

But you have complete control over infinitely more things. You control your daily responses, the media you consume, the people you choose to surround yourself with, your generosity, and your prayer life.

The best control is self control

When we stop obsessing over the handful of things we cannot control and take ownership of the hundreds of things we can, the scales in our mind begin to shift. The peace of God becomes weightier, and our anxiety grows lighter.

Trust God with the things you cannot control. Pray about them. Then, exercise self-control over the things you can.

Pastor Oz