Tag Archives: anxiety

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What the bible says about anxiety

Humility Preserves Peace

Stepping out from a doctor’s appointment, my heart was racing with thoughts of being so unprepared for this part of my story. Soothing words wrestled with my emotions, but it didn’t take away the feeling of losing control.

Flipping my bible open to verses on anxiety, I read 1 Peter 5:6 and my heart sank with the first two words: “Humble yourselves.” Was my anxiety stemming from pride?

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV)

humilityAnxiety and stress can tempt us to lose sight of the sovereignty of God. Fear might overcompensate with pride and persuade us the outcome can be controlled. The problem with these emotions is that they will wear our human hands and hearts out.

A humble heart acknowledges the mighty hand of our Sovereign God and can accept that we’re not in control. Humility helps us let go of the questions and cast our cares with confidence in a loving, powerful God.

When we’re willing to release our grip on life and pray from a place of surrender and humility, we see the Truth that God cares enough for us to work it all out for our good.

The Almighty God who got us here can also take us there. He cares that much for us.

Are you still holding onto control in an area of your life, as if you can handle all that is coming your way? When those anxious feelings come up, think about where your future rests. Will any of your decisions change what God already has in mind?

If you feel like you’re drowning in anxiety, here’s a good place to refocus those thoughts: Father God, I know You are for me and not against me. You hold my past, present, and future in Your hands and will not let me stumble. Help me step down from the throne of control and humbly accept Your love and peace. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

© 2020 by Trisha Keehn. All rights reserved.

First Published on Beloved Women

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Faith is what will move you forward

The holidays can bring the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The pressure reveals the best and worst of our emotions. Depression. Anxiety. Loneliness. Worry.

My therapist once told me that depression is living in the past without God and anxiety is living in the future without God. If worries have you wrapped up during the holidays, one way to shrink these woes is with worship. Pacifying the pain with temporary pleasures can leave lasting consequences. But choosing to put our minds on praise releases the pressure to fix the problem and places our concerns in the hand of our Great Physician.

faith moves, When you lift up your hands in surrender, you let go of all you’ve been holding onto; your finances, your relationships, your job.

We don’t worship because all is good.

We worship because Jesus is good.

His character is good. We can worship because His Word is good!

He works all things out for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NIV

You can give your realities a glance, but our Heavenly Father is worth your stare.

If you want freedom this Christmas season, take control of how you feel, remember God’s faithfulness in His Word and surrender to your faith.

No weapon formed against me shall prosper. Isaiah 54:17 NIV

Walk by what you know. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 NIV

Faith is what will move you forward.

Remember your promise to me; it is my only hope. Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles. O LORD, your unfailing love fills the earth; teach me your decrees. You have done many good things for me, LORD, just as you promised. ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:49-50, 64-65‬ NIV

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The Beginning of Community

Starts in your soul

Minutes pass slowly, as I breathe in the gentle air of Heaven. The resistance in life that tugs on every string I try to pull has frustrated my once settled soul. All these outward cravings clouding the inward search are a clue that my living has become a cover up to the cries beneath what can be seen.
He says it’s courage that has led me down a difficult road, beyond the grave of woundedness and denial, to enter into this desert of being alone.
“Do not run,” He says, “just be still and quiet. Listen to your own struggle.”
It seems that while the silence grows deeper, I become more and more aware of a presence embracing my soul. And as a deep peace fills the empty space, I know it can only be Christ in me that recognizes Christ in all that is surrounding.
“Here I am!” I yell.
community, community with God, peace, community with othersThrowing his arms around me, the warmth holds me like I am His. Like He has been here the whole time waiting. We look at each other for a long while, until the corners of my smile tremble and the tears flush away the last remnants of fear.
Collapsing on this trail of mercy all my thoughts are safe with Him. “I am tired, Lord. I’m not sure which way to go. Tether my wandering heart. Every anxious thought, secure it to your promises. For the love, Lord! I want nothing without You. You know this. I’m not looking for answers. I’m listening to the questions. Breathe, O breath of God.”
He offers me the chance to stay alone and take the risk of entering into my own experience, without being immersed in more knowledge or illusive advice.
So I remain.
He assures my desperate heart that unknown beauty is growing just below. “One day this desert will be a garden,” He insists.
Bringing my heart to this place of community with God alone is the beginning. My soul sways with the breeze. Spirit, breathe Your heart in me. Carve your ways into the fibers of my being.
From now on, wherever You go, or wherever I go, all the ground between us will be Holy Ground. And this is where my community begins.
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Making Friends With Fear

Do you live as afraid as I do?

Fearful of this memo pad with a mountain of to do’s and the daily snowfall of demands for my time. I’m terrified of telling friends I can’t meet for coffee or commit to dinner or even a phone call. The guilt and judgment that comes with letting people down scares the heck out of me. Staring at the mess of my past, I’m even frightened for the mate who is stuck with this backpack of struggles I carry around.

There’s remnants of a people-pleasing problem laced in the pain of my anxieties. Even as I write this, there’s a stream of sadness warping the sheets of paper because I want to be free from all of it. The fear of what others think. The shame that comes when I can’t keep up with the crowd. And here’s an underlying truth: it is hard to love people well if you do not show love to yourself.

For the last couple of months, I’ve experimented with different methods. There’s a mound of library books about anxiety toppling over the corner of my desk. Self-help podcasts sit on my desktop waiting to be played. I’ve tossed out thoughts with a therapist and swallowed vitamin supplements to relax. None of these are lasting solutions.

One of the great paradoxes of living life as a believer is gaining control over our thoughts while also surrendering them to Jesus?pain, struggle, pray it down, prayer

In Scripture (Philippians 4:7), Jesus tells us that when we’ve given our anxiety and our prayers to the Lord, we will receive the gift of peace: “and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

We receive the Lord’s peace when we pray. Literally, God’s peace descends upon us and takes action! It guards our hearts and our minds. Live in prayer and you will live in peace! There will be quietness and confidence in our lives because instead of getting “worked up” over life’s problems we are choosing to “pray them down.”
Prayer not only gives us peace but it arms us with a conquering spirit, an overcoming spirit. We begin to believe again. We believe to trust the promises of God again. We begin to stand in the strength that is our God when we pray.

We’re never more anxious to receive from God than He is willing to provide. Once we accept the sting of death is real and can happen, we drop this daily fear of living bravely. This is when we really leap into a life worth living.

William Shakespheare, purpose, gift, serve, what is your gift, gift of writingWe are all busy people doing important stuff. There’s a lot to do and not enough time. Life isn’t waiting on our schedule to catch up. In all of this strategizing and planning to be effective with what we have, let us not neglect the one thing that brings clarity to everything else: regular time with our heavenly Father.

Fear doesn’t have to be an enemy if we learn to put it to work. Healthy fear forces you to tune-in and pay close attention to what’s standing between you and living a free life.

Fear alerts you when to be cautious and when you to be bold with your choices. When you learn to master fearful emotions they become the most powerful wisdom teachers directing your decisions.

When you give fear the irrational power to paralyze you, it will stifle your progress. Fear is an opportunity to drive change in your life. For this reason, always remind yourself everything you want stands on the other side of fear.

Let go of the fear holding your mind hostage and start making friends with it.

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Don’t Open The Door

The Dream

Under the covers, there I was sleeping peacefully when a knock came at the door. One knock turned into incessant knocking. With pillows now smooshing my face into the sheets, it was evident I had been turning over in an attempt to sleep off the obnoxious noise.

But now the neighborly knocks shifted into disturbing shouts. A husky voice behind the door hollered, “Open up this door. Let me in, now”.

Half asleep, my mind was drawing a half circle conclusion that the urgency behind this voice wasn’t because someone was in need of help.

My mind was at rest. Reaching for the phone on my nightstand, the only plan I had was to type out a text to a friend about how annoying this was.

The fist behind fast knocking flipped into aggressive pounding.

This doesn’t seem right, I thought. If there’s so much strength trying to scare me from behind that door, then why don’t they just break a window or shoot the lock open and enter the place? Weird.

The pounding now echoing through stillness of my house, I sat up. There was no panic in my mind; only peace. And yet, I felt it would be wise to climb into the closet and call someone. So I moseyed out of bed and dialed 9-1-1.

The Door (in the dream)

It’s been months since that morning I woke up with that image of a door and the devil in my dream.

don't open the door, the devil is knocking,Why not just break a window, I thought.

The Lord said, he can’t come inside unless you open that door.

The devil can’t break into your ‘house’, your temple, your mind, unless you invite him in. With all the tools in his toolbox, and every huff and puff of terror building up on the outside, the devil can’t pry open the door.

It is impossible.

Sure, he may stir up some fear, but the enemy can’t crack even the weakest walls when it’s built with a strong foundation.

“The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you.” (Deuteronomy 1:30) That’s His promise to you. Let the Lord do your heavy lifting. How? By calling out to Jesus. I find that I need to physically get into a position of surrender on my knees to tap into the power of peace.

When you open the door and let peace out, you let confusion in.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10).doors, the devil comes knocking, the Lord comes knocking, door of opportunity

Satan is standing outside your door, and he’s knocking to come in.

The doors are different for each of us. What does yours look like?

Mine is anxiety… dwelling on concerns, worries and self-imposed deadlines. Yours might be depression. It could be distractions. Maybe the door is an ‘opportunity’ you shouldn’t draw near to.

The enemy is a prince of persuasion. In his hand are some empty promises, wrapped up as a few of your weaknesses; alcohol, romantic relationships, money, your own influence with people.

The devil’s knock may be under the disguise of helping you when you’re down. He needs you to open the door and let him into your life in order to destroy you.

“These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” (Revelation 3:7)

God is Peace. God is your Peace.

Peace is evidence of the presence of God and it’s for your benefit to pursue peace in all areas of your life, even when the noise at your door gets louder.

Revelation 3:7, what he shuts no one can open, what he opens no one can shut, the who holds the key of DavidPeace is not determined by your circumstances. Peace is the presence of God. It is present to guard your heart and mind.

And I want you to know, when the enemy comes in the night to stir up your peace, grace is laced in the blood of Christ dripping from your doorpost as the angel of death grips the knob.

One last note. If you haven’t asked Jesus to be the Peace in your life, it may be His voice calling out to you on the other side of that door.

In Revelation, Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

So how do you know the difference? Pray. When you call out to Him in prayer, in Jesus’ name, He comes like a mighty rushing wind into your heart. He may be the one at the door asking you to open up to Him.

Let Peace inside and it will never leave you.

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Fighting Fruit Or A Fragmented Faith?

I am staring down this piece of fruit sitting on my desk. I packed it for a nutritious snack later. I’m thinking about the juiciness of this pear and how tasty it would be on my tongue. You will not surely die from a bite, I thought.

But I’ve decided to move the fruit out of eyesight as I’m praying for the peace of Christ to reign supreme over my heart. I’m proclaiming the power that is in Him to be stronger than any desire in me for ‘more’. My hunger for Jesus is bigger than my hunger for the things in this world.

You may be asking, ‘what’s the big deal? It’s just a piece of fruit. Why take such a spiritual stand against something so seemingly harmless?’

I struggle with anxiety. For more than a decade I took anti-depressants, but have been off medications for more than two years now. With that choice has come increasing anxiety. New prescriptions for another health concern perpetuate the panic and add to my angst. When my blood boils, I band-aid the burden by biting into food to release the tension. Then I workout like a body builder to burn the calories I consume. It’s a vicious cycle.

Emotional eating is a shortcut solution the enemy uses to soothe pain on the surface of my underlying issues. When concerns turn into conundrums and consume my thoughts, I mindlessly eat to pacify the problem. I even started drinking decaf coffee. What is even the point of that? But I deducted tranquility is more important to my troubling heart than the jolt of caffeine revving up my metabolism. Stopping coffee altogether is not an option, are you crazy?!

So this brings me back to my stand against Satan, and that succulent piece of fruit (that was) sitting on my desk. The plague won’t let up, but maybe it’s because I just won’t let some things go! I’m aware of his sneaky way to steal the self control God is strengthening me with. I can hear the enemy saying, ‘you will not surely die’.Pear and apple

I remember the last time he tried this trick with an apple on Eve. We all know how that turned out. Wisdom tells me he’s right, I won’t die, but a fragment of my faith will. As silly as it sounds, to someone with anxiety this is where I either choose self control and trusting God to fill my need for more or give in to the fruit, and then the granola bar, bag of almonds, and that small cup of applesauce. This is after I have already consumed a big breakfast. What my heart is hungry for is something food can’t fix.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

With food out of sight, I’m taking a 15-minute break to walk, as I pray for God to show me how to handle the turmoil, instead of eating my way through it.

My God, I ask for your peace and comfort over the storm swirling in my mind. I’m casting all my cares on You. Take this heavy yoke from my head. I know You have a good plan for me and will show yourself strong in this! You are working behind the scenes on my behalf!

The lilies of the field and the birds of the air are cards for, how much more will my heavenly Father take care of me? I’m choosing to trust that You will take care of me. I refuse to dwell on these problems and won’t allow them to steal my peace and joy today. I bless and magnify You alone, Lord. I am meditating on your Word and confess Your promises over my life! May I experience Your peace and joy and blessing in all the days of my life! Amen!

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Building Faith For The Future

Sometimes our circumstances can cause anxiety but what I’m here to remind you is that despite the outward situation, our good and loving Father will always bring something better out from the ruins that gives all glory back to God for something so marvelous. Most of the time, His work is being done in us during the ‘wait’ for a physical condition to change. This time of patience and trust in Him builds a faith for the future.

“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? (Matthew 6:25)

It scares us to lose these necessities, but honestly, most of us don’t consume the basics of these needs. We buy into the pleasures of food and clothing and what frightens us most about losing them is that we would lose some human praise or admiring glances if we didn’t have nice clothes and that our taste buds would miss the rich flavor of certain foods.

And to this Jesus responds: If you are gripped by anxiety over these things, you have lost sight of the greatness of life. Life was not given primarily for physical pleasures or the approval of man, but for something greater—the enjoyment of God. The things of this world can not provide the greater things of life—the pursuit of God’s gracious favor, the love and joy of His spirit and the hope of eternity in His presence.

There’s another problem with anxiety though; it leads to sinful actions and attitudes. Anxiety about finances can cause coveting, greed, hoarding and stealing. Anxiety about succeeding at something can make you irritable and abrupt. Anxiety about relationships can make you withdrawn, indifferent and uncaring about other people. Anxiety about how someone will respond to you can make you cover over the truth and lie about things. If worry could be conquered, a lot of sins would be overcome.

Here are some reminders from Jesus and Paul about God’s promises to battle unbelief:

“Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

“So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

“My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

“As your days so shall your strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25).

“I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

“If God is for us who can be against us!” (Romans 8:31).

“…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3–5).

“Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

“none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” (Romans 14:8–9).

“He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

“He who calls you is faithful. He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

“He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Rest on the promises of God and find your security in His Truth. I pray you find peace as you look back at your own testimony and see that He’s never let you go yet. Time after time, our great Provider has been there holding your hand, sometimes carrying you through it. My hope is that His word will reign supreme in your heart and mind as comfort that He will never let you go. Your solid stance on the Rock will keep you steady, though the winds may blow, you cannot be carried away with the shifting sands. When you wake up on the other side, you will see that just as He provided a way in this situation, He will also do it again and again and again. He is greater than your circumstance! Believe it and let Him build your faith for an even greater future.

Excerpts from Battling Unbelief by John Piper.