Working in a hospital for 32 years, I was familiar with where anxious hearts go.
Having been instrumental in making sure that special place within the hospital walls remained as a respite, our hospital "chapel" was small but always offered calm amidst the storm. It was a place to seek God. A place to find hope.
The term chapel is ultimately derived from the Latin word cappa, meaning "cloak." So how did we get from a garment to a building?
According to the most widespread variation of the story, St. Martin cut off half of his cloak in order to offer it to a beggar. Along the way, he gave the remaining part to a second beggar.
As he faced a long ride in freezing weather, the dark clouds cleared away. The sun shone intensely and the frost melted away. Such weather was rare for early November in France. So it was credited to God's intervention.
Eventually a shrine or chapel was created to hold the sacred cloak of St. Martin of Tours. And the rest is history.
I love what Philippians 4:6-7 says about an anxious heart, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Christian recording artist Jeremy Camp knows the journey of an anxious heart. He lost his first wife to ovarian cancer after they had been married for less than four months. He was twenty-three & she was only twenty-one.
Jeremy's song brings assurance, "My strength has grown weak. No words left to speak. I fall to my knees. 'Cause I know what I need. You're the calm for my anxious heart."
This week my troubled heart didn't have a "chapel" to run to, so I fell into the arms of Jesus instead. He's the calm for every fear, the calm for every trial.
Run to Him! God will always be there for your anxious heart.
