Anxious for Nothing for Young Readers by Max LucadoSample

Today we’ll be discussing the third letter in our acronym to combat anxiety. L – Look on the Bright Side.

My friend Jerry is a great example of someone who is content because he is grateful. His wife, Ginger, has Parkinson’s disease and so Jerry has spent a lot of time in the hospital with her.

Jerry could feel sad or angry, but he doesn’t. You know why? Every morning he and his wife sing a hymn together. Jerry always asks Ginger which one she wants to sing, and she always wants to sing an old hymn called “Count Your Blessings.” When they are done singing, they do what the hymn says and remember all the good things in their lives.

When we focus on our blessings, no matter how hard life is, our attitude toward life gets brighter.

Take a second to count your blessings right now. Think about what you are thankful for. Your family? Friends? A good breakfast? Your blessings can be big or small. All of it counts as gratitude.

Paul figured out how to be content with his life, even when things weren’t going his way. And that was a lot of the time.

He wrote in Philippians 4:11–13: “I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough. I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.”

Remember, Paul wrote this while he was in prison. A guard was constantly watching him. He wasn’t going to be set free anytime soon. He had every reason to complain, but instead he said in verse 12, “I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens.”

What was his secret? Listen to that last sentence again: “I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.” The secret to contentment is leaning on Jesus and what He’s done for you!

If your happiness depends on how many social media followers you have, home runs you make, or As you receive in class, your happiness will go up and down all the time. You’ll be happy when you get new followers and sad when you lose them. You’ll be happy when you get a good hit and sad when you don’t. You’ll be happy with an A and disappointed with a B or C.

But when your happiness depends on Jesus, you can be happy all the time. Because you have Jesus all the time.

Paul didn’t focus on what he didn’t have while he was in jail: friends, good food, play time, freedom. Instead, he focused on what he did have: Jesus. And in Jesus he had an entire list of amazing things: salvation, forgiveness, grace, love. What he had in Christ was far greater than what he didn’t have in life. 

To Paul, what he had in Christ was all that mattered. Within the 104 verses of Philippians, Paul mentioned Jesus forty times. That’s every two and a half verses. As he said in Philippians 1:21, “To me the only important thing about living is Christ, and dying would be profit for me.” 

Paul’s only goal was to know Jesus. He didn’t care about being rich. He didn’t care about being famous. All he wanted was more of Christ. And Christ was with him at all times, so Paul was content.

We’re going to do a little exercise.

Take out a scrap sheet of paper and draw a line vertically down the middle of the page creating two columns. In the left column, list what are you worried about today. List anything you can think of.

Now, in the right column, list what are you thankful for today. Think of as many things as possible, no matter how big or small they are.

Do you feel any differently about your worries after writing your gratitude list? For me, I know seeing my blessings listed like this on paper is a tangible reminder of how good God has been to me. And those reminders of His faithfulness help keep the worries on the left in check. 

I pray this exercise offers you the same peace today.