BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING? HOW?

BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING? HOW?
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 by CHARLENE AMSDEN

Categories: devotional / GUEST AUTHORS / TUESDAY'S TREASURE

PLEASE WELCOME

CHARLENE AMSDEN

TUESDAY’S TREASURE

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (KJV)

The command to “not be anxious about anything” is huge, isn’t it? Despite years of trying to perfect this command, I have yet to succeed. Sometimes my anxieties are small. “Will the ice cream melt before I get out of this traffic snarl and home?” Sometimes my anxieties are huge, like the time I followed a semi over Steven’s Pass in Washington state through an unseasonal storm of dense fog and swirling snow.

I couldn’t see anything but the red smear of trailer lights in front of me, not the white line, not the guard rail, not the sheer drop on the other side. I could only pray that God would lead us, the driver and I, along a safe path. I gripped the steering wheel as tightly as fear gripped my stomach.

What is interesting to me is how, as I prayed, the burning fear in my stomach eased. It wasn’t that God assured me I wouldn’t die that day. It is just that his presence was with me. It filled the car and helped me concentrate on driving. My grip on the steering wheel eased. I experienced God’s promise of peace that transcends all understanding. I knew without a doubt that my soul was safe in the hands of God.

The glory of God’s presence isn’t an everyday-all-day kind of feeling, but it is a place I can visit.

Its comfort and safety calms me when I need it. Reaching that place where we live in God’s abiding love and grace the same way we live within the walls of our home, takes trust and a genuine understanding of the goodness of God.

Easy-peasy, right?

I wish.

However, God doesn’t leave us to discover the key to his assurance on our own. In Philippians 4, verse six clearly explains, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God….

Thanksgiving? You’ve got to be kidding! God, how do you expect me to be thankful for driving through a blinding fog along a cliff edge? That makes no sense to me.

I struggled with thoughts like those for years, and then I heard a pastor speak on just that topic. Rev. Dr. Joe Bettridge (Presbyterian Church USA, ret.) explained that God doesn’t want us to be thankful for the fear of the moment; he wants us to be thankful for how he is going to work it out while trusting that it will be for our good and God’s glory.

In my novel, Kage: The 6th Commandment, the main female character must learn to trust God while she is in fear for her life, struggling with a man actively trying to kill her. Most of us will never face anything that difficult in our lifetimes, but I know from experience that God cares and is with us, whether we’re stressing over our ice cream melting or worrying about driving off a cliff. All we need to do is call on his name with worship, praise, and thanksgiving in our hearts.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I trust that You are here, and that the things which bring me fear and anxiety are firmly in Your control. I trust that You are with me no matter what circumstances I face, good or bad. And because of that, I can thank You now, while still filled with fear, for how You are going to work things out. No matter the outcome, I know that it will be for my good and Your glory. Help me, Lord, to feel the peace that You promised, so I can honor You. I know that Yours is the power and that you deserve all the glory. I lift my heart and praise to You now, Father, in the name of Jesus, your son and my Savior. Amen

ABOUT KAGE: THE 6TH COMMANDMENT

She can’t remember who tried to kill her. He’s the only one who believes it wasn’t random.

Once a relentless investigative journalist, Trina Vaughn now hides behind leather jackets and revving engines—recovering from a shooting that stole her memory and nearly her life. The cops say it was a mugging. Trina’s instincts say otherwise.

Martin “Kage” Kincade—an ex-con turned part-time pastor—sees what others won’t: this was no random attack. Someone wants Trina silent—permanently.

As danger closes in and memories surface, they must confront the past to survive the present. Trust is rare. But it may be the only thing that can save them.

Gritty. Redemptive. Romantic. A story of second chances and the faith that carries us through fire.

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ABOUT CHARLENE AMSDEN

Charlene Amsden grew up among the logging camps and mining towns of Northern Idaho. She’s been in bar fights, traveled back and forth across the United States in an 18-wheeler, and taught school in a paved desert and on a beach where the teachers proclaimed ‘shoes optional’.

Thanks to an ill-conceived prayer while sitting at the feet of a gifted storyteller when she was just six years old, Charlene has enjoyed an interesting life. She asked that she, too, would have adventuresome stories to tell.

Like the time that she climbed a supple, young tree with five of her friends, and the tree bent double. Her friends jumped. Charlene … didn’t. The tree catapulted her within chain-length of the neighborhood attack dog – Thor, the Dog of Thunder. Later, Charlene’s grandmother was heard to say, “I swear, I ought to just kill her myself and get it over with.” Because, even then, this wasn’t the first story.

Blessed with her very own “You’ve Got Mail” romance, Charlene currently lives in Hawaii with the love of her life. When not writing, she is likely reading, sewing, taking photographs, and/or drinking coffee with friends.

https://www.charlene-amsden.com/

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