Anxiety is described as intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Contrary to the belief of many who do not struggle with anxiety, it is not controllable. Nor is it something people choose to allow in their life. Those who suffer with it want nothing more than to be relieved from the constant nagging of worry and fear.
Statistics show that 40 million Americans are affected by anxiety every year. Which accounts for about 18% of the U.S. population. One must assume though that this is a low number. Due to the fact that many people, like myself, have never attempted to seek outside help for their anxiety.
God Knew
We can see that anxiety is a big issue that many people struggle with today. So it should come as no surprise that our all-knowing God was prepared for this. He included in His word verses that show us how we can fight anxiety. But not only are we able to fight it, by living out these verses we can defeat it.
Give It To God
Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Paul is not simply saying that as Christians we should just not be anxious. He is saying that we have no reason to be anxious. We serve a God who is there to help us and provide for our needs. There is no reason for us to try to handle everything and fight anxiety on our own. We just need to give whatever worries us over to God through prayer. Then the joy and peace of God will flood into our lives.
Of course, it’s not always easy to hand our worries and fears over to the Lord. But it is what we must do in order to receive true peace. We have to actually let go of the worry and fear. Truly casting all our worries on to the Lord just like we the scriptures say we should. By doing this we are showing God that we trust Him to provide for us. The great thing is that God truly wants to take on our burdens.
Psalm 55:22 (ESV)
22 Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
Jesus’s Teaching On Worry
Anxiety is nothing new. It was prevalent in the times of Jesus as well. People worried about what they would eat and drink. They even worried about what they would wear. These things are still the cause of much worry for many today. Which is why Jesus took time during the sermon on the mound to speak directly about anxiety.
Matthew 6:25 (ESV)
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Jesus comes in strong and tells us to just not worry about those things. Pointing out that our life is about more. He goes on to explain that since God provides for the birds we should not worry because He will provide for us a well. Even pointing out how beautifully adorned the flowers are. Showing that God will provide us with good things to wear as well.
Matthew 6:26 (ESV)
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:28-30 (ESV)
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Jesus is trying to show that we have no reason to worry because we serve a God that is in control of all things. He knows what we need and will provide. Simply having this knowledge that is completely backed up by scriptures is reason enough to let go of fear and worry. All we need to do is keep our focus on His kingdom. Then those things which we need will be provided to us.
Matthew 6:31-33 (ESV)
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Jesus wraps up His message on worry by telling us not to worry about tomorrow. Either way, it is coming so we might as well focus on what is in front of us today. And let the thing that lies in the next day wait their turn.
Matthew 6:34 (ESV)
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Putting It Into Practice
We have talked about how the only way to defeat anxiety is to give you worry and fear to the Lord. But how do you really do it? This is hard to explain, but hopefully, I can simply layout how I have been able to overcome anxiety in various aspects of my life.
Please note that you probably will not completely eliminate anxiety from your life all at once. It’s also not likely that you will never struggle with anxiety again. But I promise that if you continue in the Lord you will see a change in your anxiety level.
An Example From My Life
It was one night while struggling for hours to fall asleep that I learned how to give my worry to the Lord. My first flight was the next morning and my mind was racing. Will it be busy, will the bags be over the weight limit, will our carry on be small enough, and don’t get me started on TSA. Needless to say, I was freaking out and sleep seemed like it would never come.
Finally, after way too much time spent worrying, I begin to think about scriptures. About the love of God and how He takes care of His creation. Then those scriptures about casting your burdens on the Lord came to my mind. Before I knew it, I was praying.
I started by asking God to take the worry away. To allow me to go to sleep. But then it hit me in the face. I didn’t need to just ask God to take the anxiety away. I needed to hand all my worry and fear over to him. So I stopped asking and told God it was all His. That I would give Him that which was bothering me. That I would trust Him to handle everything and I would sit back. Choosing to cruise through whatever came my way.
Everything the next day at the airport went extremely well. And to be honest, I can’t tell you whether I stopped praying and fell right asleep or fell asleep and stopped praying. All I can say is after my prayer sleep came with no problems. At times I still find myself overcome with worry. But now I slow down and allow God to take control. Then worry melts away and I receive the peace that only God can provide.
Now You Give It To God
We often think we are in control, but the truth is the situations we allow ourselves to worry about are never in our control. God is always in control. We just wrongly think that we have control over a situation and affect the outcome. Instead, we should simply walk into the situations we are led to and embrace what God has prepared for us.
So pray and tell God that you trust Him. Give your worries and problems over to him. If you are able to do this you will experience a peace that is truly unexplainable. And remember that all the worrying you do will never fix or change any situation.
Matthew 6:27 (ESV)
27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
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