Anxiety and Worry, part 1
Anyone who is honest has struggled with anxiety and/or worry at one time or another. There are plenty of causes, both internal and external, for either.
Will I meet the right person to marry? Will I get into the school I want to attend? Will I get a job that supports me sufficiently? Will I be able to be a good parent? Will I be able to help my parents in ways that are useful to them? Will I even be able to have a child? Will my marriage last? Will I run out of money?
Many such questions can cause us anxiety, produce anxious thoughts, and worry takes over our minds and our lives.
I should know. I have been a victim of anxiety. It started when I was in college, many years ago. It got to the point that I had to leave school for a while. Providentially, I was able to pull myself together, return (under probation, admittedly), and complete my degree.
But that was not the end of my struggles.
How have I been able to deal with these recurring matters? Through Scripture, counseling based on Scripture, prayer, repenting, facing the fears that are behind my anxiety and worry, rejoicing instead in God's eternal goodness and faithfulness.
I went through a major struggle when we first moved to California, and I found a great deal of help from Elizabeth George's book, Loving God with All Your Mind, because it directed me to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 and Philippians 4:6-8. Philippians 4:8 also gave me a grid through which to process my thoughts and my emotions.
(Other books which have assisted me are many, because they too are based on Scripture; posting those as a separate list.)
There are dozens of places in both the Old Testament and the New Testament which deal with these issues of the heart.
I have not "arrived." But now I know where to go and Who to go to when, as these Psalms: 94:19--"When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul"; 139:23-24--"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way."
Let me end this with what Jesus Himself said, recorded in Matthew 6:33-34; H summaries with this admonition: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (look also at verses 25-32).
Will I meet the right person to marry? Will I get into the school I want to attend? Will I get a job that supports me sufficiently? Will I be able to be a good parent? Will I be able to help my parents in ways that are useful to them? Will I even be able to have a child? Will my marriage last? Will I run out of money?
Many such questions can cause us anxiety, produce anxious thoughts, and worry takes over our minds and our lives.
I should know. I have been a victim of anxiety. It started when I was in college, many years ago. It got to the point that I had to leave school for a while. Providentially, I was able to pull myself together, return (under probation, admittedly), and complete my degree.
But that was not the end of my struggles.
How have I been able to deal with these recurring matters? Through Scripture, counseling based on Scripture, prayer, repenting, facing the fears that are behind my anxiety and worry, rejoicing instead in God's eternal goodness and faithfulness.
I went through a major struggle when we first moved to California, and I found a great deal of help from Elizabeth George's book, Loving God with All Your Mind, because it directed me to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 and Philippians 4:6-8. Philippians 4:8 also gave me a grid through which to process my thoughts and my emotions.
(Other books which have assisted me are many, because they too are based on Scripture; posting those as a separate list.)
There are dozens of places in both the Old Testament and the New Testament which deal with these issues of the heart.
I have not "arrived." But now I know where to go and Who to go to when, as these Psalms: 94:19--"When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul"; 139:23-24--"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way."
Let me end this with what Jesus Himself said, recorded in Matthew 6:33-34; H summaries with this admonition: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (look also at verses 25-32).
posted by Ebeth | 3:05 PM
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