Anxiety

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word anxious is a Latin word. It’s derived from angere which means “to choke”. To be anxious is to be worried, nervous, or uneasy about something. In times of adversity, we are stripped of the illusions of control and are confronted with the truth that we are not in control. We read in Proverbs 24:10 that “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” This helplessness (lack of strength) causes anxiety. We realize that our power is “choked”. To choke is to cut off a necessary supply. If our world is based on our control of events, our world begins to crumble. We assume power, control, strength, but those assumptions are tested in the crucible of adversity. Thus we feel anxious when someone/something we love is threatened because we cannot control circumstances or outcomes. The reality is that none of us are really in control, but the result does not need to be anxiety. Philippians 4:6-7 exhorts us with these words, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

What is it about praying to God that slays the dragon of anxiety? It isn’t simply praying, but praying to the Maker of heaven and earth. It is praying to the one who redeems His people with His own blood. In other words, we begin to look to the one who is in control instead of looking to ourselves. To lay our lives and anxieties in Jesus’ care is leave the things we are anxious about in the hands of Him who is capable and him who loves us. When we can trust God, his power, his wisdom, and his good plan, we can cease from worry and have peace.

It is when we finally leave those things that worry us in God’s capable hands, that peace replaces worry. We do not cease to care, but rather begin to care enough to allow God to have control, for He alone has power to accomplish the need at hand. If you have entrusted your life into the care of Jesus, then you can have the peace He gives (John 14:27) and the confidence that God is working (Psalm 121:4). You can say with King David in Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Look to Jesus for your peace. Let Him take ownership of your worries and trust His everlasting arms to accomplish what concerns you today.