What comes to your mind when you think of the word “anxiety”?
It reminds me of my first year in high school. I was (and still am) a small, 5’1”, 90-lbs. girl. A simple misunderstanding led to a group of senior girls towering over me in the cafeteria, threatening to beat me up. Their height made me feel physically small, but their words made me feel emotionally small. Searching for a way out of the situation, I quickly grabbed my things and ran to the nearest restroom to escape the intimidation. But as I tried to escape the girls, I found myself in another trap—a trap created by my own body. As I opened the door to the bathroom, a feeling of pressure settled onto my chest as if something was pressing down on me, trying to take my breath away. Sweat began to fill my palms. Numbness spread throughout my limbs. My throat started to close up. The walls seemed to press in against me.
As these feelings swept over me like a drowning wave, I slowly pressed my back against the wall to feel something sturdy. I sank as if falling into quicksand onto the ground. I put my face into my hands to hide from the feelings as if that would make them go away. I was trapped in a cage of my own body, trapped in a bathroom, trapped by the girls. This was my first encounter with anxiety, a trap that would continually try to keep me away from trusting God in scary moments.
How Should We Relate to Anxiety?
Maybe anxiety is not a feeling you have personally experienced; instead, you have seen the weight it has toiled on others. You’ve noticed them space off during hard conversations. You’ve noticed their legs shake every week in that one meeting. You’ve seen the tears roll down their cheeks as they struggle to breathe. For many of us, anxiety is a scary, vague, confusing, and abstract state of being.
Although it’s a growing problem, anxiety isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s not a “hip” or “relatable” trend with which we should be quick to identify. It’s actually quite the opposite. Societally, we are facing a war of worry we have been fighting since the Garden of Eden. What is new is that, while our culture is increasingly consumed with worry in each aspect of life, many of us are increasingly drawn to seeing anxiety as a fixed part of our identity. We tend to brush off the possibility that God is bigger than our anxiety.
Before I proceed, I want to make a critical note of clarification: When I speak of anxiety, I am generally speaking broadly about fear, worry, anxiousness, and concern. However, anxiety comes in many shapes and forms, even in the form of an actual diagnosis. There are aspects of anxiety that we cannot control—but we can combat. I desperately want to encourage those with an anxiety diagnosis that despite your current situation, you are not exempt from the healing that comes from meditating on scriptures, prayer, and leaning into community. If we believe God can move mountains, we must also acknowledge his capability to fill us with a peace that is stronger than our anxiety.
“If we believe God can move mountains, we must also acknowledge his capability to fill us with a peace that is stronger than our anxiety.”
I also have to be candid as we proceed. Jesus was clear that faith in God means choosing to say no to worry. Three times in Matthew 6:25-34 (see the full passage below), Jesus says, “Do not worry.” If we take Him seriously when He says, “Do not be like the hypocrites” and “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” why do we so easily shrug Him off when He says, “Do not worry”?
Again, it may be because it has become trendy to identify with worry as if it’s something we can’t help and that we will always be subordinate to. Yet to persistently choose what Jesus says not to do is to sin, as much as it pains me to say. After all my studies and experience as a certified worry wart, this is a hard truth.
Choosing worry is a sin we tend to ignore because it has become a cultural norm. Even in the church, we often dismiss it as acceptable or understandable instead of addressing it for what it is. We seek ways to manage and ignore it and dismiss even the concept that we could find freedom from it. While I do not think tools like therapy, medication, meditation, etc., are inherently wrong things, too often, I believe we use those tools for management rather than healing.
“If we take Him seriously when He says, ‘Do not be like the hypocrites’ and ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,’ why do we so easily shrug Him off when He says, ‘Do not worry’?”
It breaks my heart the number of people I have known who have struggled with anxiety and simply assume it will call the shots for the rest of their lives. While I will not attempt to argue that some will have a more difficult time addressing worry and anxiety due to chemical or mental imbalances, I will say that giving into anxiety’s power all too easily diminishes the power of God. If our God can provide air in our lungs and a beating heart in our chest, He can also rewrite our stories and comfort us in our worries.
But before I get ahead of myself, let me address what you are likely reading this article for: What does the Bible say about anxiety? And what is the solution?
The Bible and Anxiety
While researching anxiety within the Bible, I did a deep dive into the most common references to worry or anxiety in Scripture. What I found is quite relevant:
- We are worried about our things (Philippians 4:6-7; Matthew 6:25; Ezekiel 4:16)
- We are worried about our future (Matthew 6:34)
- We are worried about our safety (Hebrews 13:6)
- We are worried about feeling alone (Joshua 1:9)
- We are worried about our strength and abilities (Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 10:19)
The Bible also reveals what our worries do to us:
- Worry wears us down (Proverbs 12:25)
- Worry wastes time (Luke 12:25-26)
- Worry can create a division between us and God (1 Corinthians 7:32-35)
- Worry is useless and unhelpful (Luke 10:41)
As we can see, anxiety can invade every area of life, as it wastes our time and weakens our resolve. Let’s explore further what the Bible says worry is, what happens when we worry, and how we can choose better.
“Anxiety can invade every area of life, as it wastes our time and weakens our resolve.”
Calling Worry What It Is
When we treat anxiety dismissively, we forget how all-consuming it can be. People with anxiety worry about their appearance. They worry about physical safety. They worry about what others think. They worry about what they are missing out on that everyone else is enjoying. They worry about money and the future.
In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus brings light to our struggle with anxiety by framing it in light of our relationship with God. Jesus knows we are anxious about worldly things but calls us to shift our focus to our Father in heaven and life in His kingdom:
“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25-34, NIV)
What does the Bible say about anxiety? “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I recently listened to Becky Johnson’s fantastic podcast, “The Cure to Anxiety.” Johnson’s three observations about worry challenged me deeply. She concludes that in this Matthew 6 passage, worry is unnatural, useless, and unbelief.
Unnatural. Even if worry is part of our everyday life, worry was not meant to be a natural human disposition. Adam and Eve never experienced worry until they gave into temptation in the Garden. Satan’s influence brought forth worry through sin. From the beginning, he wanted us to worry about missing out on something “more.” Jesus shows us that even nature isn’t worried because God provides what it needs.
Useless. Worry is also useless. I have never been able to find good in spending time worrying about something. As Jesus says here, worry wastes our time. When we could use that time to find solutions or pray over our concerns, we instead just contemplate the worst possible future scenarios.
Unbelief. Worry is also unbelief. When we worry, we doubt God’s ability to sustain us despite our situation. We doubt His plan, and we try to put the power back into our own hands in a desperate attempt to control whatever we are anxious about.
We might not be able to help having a worrisome thought or series of thoughts. But from there, we can choose what we will focus on. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) commands us on what to do when we struggle with anxiety,
“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.”
In our anxieties, we need not focus on our worry but focus on Him.
What does the Bible say about anxiety? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
What Doesn’t Help
One strategy often used to combat anxiety is to prioritize oneself. You’ll hear people say things like, “I am focusing on myself” or “I am learning how to love myself.” Interestingly, neither of those phrases are biblical commands or teachings. The Bible calls us to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves—which assumes that we do love ourselves (see Matthew 22:34-39). But the Bible also warns us against becoming lovers of self, which as we’ll see in the 2 Timothy quote below, involves pride, ingratitude, and an obsession with our own pleasure. Jesus knew that when we focus inward, our anxiety only grows stronger.
At the same time, we ought to aim for seeing ourselves as God does. He loves us and doesn’t despise us. He sees us as worth His attention and affection. We ought to, as in the title of an Andrew Peterson song, “Be Kind to Yourself.” We should humbly and gratefully pursue the joy and peace He promises to those who trust and follow Jesus. When you’re anxious, it’s a good reminder to take a walk, listen to great music, pursue encouraging relationships, or do something restful. We should schedule in a regular Sabbath. Practices like these prompt us toward gratitude to God. That’s very different from turning our focus inward, obsessing about our interests, and pursuing our own pleasure at the expense of His purpose for our lives. If we really want to combat anxiety, it won’t help us to neglect ourselves or idolize ourselves.
“If we really want to combat anxiety, it won’t help us to neglect ourselves or idolize ourselves.”
The problem is loving ourselves in a way that makes us forget God and others. We see a warning for this in 2 Timothy when the author describes how people will act in the last days. Timothy says,
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NIV)
Because we always tend to put self over others, God calls us to take the focus off ourselves and put it on loving God and others. Believe it or not, the Creator of the universe actually knows us. He knows how self-consumed we tend to be and how detrimental that is to our health and our trust in Him.
In her New York Times article “The Trouble with Self-Esteem,” Lauren Slater explores the idea that both low and high self-esteem are dangerous. When we constantly feel the need to make things about ourselves, we develop a standard from which we cannot escape. The solution to our worry and anxiety isn’t a higher view of self. That idea actually creates a hazardous culture.
What Worry Keeps Us From
Since the fall of man, worry has been a part of our human experience. Sadly, we doubt God and tend only to trust ourselves as the judge between right and wrong. So, when we don’t have what we need, don’t look the way we wish we did, or don’t measure up, we worry. A culture consumed by worry is a selfish culture.
Don’t believe me? Imagine this scenario with me:
Olivia and Tiffany are best friends. Every time they hang out, they plan a fun activity but always walk away exhausted. The entire time they are together, Olivia complains about everything she’s worried about, and in turn, Tiffany feels the pressure to relate and also complains. After a while, their friendship feels more like a place to dump their baggage rather than feeling like an encouraging relationship. Both girls had the opportunity to encourage the other to trust the Lord and offer advice on how to do that in their specific situations. However, it is more likely that both women were too consumed with their own worries to encourage each other.
Worry consumes us internally and limits our ability to love others externally. When we become so consumed with our own worry, we cannot faithfully follow Jesus’ command to love each other as we love ourselves (Mark 12:31).
What does the Bible say about anxiety? “Worry consumes us internally and limits our ability to love others externally.”
Worry not only affects our relationships horizontally with one another, but also vertically with God. The more our culture is obsessed with worry, the less we depend on the one who can deliver us from its weight. Worry creates a barrier between us and God because we suggest that we don’t believe He will handle things. Granted, God may not handle our worries the way we wanted or prayed for, but His will is more excellent than ours, and that is precisely the truth that worry makes us forget. We doubt that God’s way is the best. But it is. We don’t see the 20,000-foot view that God can see, the perspective humans cannot have, which is why He calls us to trust and put our faith in Him.
The more we focus inward, the less we can focus Godward and outward.
How We Can Choose Better Than Worry
The more self-focused we are, the more worried we become. When our worth, identity, and value as humans are determined by our view of self, we will never measure up. But when we place our value in Him, we begin to see and believe His view of us and His purpose for our lives. When we shift the focus off ourselves and onto God and His promises, our anxiety and worry decrease, even as our love for and trust in God increase.
The solution to our worry isn’t simply to stop worrying or worry less but to place our worries in His hands. Pray them to God. When we find ourselves worrying, we must cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV) commands, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Not only does He care for us, but he also sustains us. Psalm 55:22 (NIV) encourages, “Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”
Let’s look at some additional practical and tangible ways to combat worry:
1. Remind yourself of your identity in Christ ALONE.
Your past, present, and future failures or successes do not define you. Your identity is solely in Him. Galatians 2:20 (NIV) says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” You are made in His image to worship Him and find joy in Him. We live this life not for our glory but to point to Him in everything we say or do. If identity is your struggle, write this verse on a sticky note and put it on your mirror to read every morning.
2. Focus on serving others.
As mentioned above, one of the easiest ways to let anxiety control our lives is by filling our minds with ourselves and our worries. When we find ways to serve others, we know their worries, and they often learn ours. Mark 10:45 (NIV) says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If healing from worry is what you desire, seek to serve others. It’ll open your eyes to something more than your own worries.
“If healing from worry is what you desire, seek to serve others. It’ll open your eyes to something more than your own worries.”
3. Turn your worry into prayer.
Maybe you need to physically lay out everything you are worried about to God. One exercise I suggest is to take 2×4 note cards and write something you are worried about on the front. When you’re done, you will be able to look around and see all the weight you have been carrying. Flip over all the cards individually and write a prayer for those worries. Maybe include a verse that reminds you of God’s truth and His promises regarding that worry.
Did you know that many of the Psalms were written by people in the midst of worry? Like them, we can combat it by giving God our worries and worshiping Him. Christian author Dan Wilt once said, “Worship until the worry is absorbed into the presence of God.” Worry grows when we focus within, but worry wilts when we praise Him.
4. Develop a consistent devotional time reading the Word.
Satan will attack us constantly, so we have to armor up daily. I am sure you have heard it a million times that reading the Bible daily will significantly impact your faith. No matter how often you hear it, it remains true. Reading the Word reminds us of truth in a world that changes the meaning of truth as frequently as the weather changes in the Midwest.
“Satan will attack us constantly, so we have to armor up daily.”
5. Lean into community.
We were never meant to do life alone. Galatians 6:2 (NIV) encourages us to “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” If you want to minimize worry, you need to surround yourself with community. People can’t be praying for you if they don’t have the opportunity to know what is hurting you. You have to be in community and be vulnerable about your worries.
