Anxiety truly is the great modern plague. For most of us it’s a vague sense of unease that we live with, its intensity varying depending on the size of the problem we face. The most obvious outcome is that we live joyless lives. Now the Bible says that joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit – one of the basic characteristics of a person who has real faith in God. Alongside it is that other ‘fruit of the Holy Spirit,’ peace – a deep inner peace that is always accessible to us, even when we are pushed to our limits.
But the practice of living with those ‘fruits of the Spirit’ requires the daily practice of faith. That’s why the Bible says: ‘You’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true and noble…the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Do that, and the God of peace will be with you.’