Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment

240 Pages·2007·1.13 MB·English

by  Linda Dillow

Table of Contents

Epigraph
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM NAVPRESS
Chapter 1 - My Journey to Contentment

CONTENTMENT BEGINS WITH AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
CONTENTMENT HAPPENS ON THE INSIDE
THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT
FROM CONTROL TO CONTENT
TEACUP THEOLOGY
MY CONTENTMENT JOURNEY

Chapter 2 - Content with Circumstances

THE FLIP SIDE
MUD OR STARS?
OUR PART
GOD’S PART
THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
MAKING THE CHOICE TO LOOK AT THE STARS

Chapter 3 - Content to Be Me

GOD CREATED YOUR PERSONALITY
GOD CREATED YOUR BODY
THE CREATION OF YOUR LIFE PURPOSE
YOUR EMERGING PICTURE
A WOMAN OF CHARACTER
FULFILLING GOD’S COMMANDS

Chapter 4 - Content with My Role
I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL ...
WHAT ROLES DO YOU PLAY?
ALL ROLES ARE DIFFICULT
ALL ROLES PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES
THINGS COULD BE MUCH WORSE
WHAT DOES GOD ASK?

Chapter 5 - Content in Relationships

RELATIONSHIP STRUGGLES
JESUS’ EXAMPLE
FORGIVENESS IS NOT AN OPTION
HOW OFTEN MUST I FORGIVE?
I MUST CHOOSE TO FORGIVE
BEYOND FORGIVENESS
RELATIONSHIP CHOICES

Chapter 6 - Never Enough

THE STATE OF THE UNION
CHARGE IT!
THE STATE OF THE UNION AT YOUR HOUSE
GOD’S VIEW OF “NEVER ENOUGH”
DOES GOD HAVE A STANDARD?
WHAT CAN YOU DO AT YOUR HOUSE?
BE ON THE ALERT

Chapter 7 - A Faulty Focus

A FAULTY FOCUS
SET YOUR COURSE
A FIXED FOCUS
WHICH ROOM ARE YOU IN?

Chapter 8 - Worry Is Like a Rocking Chair

SOBBING IN A NEW YORK AIRPORT
ANXIETY DEFINED
WORRY IS DESTRUCTIVE
IS ANXIETY A SIN?
CAST YOUR ANXIETY ON JESUS
MY ANXIETY BOX
FREEDOM FROM WORRY IS A PROCESS
CHANGE MY NAME TO “WORRY-FREE”

Chapter 9 - Faith : The Foundation

FAITH IS ROOTED IN GOD’S CHARACTER
GOD IS SOVEREIGN
GOD IS WISE
GOD IS LOVE
FAITH IN GOD’S WORD
THE FAITH WALK

Chapter 10 - Trusting God with the What Ifs

MAKE THE LORD YOUR TRUST
PLAYING BALL WITH GOD

Chapter 11 - Trusting God with the If Onlys

AVOIDING THE IF ONLYS
ACCEPTING GOD’S PORTION FOR YOU
REMEMBERING THE DEEDS OF THE LORD

Chapter 12 - Trusting God with the Whys

THE CROOKED AND THE STRAIGHT
HABAKKUK: A MAN WITH A CROOKED SITUATION
MY CROOKED SITUATION
YET WILL YOU TRUST HIM?

A Personal Letter
Twelve-Week Bible Study for Calm My Anxious Heart
Notes
Author
“Calm My Anxious Heart invites us to examine a universal need for contentment. As each aspect of
this need is probed, Linda gently points us to the One who can meet all the longings of our heart.”
— MIMI WILSON, author of
The Once a Month Cookbook

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© 1998, 2007 by Linda Dillow
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission
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ISBN-13: 978-1-60006-141-7
Cover design by studiogearbox.com
Cover image by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Creative Team: Terry Behimer, Darla Hightower, Arvid Wallen, Kathy Guist Unless otherwise identified,
all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION (niv ). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Other versions used include: the New American Standard
Bible (nasb), © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977; the New
Testament in Modern English (ph), J. B. Phillips Translator, © J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972, used by
permission of Macmillan Publishing Company; the Living Bible (tlb), © 1971, used by permission of
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, all rights reserved; the Amplified Bible (amp), © The
Lockman Foundation 1954, 1958, 1962,1964,1965,1987; the New King James Version (nkjv), © 1979,
1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers; and the King James Version (kjv).
Dillow, Linda, Calm my anxious heart/Linda Dillow.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-57683-047-0; 160006-141-9
1. Peace of mind — Religious aspects — Christianity. 2. Dillow, Linda. I. Title.
BV4908.5.D55 1998
248.4 — dc21
98-6268
CIP
Printed in the United States of America 6 7 8 9 10/ 12 11 10 09
To the women in Eastern Europe who lived contentment before me.