POST PANDEMIC: What Comes Next?নমুনা

POST-PANDEMIC ANXIETY

There are many definitions for the word anxiety: a feeling of inexplicable anguish, a state of uneasiness, a sense of insecurity, among others. And all these make me think of the anxiety which characterizes a world without God.

Perhaps you have never had God in your world, and for that reason you feel that your days are an interminable search for “something” that fills "that" internal emptiness. A night without rest reaches its end when a new day is born that from the dawn, promises to be as uncertain as the one before, and the one before that, and the one before that.

The world without God is characterized by the instability that is a certainty.

In “that” world God is seen as someone distant, and the Bible is perceived as a book of good ideas that tells stories from thousands of years ago, not necessarily relevant to daily life.

A Christian leader in the early days called Saint Augustine made this prayer: Lord, our hearts will be restless until they find they rest in Thee.” And the psalmist says: Find rest, O my soul, in God alone (Psalm 62:5).

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians who felt that they lacked “something,” that there was a hole in the soul that could not be filled, and that distressed them, told them: You also are complete through your union with Christ (Colossians 2:10).

God reigns in Heaven. He observes all the universe and is present in our hearts by the power of the Spirit of Christ, and that makes the difference. That finally makes us “complete.” The world, now in Christ, has God. And now there is no anxiety, nor fear, nor insecurity because Christ fills all and is a “firm anchor of hope” (Hebrews 6:19).

God wants you to know Him personally, not in a “religious” way. He loves you and wants to give you peace and a purpose. Jesus speaks directly to you when He says: Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

Some of the most famous phrases in the Bible are found in John 3, verses 16 and 17:  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

These are not “historical” phrases. They are absolute truths of yesterday, today, and they will continue unchangeable tomorrow.

Jesus wants you to come to Him in a personal way and find rest. He knows you and knows you are tired, so today He offers you peace.

You can turn to God, making a decision for Jesus right now in prayer.

Ask Him to forgive you for all the sins of your life, and He will give you rest. He is waiting to give you a new beginning, to change your anxiety into His peace.

Andrew Palau