Verse of the Day for November 26

Just before the famous words about anxiety, Paul drops five short ones. The Lord is at hand. Near. Close by. He might mean near in time or near in place, and probably both.

That matters when you cannot see far ahead. You may not know what next year holds. But you do not need to see far to know who is near.

Then comes Be careful for nothing. In old English, careful meant full of care, anxious. Paul is not telling them to be careless. He is telling them not to be crushed by worry, and he is writing from prison, where he had every reason for it.

Look at where thanksgiving sits. By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Thanks is not a separate prayer for later. It goes inside the asking. And the promise is not that you will see further, but that peace will keep your hearts and minds, like a guard at a gate.

Tonight when the worry starts, ask for what you need, plainly. Then add one thank you to each request. You still will not see far. But the guard will be at the door.

Put a thank you inside every request today.

Peace does not show you the future, it guards you while you wait for it.