Years ago, I gave a talk about fear and anxiety. About thirty women settled into a cozy room as I began sharing some of my story. Looking back on my childhood, I see a little girl who wanted to play it safe, who perpetually problem-solved worst-case scenarios, and who felt shadowed by a vague sense of fear. This stream of anxiety ran steadily throughout my life, but no one would have known. I was the kid who easily made friends, loved school, and didn\u2019t cause much trouble. I was the strong, steady one\u2014until I wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my late twenties, in the midst of young marriage and new motherhood, the stream of anxiety became a flood. Panic attacks began to torment me. For the first time, my underground anxiety burst out and threatened to take center stage. I felt embarrassed and ashamed. I didn\u2019t want to admit my confusing fears, and I certainly didn\u2019t want others to see my struggle. After all, I was supposed to be the strong, steady one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point in my talk, I told the women that I had a secret. I began unbuttoning my shirt. Awkward silence filled the room. Underneath my faded, denim top I wore a white t-shirt and cold, bulky metal chains. No one had suspected that I was wearing chains, yet they were there the whole time\u2014pinching, constraining, and weighing me down. We don\u2019t always know the chains people are wrapped up in, do we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apostle and missionary Paul wore chains too. In his letter to the believers in the city of Philippi, Paul explained that he was \u201cin chains for Christ\u201d as he endured house arrest (Philippians 1:13, NIV). For years he had been misunderstood, criticized, slandered, and beaten, and now he was jailed in Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some could view Paul as a failure. Some could question his faith or even the power or goodness of God. Yet Paul was convinced that his current suffering was nothing to be ashamed of or to hide. On the contrary, he insisted that his circumstances advanced the gospel message. He told the Philippians, \u201cBecause of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear\u201d (Philippians 1:14 NIV). Even in jail, Paul rejoiced that his guards were hearing about Jesus and that other believers were encouraged and empowered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We may marvel at Paul\u2019s perspective, but we can also hold both the redemption of our chains with the pain they cause. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul revealed his own weakness, fear, and trembling (1Corinthians 2:3). Like Paul, we all chafe and wrestle with painful circumstances, those things we would never choose for ourselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What pinches you, constrains you, or weighs you down? Our anxieties, our fears, our sufferings are heavy and costly. But we don\u2019t have to hide them or be ashamed. Even our struggles can deepen our dependence on Christ and point others to the one who walks us through our darkest valleys and who redeems us\u2014chains and all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Years ago, I gave a talk about fear and anxiety. About thirty women settled into a cozy room as I began sharing some of my story. Looking back on my childhood, I see a little girl who wanted to play it safe, who perpetually problem-solved worst-case scenarios, and who felt shadowed by a vague sense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":71279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[289],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philippiansandcolossians"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"related_plans":[71272],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"TO LIVE IS CHRIST<\/b>
\r\nby Patti Sauls<\/i>
\r\n
Years ago, I gave a talk about fear and anxiety. About thirty women settled into a cozy room as I began sharing some of my story. Looking back on my childhood, I see a little girl who wanted to play it safe, who perpetually problem-solved worst-case scenarios, and who felt shadowed by a vague sense of fear. This stream of anxiety ran steadily throughout my life, but no one would have known. I was the kid who easily made friends, loved school, and didn\u2019t cause much trouble. I was the strong, steady one\u2014until I wasn\u2019t.<\/p>
\r\n
In my late twenties, in the midst of young marriage and new motherhood, the stream of anxiety became a flood. Panic attacks began to torment me. For the first time, my underground anxiety burst out and threatened to take center stage. I felt embarrassed and ashamed. I didn\u2019t want to admit my confusing fears, and I certainly didn\u2019t want others to see my struggle. After all, I was supposed to be the strong, steady one.<\/p>
\r\n
At this point in my talk, I told the women that I had a secret. I began unbuttoning my shirt. Awkward silence filled the room. Underneath my faded, denim top I wore a white t-shirt and cold, bulky metal chains. No one had suspected that I was wearing chains, yet they were there the whole time\u2014pinching, constraining, and weighing me down. We don\u2019t always know the chains people are wrapped up in, do we?
\r\nThe apostle and missionary Paul wore chains too. In his letter to the believers in the city of Philippi, Paul explained that he was \u201cin chains for Christ\u201d as he endured house arrest (Philippians 1:13, NIV). For years he had been misunderstood, criticized, slandered, and beaten, and now he was jailed in Rome.<\/p>
\r\n
Some could view Paul as a failure. Some could question his faith or even the power or goodness of God. Yet Paul was convinced that his current suffering was nothing to be ashamed of or to hide. On the contrary, he insisted that his circumstances advanced the gospel message. He told the Philippians, \u201cBecause of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear\u201d (Philippians 1:14 NIV). Even in jail, Paul rejoiced that his guards were hearing about Jesus and that other believers were encouraged and empowered.<\/p>
\r\n
We may marvel at Paul\u2019s perspective, but we can also hold both the redemption of our chains with the pain they cause. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul revealed his own weakness, fear, and trembling (1Corinthians 2:3). Like Paul, we all chafe and wrestle with painful circumstances, those things we would never choose for ourselves.<\/p>
\r\n
What pinches you, constrains you, or weighs you down? Our anxieties, our fears, our sufferings are heavy and costly. But we don\u2019t have to hide them or be ashamed. Even our struggles can deepen our dependence on Christ and point others to the one who walks us through our darkest valleys and who redeems us\u2014chains and all.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"3","scripture":"Philippians 1:12-26, John 6:60-69, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}