Anxiety, A Sinful Tendency to Worry & Fret.
Anxiety is a sinful tendency to worry and fret. This problem area signifies a tendency to place one’s desires and trust in other things rather than in God Himself and having His ruling position over our hearts. In this shrinking of God from His position, we in effect think of God as not being omniscient, sovereign, nor good toward us because of the difficulties we face in our lives.
We see anxiety exemplified in the life of David in Psalm 55 where he cries out to God because of the oppression of his enemies. David declared himself to be restless in his complaints because of the noise of his enemies (v.2). His heart was in anguish within him, and he felt the terrors of death upon him (v.4). Furthermore, he stated that fear and trembling came upon him, and horror overwhelmed him (v.5). At the time, it was David’s ultimate desire to flee from his enemies’ hands and to be delivered from the cruelty of their wickedness. This was expressed in v.6-8 of Psalm 55, when he wrote, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.”
David’s life shown in Psalm 55 reveals a picture of anxiety and what it does to us. Cognitively, anxiety seizes our minds and captures it in the moments of our circumstance. There may be many reasons that may cause a person to be anxious such as challenges similar to David’s, or challenges over one’s health, finances, family, school, and so forth. When one is overwhelmed with anxiety amidst their challenging circumstance, their cognitive faculties including their ways of discernment, interpretation, reason, and belief can all be impacted. One’s accurate perception of God and who He is, can suddenly be changed in an instant and be in opposition to how they might truly view Him in scripture. Their understanding of God’s character, being all knowing, all sovereign and all good sadly can become diminished and thwarted.
The Nature of God and His Promises.
With all the challenges we may face in our lives, there is no surprise when our heart’s inclination may be to internalize our problems. This can lead us into anxious thoughts, words, and deeds. In such times as these, we should focus on meditating on the nature of God and on His promises, calling out to Him and placing our trust in Him just as David eventually did in Psalm 55:16-23. Meditating on the nature and promises of God should help compel our heart to trust Him more (Prv. 12:25). Passages in scripture that focus on the nature and promises of God are vast and have a call to those who have anxious hearts to trust in God’s character, love, and care towards them. In this article, passages will be reviewed which should hopefully encourage readers to better know the nature of God through His omniscience, sovereignty, and goodness and to trust in His promises found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Omniscience of God Amid Anxiety.
A passage that expresses God’s omniscience is Psalm 44:20-21 which mentions, “If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.” God is entirely aware of our hearts’ inclinations to forget Him in times of anxiety. We must face this shortfall and confess it to the Lord asking Him to help us not to forget Him in our time of need. As Hebrews 4:16 states, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Furthermore, Isaiah 55:9 reads, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In times of anxiety, since our thoughts, words and deeds have been distorted through our present circumstance, we must not be undertaken by them and ask the Lord to help renew our minds so it can align more with His. Romans 12:2 reads, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Lastly, Psalm 139:4 states, “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.” God is not surprised when times of anxiety reach us. These are times of testing of our faith. In our difficult circumstances, we must be sober-minded and watchful, knowing that the adversary is seeking to devour us (1 Pet. 5:6-9). May we resist him by casting our anxieties upon the Lord because He does care for us (v.7). From these passages, we see that God is all knowing and that He sees everything.
The Sovereignty of God Amid Anxiety.
When looking at passages that express God’s sovereignty, Ephesians 1:23 mentions His rule stating, “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Also, 1 Peter 3:22 speaks of Jesus saying, “who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.” These passages confirm God’s complete control over all things. With all things having been placed under Him, God has promised to not permit the righteous to be moved (Psl. 55:22). Truly then, nothing can come against us because our God who has brought us into His heavenly kingdom has all things under His sovereign rule (Rom. 8:31, Prv. 21:30).
The Goodness of God Amid Anxiety.
When considering our anxiety, we must focus on the goodness of God to help dispel our fears of His lack of goodness toward us. Passages that are helpful meditations include Ephesians 2:5-7 which states, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
In God’s mercy toward us, He has chosen to raise us up with Christ! It is remarkable that we have not only been saved from the wrath of God toward us because of our sin (Rom. 5:9), but He has also chosen to raise us up with Him in the heavenly places! We have been given the inheritance as sons and daughters of the very living God, an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading which is kept in heaven for us (1 Pet. 1:4, Eph. 1:11)!
Another passage is Psalm 31:19 which mentions, “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!” God’s abundant goodness is stored up for those who fear Him. What marvelous, wonderful blessings we have in our Lord, we are the apple of God’s eye, and we are His portion (Psl. 17:8, Deu. 32:9).
Lastly, James 1:17 states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” God is truly unchanging in His goodness toward us. From His hands come everything good and He promises to work all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28). In our fight with anxiety, we must remind ourselves of passages such as these that show the ultimate goodness of God so that the Word of God can guide our thinking, desires, and inclinations.
Jesus’ Obedience to the Father.
Finally, Jesus’ obedience to the Father (Heb. 5:7-8) should result in our greater obedience through our life’s circumstances and should help to settle our anxious hearts (Heb. 5:9-10). Although our Lord was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered and became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (V. 8-9). With this reality, we have been given Christ Himself as our source of salvation, in whom is our peace (Jon. 14:27). Our meditations on Christ should stir in us a settled and restful mind. When we seek God in prayer and in supplication through Christ with our thanksgiving, God has promised us His peace, which surpasses all understanding, and which will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus (Phl. 4:6-7).
Jesus’ greater obedience should also compel our heart to love and trust Him more while bringing reassurance to our hearts in anxious times. By Christ’s example, we have a duty to obey Him in all things. This duty should not be done unwillingly, but out of a joyful and grateful one sustained by the strength that God provides (Phl. 3:1). We must submit ourselves to these truths and realize that it is God who is at work in us, and who desires to will and to work in us of His good pleasure (Phl. 2:13). In times of anxiety, let us believe that the Lord is our strength and our shield; in Him may our hearts trust, and be helped; may our hearts exult, and with our song, may we give thanks to Him (Psl. 28:7).
By Serenity & Grace Counseling
Serenity & Grace Counseling provides life transformative hope and peace through Christ centered Biblical Counseling. Seek us for counseling help in your greatest time of need.
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