Phillipians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

After scrolling through my facebook feed and seeing all of the anxiety and fear and stress about the election –

I thought this was a fitting reminder.
In a day and age when we view anxiety as a condition (and I’m not trying to downplay the clinical condition that we call anxiety) I fear we hear this exortation and we hear what sounds like an impossible task.

Let’s call the condition of “anxiety” something else – it may need to be treated with therapy or medication…

But the majority of Americans don’t have such a condition – they have a choice.

You choose what you feel. You choose what you think. You choose what you believe.

And if you don’t LIKE what you feel, think, or believe – there are some clear directives for what to do about it.

Let me give you the “Hatcher Translation” of the above scripture.

Take Joy in God all the time. Yeah. Did you hear me? Take joy!
Make sure that everyone that comes into contact with you sees your kindness. Because God is close.
Don’t worry or stress about anything, instead, no matter what’s going on, talk to God about it, thanking Him, and telling your concerns.
If you do that – he’ll give you a peace that you can’t even begin to understand will be like the secret service for your thoughts and emotions – guarding them to remain close to Jesus.

to sum it up, y’all –
Here’s a list of things to think about if you want to cultivate that peace.

Stuff that is true
Stuff that is good
Stuff that is right
Stuff that is pure
Stuff that is lovely
Stuff that is admirable
Stuff that is done well and that people can say good things about.

Just like I taught you.

God is peace. And He is close.