Fear and anxiety. I’m sure we’re familiar with those two words. Most of us have experienced them at some level. The world is unstable and can create fear and anxiety in us. There’s so much uncertainty when we take our eyes off Christ. We begin to worry about our kids, spouse, family, work, school, health, and the list goes on. We allow worldly things to consume us. Before we know it, fear and anxiety have crept in. Soon it becomes days, weeks, months, and even years. We begin to see anxiety as part of who we are. That’s how it was for me.
Throughout my life, there have been periods in which I dealt with anxiety for a certain amount of time. Sometimes it was worse than others. I always told myself that anxiety was just part of who I was, and just figured I would have to accept it and move on. I referred to anxiety as mine. When I spoke about it, I would begin my sentence with “my anxiety….” and then proceeded to share what I was experiencing. I owned it and fed into it. I gave in to it because I believed I didn’t have any other choice.
CONSUMED BY ANXIETY
In 2018 I began to feel increased anxiety. There wasn’t any specific reason as to why I began to feel this way. I noticed that certain things started to instill more and more fear in me, and I gradually became filled with overwhelming anxiety. It was paralyzing. I spent a lot of time crying from how consumed I felt by it. As the weeks went by, it started getting worse and affecting many areas of my life. I couldn’t function as a wife and mom without letting everything consume me.
I knew I had hit my breaking point when I took my son to the swimming pool for the first time. As I saw my son and husband approaching the pool, I froze. My heart began to race, and my eyes immediately filled with tears. I was consumed by extreme fear. The worst thoughts crossed my mind. I pictured my son drowning. My husband saw the fear on my face and asked if I wanted our son out of the pool. I wanted to say yes so badly, but I knew I couldn’t continue to feed my anxiety by giving in.
MY LACK OF TRUST IN GOD
Friends, this is where God’s beautiful providence and sovereignty are evident. A few months after the pool incident, our small group season began. We signed up and were excited to attend our first group in this new Church. At this point, I was crying almost every day. I felt so helpless. Little did I know that God was going to use this group to open my eyes to the reason for my fear and anxiety. During the women’s accountability time, we talked about our sin struggles. Although I never saw my fear and anxiety as sin, I shared those struggles because I knew I needed encouragement and support. After that day, I intentionally sought God for this specific area of my life. I never thought of focusing my attention in this area because I always believed it was just part of who I was.
Every morning I would start my days with a few Bible verses that specifically spoke about fear and anxiety. One morning, as I was going through the verses, I read Psalm 56:3– and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I paused and said, “That’s it. I don’t trust God.” Oh my goodness, I had just realized that I was sinning against Him. Immediately I cried and asked God to forgive me for not trusting Him in all the areas of my life. It wasn’t the first time I had read that verse, but it had never impacted me. I was shocked to have learned that my fear and anxiety were due to a lack of trust. I love how God uses our struggles and trials to bring us closer to Him. It allows us to see our dependence on God in every aspect of our lives.
Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you”
WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL
After realizing where my problem lied, I knew I had to seek Scripture that would help me grow in my trust in God. So I started studying God’s sovereignty. It was so eye-opening, life-changing, and I felt a sense of relief. I came to another realization- that I was not in control of my life and the life of my family. We tend to believe that we have complete control over the outcome of our family or situations, but we don’t. No matter what we do or how much we worry, God’s plan for our lives will not change. He will accomplish His purpose (Job 42:2). I’m not saying to live a careless life, but trying to control every situation isn’t going to change the outcome. It’s about trusting God with our entire lives.
I believed that if I restricted my son from doing certain things, that I would keep him safe. God is our protector and the provider of our needs, and we have to believe that to find rest in Him. It’s easier said than done, I know- trust me. I still struggle with it to some degree. But I have to continue to seek Scripture and remind myself of God’s promises. Because if I take my eyes off Him and place them in this world, I will quickly be consumed by anxiety. The problem begins when we place confidence in ourselves and trust in our abilities. The fact that God is in control should be a comforting thought.
Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us. ~ Elisabeth Elliot
FEAR NOT
Jesus used these two words often (Luke 12:32, Matt 10:31, Isa. 44:2). He knows our weakness and tendency to fear. He experienced fear and distress in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44, Mark 14:32-34). Jesus was a man of sorrows (Isa.53:3). It’s comforting to know that He understands us. But despite His fear, He trusted His Father. This shows us that not all fear and anxiety are sins, which is something I wanted to clarify. It’s normal for us to experience fear of danger and pain. However, in my case, fear and anxiety stemmed from a lack of trust in God. I was placing trust in myself.
The crazy thing about worrying is that we don’t have a problem trusting that God can redeem, transform, and give us eternal life- but for some reason, we don’t fully believe He can or will help us through our trials, sufferings, and fears. If I trust Him with the big things, why don’t I trust Him with the smaller things? How can I believe that Scripture is inerrant, but when things happen, I turn around and doubt His promises? It’s when I ask myself these questions, and remind myself of His faithfulness, that I realize how silly it is to think, that for some reason, He is not going to be there for me at that moment.
WE FIND COMFORT IN HIS WORD
Throughout Scripture, we are constantly instructed not to fear or be anxious. God cares about our anxieties (1 Pet 5:7), and He wants us to seek Him and take our troubles to Him (Phil. 4:6). God wants us to know that we have nothing to worry about. He will provide for our needs (Matt 6:25-26). We are an adopted son or daughter of the King (Gal. 4:4-6, 2 Cor. 6:18), so how can we ever think that He will not be there for us? He will never abandon His children (Heb. 13:5, Deut. 31:6, 8), and that is a comforting promise we can meditate on in times of fear and doubt. Nothing will separate us from God (Rom 8:35-39).
We can look at God’s attributes to find comfort. He is a faithful God who keeps His promises (1 Cor. 1:9, Deut. 7:9, Heb. 10:23). We can find comfort in His omniscient power, being that He already knows our pain and needs even before we go to Him (1 John 3:20, Ps. 139:1-6). Although we may not have the words to express our pain, He knows exactly what we feel and need. God is also omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-12, Jer. 23:24 ), meaning He is everywhere. His essence is infinite and immense. We are never alone. As you’re reading this, He is there with you. We can lean on God’s truthfulness to know that everything He has spoken through Scripture is true (Isa. 65:16, Ps. 119:160). His immutability assures us that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8, Mal. 3:6). His love, grace, mercy, compassion, comfort, promises, and everything else will never change. Even as we see this world-changing, He never will.
ENCOURAGEMENT
We have to remember that fear is not of God. He didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of love and self-control (2 Tim. 1:7). Our Father in Heaven has given us all the spiritual resources we need for every trial and suffering. He gives us a kind of peace that will help us in times of trouble. Philippians 4:7 tells us that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. We are promised inner calmness. How amazing is that? Our confidence rests in the reality that God is ready, willing, and able to do what is best for His children. Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for the good of those who love Him.
We need to set our eyes on the cross when we feel consumed by fear, anxiety, or other sin struggles. Remind yourself that when Jesus died for our sins, that also included our sinful fears. We are no longer slaves to our sin (Rom. 8:15-16, Rom. 6). We don’t have to accept the lies of the enemy that tell us that we don’t have a way out. God has promised that sin no longer has dominion over us (Rom. 6:13-14), and that’s a promise we should hold on to. God wants His children to think about everything that is true, honorable, pure, and lovely (Phil. 4:8). We have to focus on the things of God and move towards the right thinking.
Revisiting those horrible moments of anxiety is a reminder of God’s faithfulness and love for us. We are not promised a life without pain, challenges, and trials. But God will always be there to comfort us through our toughest times. We may think we’re alone in our struggles, and I want to tell you that you are not alone. We all have sin struggles, we just need to make sure we’re running to the source of life.
BE THERE FOR OTHERS
Galatians 6:2 tells us to bear one another’s burdens. If we know anyone who is experiencing anxiety, we should be there for them. We can encourage them with God’s Word, prayer, and helping them any way we can. I am so grateful for the women in my small group. They played a huge part in keeping my encouraged through His Word, kept me accountable in memorizing Scripture, and reminded me that this anxiety wasn’t who I was. When I felt anxious, they were only a phone call or text away. It’s comforting to know I have these sisters in Christ in my life to pray for me and lead me towards truth.
I hope that through reading this, you are reminded that we find our comfort and peace in God’s Word and sovereignty. Isaiah 41:10 and Isaiah 43:1 are two of my favorite verses that I memorized during those rough days, and I still meditate on it when I feel anxiety is starting to creep in. I find so much comfort in these verses. They remind me that I belong to God and He is with me every second of every day. Staying grounded in the Word will help us overcome those daily things that can consume us. Because the moment we take our eyes of Christ, we are most likely to be consumed by this unstable world.
When you feel consumed by your sin struggles, open your Bible, and find comfort in the One who loves you. Through Jeremiah, our Lord told His people, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jer. 31:3). Isaiah declared the abundance of our Lord’s steadfast love (Isa.63:7). And In Ephesians 2:4-5, Paul tells us that God is rich in mercy because of His great love. Hold fast to these verses, and never forget that God loves you.
This post really is so heartfelt and deep. Thanks for sharing it and making us understand how God is always there for us. ♥️
I appreciate your feedback, Anisha. I’m glad you found this article helpful. Thank you for subscribing to my blog and for your encouragement.
I absolutely loved this! The biblical truths here are so encouraging no matter what someone is facing but especially when dealing with anxiety. Personally I’ve noticed the same pattern in my life where I will start focusing less on God and more on the world, and my anxiety goes up. We MUST always keep our minds focused on Him and remember these truths you explore in this post! Great read??
Thank you for your feedback, Luke. I’m happy to know that you found encouragement in God’s truths as you read through this.
Thank you for this post! I’ve struggled with anxiety for the past few years and appreciate the scriptural encouragement.
Hi Jennie. I appreciate the transparency in your comment. It’s encouraging to hear that you found comfort in God’s Word. Thank you for your feedback.