by Rev Douglas Brauner

Finding hope in Christ who strengthens us.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“I’ve learned to be content in whatever situation I’m in. I know how to live in poverty or prosperity. No matter what the situation, I’ve learned the secret of how to live when I’m full or when I’m hungry, when I have too much or when I have too little. I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:11b-13 God’s Word to the Nations

The older I get the more discontented I’ve become. I’m not sure that this is a product of getting older or the way that I respond to life. It’s not fair for me to say that all people become discontent as they grow older. There are people for whom the opposite is true.

However, I remember times in my life when I was more content than I am now.

Lest you get the wrong impression, I’m not that old that I rode a farm machine pulled by horses, yet in high school I did ride a 1940’s Allis-Chalmers cultivating tractor through many rows of pole beans. I would start early in the morning and ride until late afternoon, stopping only to eat lunch and fill the tank with gas.

It was gloriously contented time in my life, free of anxiety…at least that’s how I remember it.

It’s easy to forget about anxiety over relationships, the future, and grades. Sometimes we remember the past not as it was but as we want it to be.

From cradle to grave, anxiety and fear invade our lives. How do we deal with anxiety?

Paul faced anxiety through Christ who strengthened him. He struggled like we do and found his hope in Christ, the one who died for him and lived for him. It is this Jesus of Nazareth who died for us and lives for us.

May we find the answer to our anxiety in Christ who is all that we need.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado