He Knows Our Anxious Thoughts
Do you suffer from anxiety? This emotion, this feeling, appears to manifest itself in multiple ways, according to Merriam-Webster:
1 a (1): apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending or anticipated ill: a state of being anxious;
(2) medical: an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physical signs (such as tension, sweating, and increased pulse rate), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one’s capacity to cope with it;
1 b: mentally distressing concern or interest;
1 c: a strong desire sometimes mixed with doubt, fear, or uneasiness
Wow. Anxiety goes beyond a feeling and affects our bodies as well.
In April 2020, I endured anxiety unlike any other time that I can recall in my life. My family and I were at my childhood home, cleaning it out and packing my mother’s stuff to store for her. With thirty-seven years’ worth of stuff to sort through, the task itself seemed overwhelming. But I think it was the emotions – love, loss, sadness, disappointment, fear, nostalgia, guilt – that finally got to me. Our family was going through the emotions of a “major life change” ourselves having recently moved, and we were all anxious about the pandemic.
I had a full-blown anxiety attack. I couldn’t breathe and my heart felt like it would beat out of my chest. Under normal circumstances, I probably would have asked my husband to take me to an emergency room. But, under the circumstances, I had to weigh the risk of being infected versus finding some other way to get through the attack. After a couple of hours, my breathing returned to normal and my heart rate slowed.
I realized that night that I needed something I could cling to when my emotions or my body seemed out of control. I decided to search my Bible app for verses to combat anxiety, and what I discovered amazed me, although it shouldn’t have. Our Father in heaven knows what we need even before we do, and He made sure to put instructions for us in His Word. I found many references to anxiety and how we can handle it. I committed several of them to memory in 2020 so that I could better care for myself.
The first verse I chose to memorize is short and to the point, “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy” Psalm 94:19 NIV. When we’re overwhelmed with anxiety (or any emotion really), we can turn it over to Father God, He will console us, and we can find joy in Him regardless of our circumstances.
The next verse I memorized tells us what to do, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” I Peter 5:7 NIV. Whatever we’re anxious about, we can cast it onto our Father knowing He cares about us.
The third passage I committed to memory not only tells me what to do but also what God will do in return, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken” Psalm 55:22 NIV. We need to trust that God cares about the things we care about and that He will take care of us.
The final verse I want to remember is often quoted and gives us several instructions and a promise, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:6-7 NIV (emphasis mine). Paul tells us there is no need to be anxious – ever – but that we only need to go to our loving Father with a thankful heart and tell Him our requests. His response will be peace through Christ. Now, that does not mean that everything will immediately work itself out and be okay. Instead, I believe it means that in sharing our concerns and our requests with God, our focus shifts from us to Father God and that leaves us with the sense of peace that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
This is a practice that takes time, sometimes praying over and over again. I’ve heard people express guilt for praying the same thing day after day, but I don’t believe God sees us as lacking because of our repeated requests. I think He sees it as an exercise of growth: the more we ask Him the stronger we grow in our faith the more we learn to lean on Him.
This is just a sampling of scriptures that convince me that God knows what we encounter on this earth, and He has prepared us for all of it, if only we know where to look.
Last year, our family experienced many changes: environmentally-we sold a house, moved from a 4000+ square foot home to a 39-foot RV, renovated a 500 square foot garage apartment, and moved to that apartment; educationally-our older daughter graduated high school and started college while our younger daughter applied to and was accepted to a performing arts school, bringing our homeschool days to an end; personally-each of us experienced the emotions of change, growth, and anxiety that those transitions would normally cause – all while learning how to live and stay well in a global pandemic.
Whatever you’re facing, I hope you’ll do what I did. Reach for your Bible. Find out what God says about it. See if there’s any directions to help you. Pray about everything, even if it seems too small to “bother” God about; if you care about it, He cares about it because He cares about YOU!
Be blessed and be a blessing!
Please know that in no way am I discounting the severity of anxiety disorders. There are some who need medical treatment to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety because its cause is more than a feeling or emotion.
