Anxious for Nothing
2020 has been quite the year. From pandemics to unrest to wildfires to elections – this year has shaken us in so many ways. To many this year has been a reminder to pray and trust in the Lord, but to many it has also been a year of anxiety.
Ever since starting college, Philippians 4:4-8 has been my go-to passage for handling anxiety, and especially this past week I have been quoting verses 6-7 on repeat.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:4-8
With all the anxiety people are facing right now (and, I admit, the anxiety I’ve been feeling, too), I decided to look into what the Bible has to say about handling anxiety. Here are 4 ways to deal with anxiety:
1: Pray and Rejoice.
casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
As Philippians 4:6 says, one of the best ways to remedy anxiety is to pray. A lot of anxiety stems from things in the future or things we cannot control. But our God is not bound by time, and He is in complete control. While we may not have the power to affect our circumstances or the future, God does, and we can pray to our all-powerful God who cares for us about our anxieties. God is our loving Father who desires to hear our prayers and to answer them.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:7-11
We are also instructed to rejoice always, and Philippians 4:6 says to pray with thanksgiving. This is another important aspect of battling anxiety. Giving thanks changes our mindset from what-if to thankfulness for what we do have. Sometimes the commands to give thanks in everything and rejoicing always can seem impossible, since bad things do happen. But our rejoicing and thanksgiving are not about our circumstances; it is about our God. In God we always have hope and a reason for joy because we have been given salvation and the promise of eternity. We can rejoice in the Holy Spirit who is always with us to strengthen and guide us. We can rejoice in the work that God is doing in the earth to spread the gospel and make His name known, even if we can’t see it right now. We can rejoice and give thanks always because of how awesome our God is. And when we focus on our God instead of our problems, it repels anxiety.
2: Dwell on good. Philippians 4:8 instructs us to dwell on true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and praiseworthy things. As with rejoicing, when we focus our minds on what is good rather than on what-ifs or how big our problems are, it reduces anxiety. This doesn’t mean we act like bad things never happen (that’s kinda hard to do in 2020 anyways), but instead we choose to not dwell on what-ifs and instead dwell on how big our God is and the hope we have in Him.
3: Remember who God is.
Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Isaiah 35:3-4
‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10
If the Lord had not been my help, My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence. If I should say, “My foot has slipped,” Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up. When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul. Psalm 94:17-19
But the Lord has been my stronghold, And my God the rock of my refuge. Psalm 94:22
God is with us. He saves. He is our strength, our help, our stronghold, our rock, our refuge. He upholds us. When you are anxious, I encourage you to read a list of the attributes of God, read the Psalms and list out the attributes of God you find. There is so much encouragement to be found in remembering how mighty and loving our God is.
4: Seek His Kingdom.
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:25-33
I love this passage. Reading about the care God has put into the birds, the lilies, and the grass and realizing how much more He cares for me encourages my heart. And then Jesus says that instead of worrying, we should seek His kingdom and righteousness, and God will take care of the rest.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8
God is trustworthy. When we are rooted in Him, we do not need to live in anxiety because we know He cares for us.
In looking up passages on worry and anxiety, the story of Mary and Martha came up, which goes so perfectly with Jesus’ instructions to seek the kingdom instead of worrying.
Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
I sympathize with Martha. I feel bad for her that she was doing all the work, and I can understand her worrying. After all, she’s trying to serve people, so her worry is excused, right? Isn’t that how we often justify worrying? If we’re worrying about a good thing, then our worry isn’t bad. But Jesus told her that the good part, the necessary thing, was sitting at His feet, listening to His word. There are a lot of reasons to worry right now, but that good, necessary thing is still the same. We still need to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His word. We still need to seek His kingdom and righteousness first. That is how we face anxiety – by going to Jesus. If we rely on our own strength, listen to the world that tells us to worry and be anxious, we are left drained. But at Jesus’ feet we are refreshed, energized, and given strength to face the problems of this world. We need Jesus.
I hope this has been an encouragement to your heart today as it was to mine. Let’s pray and rejoice, dwell on good, remember who our God is, and seek Jesus.
In closing, I’d like to share Proverbs 12:25:
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.
A lot of people’s hearts are weighed down right now. Let’s share the good news of Jesus, that in Him there is hope – always.
With love,
Kelsey
