BE NOT ANXIOUS

Hanging out at John’s place was new for Victor. John wasn’t one of his regular friends, but they grew closer together at baseball practice lately. After a glance around his room, Victor realized John was not only an avid baseball fanatic. He was also quite fond of rock music. Victor himself wasn’t much for rock. His family preferred classical music and worship songs. He pretty much grew up only around such. He was even warned to stay away from songs that are too “secular,” as his father would say. 

Why was he at John’s house, you wonder? He was there for a study together. A math quiz was approaching, and John was struggling with one particular topic. Victor was more than willing to assist and gain some extra knowledge himself. 

Both settled on the bed with their books open and for the next two hours, for the most part, the only thing one could hear was the sound of a page turning and the scratching sound of a pencil meeting paper. They were immersed so fully, they completely forgot the time until the loud laughter of about 5 young male voices interrupted their focus. 

Being Jewish meant Victor had a large extended family. He had 4 uncles and 5 aunts. Each of them had 2-3 children of their own. Not out of the norm, but they were still quite young themselves. More could be on the way. In total, he had 22 first cousins alone. If one would look further, more would be found. 14 of them were male, 8 were female. And only two of them were younger than he was. 

Victor was quite accustomed to loud shouting, the noise, some occasional fighting, and the camaraderie between brothers, so to speak. It was nothing new to him. He did not pay much attention to the noise coming from downstairs. 

The interruption did make him look up at the clock and realize that the hour was late. He needed to go. Quickly, he packed his bag and prepared for the trek back home. Quietly, they descended the stairs so as not to bother anybody, but were stopped by a male voice calling out for John. It belonged to his 17-year-old brother. 

To Victor's surprise, fear rose in him. Despite it, he followed John into the living room. There, John’s brother Tim and his friends were hanging out. Sprawled over the couch were Mark and Will. Sitting on the one-seater sofa to their right was Andrew, while Kevin was occupying the opposite one-seater. Tim was standing on the left of the couch with the remote in his hand, scrolling through the channels. 

The puzzling fear subsided, yet remained. 'Why am I so afraid? ' pondered Victor. Tim informed his little brother that their parents would be absent till 11 pm and asked if he wanted pizza or Chinese. 

Before Victor could really process it, he was on the trek back home. His mind kept wandering why he was feeling the way he felt. He was getting no wiser because of it. Rather, he was getting more and more agitated by it. And that is how he found himself in bed, tossing and turning around, having trouble falling asleep. Deciding he would scroll through some YouTube videos, he happened upon a post that caught his eye. He read the first part and immediately felt seen, heard, and at the same time convicted. 

“Do not be anxious…” Victor let out a large sigh and closed his eyes for a split second. When he reopened them he read the remainder of the verse with an open and humbled heart. 

“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

He remained silent for a while, then, in a simple prayer, turned to God. “Abba, why was I so frightened today? I felt such unease. Why? What did I miss?” 

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To be continued