According to the World Health Organisation, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health condition globally, with an estimated 4.4% of the world population experiencing them. In any given year, around 1 in 10 adults may experience symptoms, and nearly 30% of adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, often beginning early in life.
So, when we read in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6…. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God…we are amazed. How does that even work?
But then we keep reading and find, in verse 13 of the same chapter, what John Piper calls the ‘’liberating promise of future grace’’. My God shall supply all your need according to the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus.
Living by faith, in God’s promise of future grace, is fertile ground for peace. God’s riches in glory are inexhaustible. He really, really means for us not to worry about the future.
This month, CWCI Australia celebrates the riches of God’s grace at our Annual General Meeting. On Friday 15 May we have the opportunity to pause, to praise, to thank our Heavenly Father for the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus lavished on the ministries of CWCI Australia for 69 years! It is no surprise that the history of this ministry has been written under the titles Beyond Expectations and Far Beyond Expectations.
And the reports to be presented at this year’s celebration, reviewing the continuing development of the ministry through 2025, are a witness to God’s faithfulness to his promise to supply all our need.
But Paul’s words to the Philippians also apply to us as individuals. Our Heavenly Father is able to supply all our personal need (spiritual, social, mental, emotional, physical, political, relational) according to the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus. We too can live our lives in the liberating promise of future grace!
My husband’s Uncle George emigrated to Australia from Germany following World War 2. He travelled by train across Europe to France, staying a few days in Paris before embarking by ship from the Port of Calais. His mother provided a dozen boiled eggs to sustain him on the journey and booked him into a Paris Hotel for a few nights before the ship sailed. Uncle George didn’t have much cash but he still had some boiled eggs so he stayed in his room and lived quietly.
When he was leaving the hotel on his last day one of the clerks commented that he hadn’t seen him in the dining room very much. Uncle George explained about the boiled eggs. The clerk was horrified! ‘’Oh Mr Braun‘’, he said, ‘’your meals were all part of your booking – cooked breakfast, packed lunch and a three-course dinner every night!’
I often think of Uncle George when I read Philippians 4:13. I am reminded, both for myself and for the Lord’s work, that as God’s children we do not need to be anxious, but with thanksgiving we are to let our requests be known to God…and he will supply all our need according to the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus.
Friday 15 May is an opportunity to pause to say thank you for our Heavenly Father’s faithfulness to this promise in all the ministries of CWCI across Australia and Melanesia.
Go to our website www.cwciaus.org.au to register to attend the Annual General Meeting online. All members welcome.