Today, I'm going to be sharing a testimony of when I had the opposite of a panic attack,
and we're going to take a posture of peace today by putting into practice the process
and the promise that we find in Philippians 4.
Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale.
Posture is a podcast that serves as a short, audible fist bump to remind you that God is
in everything.
Together, we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.
In Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 through 9, it says rejoice in the Lord always, I will
say it again, rejoice.
Let your gentleness be evident to all, the Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your request to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.
And then in verse 8, it says, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice,
and the God of peace will be with you.
So I mentioned yesterday's episode, I'm going to be sharing a testimony today of something
that recently happened to me in the midst of this quarantine that really illuminates
this process and promise that we find in Philippians 4.
At the beginning of this quarantine, when it hit here in the United States, I woke up
one morning and I was feeling this core fear surface, it was that core fear I spoke about
in yesterday's episode, the one that's like, where is this leading?
What's going to happen to me?
That began to permeate in my head and my heart.
And there was so much opportunity, and quite honestly, there was a lot of permission from
it seemed like everyone in the world to be anxious and scared and small and to just give
into the panic.
And I don't remember a lot of details from that day, I kind of tried to go on my typical
work day as much as I could.
But I just remember all day wrestling this low grade panic that just seemed to sit in
my gut all day.
And there were these concerns and these worries and these pressures of what this quarantine
and what this virus could mean for us, mean for our family, mean for me, for our community.
And late that afternoon, my husband, I took a walk around our neighborhood, because that
was all we were allowed to do in quarantine.
And I was about to open my mouth to finally give voice to the panic that had been bubbling.
And I, in that instant, remembered a situation that had happened a few months ago, to Bruce
and I before, where God had provided for us in the midst of a tough circumstance that
we had faced just a few months prior.
And I gave voice to that instead, I said, Babe, hey, remember when this happened a few
months ago, and the Lord, he provided for us?
And he said, Oh, yeah.
And then he brought up another provision.
And then I brought up something and then he brought up something.
And then my husband brought up this prophetic promise that someone had given us.
And that 30 minute walk turned into this remembrance, this time of remembrance, and we began to
give thanks.
And I want to demystify this, there was no big words used, there was no eloquent speech,
it wasn't even really planned.
It was just, it was a very normal conversation.
But Bruce would remind me of something and I would just say, Oh, yeah, thank you, God,
for that.
I had forgotten or Oh, yeah, Lord, you're so good in that situation.
Thank you.
And during that walk, this peace surrounded us as we spent time remembering past breakthrough
and future promise that the Lord had given us.
And then something really unique happened to me.
I still don't really have words for it.
But I'm calling it a joy attack.
Because similar to a panic attack, it overwhelmed my senses.
Like if you've had a panic attack, I hope you haven't.
But if you have had one, you kind of know what I'm talking about, it just overwhelms
kind of all your senses and you begin to get closed in with a sense of panic.
And instead of panic, it was joy, it was excitement, it was anticipation, I had this bubbling anticipation
for what God was going to do.
In the midst of this pandemic, I just had this sense that something much bigger than
the noise and the fear of the crisis was going on and that the Lord was going to move in
a mighty way.
And I had no understanding of like specific details of what God was going to do.
I knew that I knew that I knew that there would be a victory in this for the people
of God.
And it just overwhelmed my senses.
I could feel it.
I could smell it almost and taste it.
It was like every part of me was aligned with a sense of joy and the next day I was still
feeling it.
So I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, what is this?
What's going on?
And I sensed him say, this is what my hope feels like.
Lindsay, you have hope.
Let me just tell you, friend, I want this for you.
I want this for everyone.
What I experienced that day, it hasn't left me.
I've had this great anticipation.
You know, we have so much permission right now
from the world to give in to panic and anxiety,
and yet we have the backing of heaven
to live in the fullness of Christ,
even right now, to experience his peace,
his joy, his hope.
You know, we are living from his fullness every day,
never for it.
We can't earn it.
We can't strive for it.
We can only receive it by walking in it.
So today, put it into practice.
Try it.
Put this process into practice
that we find in Philippians 4.
Rejoice in the Lord.
Rejoice in who God is.
He's loving, he's patient, he's kind,
he's gentle, he's peaceful, he's faithful,
he's good, he's never changing.
Think about those things.
Think about him.
Think about the goodness, the purity.
And then remember who he is.
Remember what he's done before.
Remember what he's promised to do.
And allow the truth of who he is
to quiet the anxiety,
and then give voice to the thanksgiving in your heart.
Bring your request to him
from that posture of thanksgiving,
and I'm telling you, friend,
peace will rise from your spirit,
and it will be a peace that you may not even understand.
It may not even make sense to you
in the natural with all that's going on around you,
but it will rise, and it will surround your heart,
and it will surround your mind.
And friend, in any situation you face,
you will be guarded.
The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26.3.
And in Hebrew, it is shalom, shalom,
meaning complete wholeness,
nothing missing, nothing broken.
This is who you are in Jesus.
Let's declare this together.
Today, I am kept in perfect peace.
With my whole heart, I trust the Lord.
I am strong, I am victorious, I am whole.
Remember, friend, you are a living testimony
of Jesus' ultimate win,
not because of anything you did,
but because of what he did for you.
With every step you take today,
you're putting Jesus' victory on display
and Satan's defeat on replay.
Let's declare this together.
Today, I am kept in perfect peace.
With my whole heart, I trust the Lord.
I am strong, I am victorious, I am whole.
Remember, friend, you are a living testimony
of Jesus' ultimate win,
not because of anything you did,
but because of what he did for you.
With every step you take today,
you're putting Jesus' victory on display
and Satan's defeat on replay.