Anxiety grips everyone of us at one time or another. In today’s world of accelerated travel, high tech. communications, deteriorating morals, and a pressure cooker life style, we are bound to become anxious.

A leading Christian psychologist recently wrote that: “Anxiety is the official emotion of our age, the most pervasive psychological phenomena of our time, fully understood by no one,…Some have suggested we are living in an Age of Anxiety, when everything we do is colored by this universal emotion!”

At a time when jobs are not secure, marriages are falling apart, cures for diseases are slow in coming, kids don’t want to listen to parents, parents seem so unreasonable, and the bills always out run the paycheck, we feel like we are coming unglued. Is there some way to cope — even relax — through all this turmoil?

Some time ago I was walking to the church as a problem was creating havoc in my mind. Suddenly, a verse from the Bible pierced my memory. “Peace! I needed peace! Outrageous! How was I to have peace at a time like this?”

I slowly mulled over Philippians 4:6,7. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I started to present my problem before the Lord. As I was doing so, a warm peace began to bathe me like the mid-summer sun.

Maybe you are wrestling with anxiety. You feel like throwing in the towel. I would encourage you to read Philippians 4:4-9 in your Bible. Memorize verses 6 and 7.

In today’s world, where anxiety is as common as mosquitoes in a murky swamp, you need not be a victim. Take some time to “cease striving,” present your concerns to God, then sit back, enjoy the Son, and bask in His peace.