Are you a worrier? You know, one of those people who constantly has racing thoughts, who replays things over and over in your head, who often fears experiencing the worst case scenario, and who feels anxious when you begin to think about different aspects of your life. While it is normal to worry sometimes, for some of us, worry is taken to another level and turns into anxiety and panic. For many, worrying is a full time job that never ceases, but I’m here to share with you one of the ways I tackle worry and anxiety, because that’s my thing. Along with therapy, one tool I recommend to help others tackle anxiety and worry is spirituality. In this episode I’m going to share with you a few of my favorite scriptures to help with fear, worry, and anxiety and show you how to take these words and turn them into action to implement in your everyday life and so for this episode I want to inspire you to be anxious for nothing.
The first scripture I have for you is 1 Peter 5:7 which says: Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. I love this scripture because it tells you exactly what to do with your worries and concerns and that is to give them to God…but how exactly do you do that? For many people worry and anxiety are a revolving door. One minute they worry…then they shake it off…then a few minutes later they’re worrying again, so how exactly do you hand your worry over to God and keep it from coming back? Well, doing this takes work and effort over a period of time. Handing over your worries to God requires you to acknowledge your worries and tell him about them. Many people who worry or have anxiety have thoughts that constantly swirl around in their mind and never feel a sense of relief because they haven’t released them. This is where doing things like journaling and writing down your thoughts helps. If you want to give God your worries, start by writing them down daily. You can’t give him something if you don’t first acknowledge you have something. Write in the morning when you wake up or before going to bed at night. I recommend writing because it is a visual representation of taking what’s in your head and releasing it onto paper. You can pray over these things or even write down your prayers. Once you talk to God about what you are worried about, then you can ask him to guide you and show you have to best handle those things. Then your mind can begin to rest easier and not constantly carry around the mental chaos.
The next scripture is Matthew 6:27 which says: Can your worries add a single moment to our life? Man, this question can really stop you in your worrying tracks. It is a reminder that worrying solves nothing! Kind of like complaining. This scripture encourages you to ask yourself is what you are doing contributing to your wellbeing. Thinking about things over and over and over doesn’t help situations get better; however, rationalizing does. Like this scripture, you should ask yourself questions that will help you rationalize your worrying thoughts. This is something that I constantly help clients do which is to make sense of their thoughts and often times when it comes to worry and anxiety they realize that their thoughts don’t make much sense and aren’t true or realistic. Once they realize that we work on not just getting rid of those worrisome thoughts, but replacing them with what is true and real. So ask yourself, are my thoughts helping me or hurting me? Are they adding to my life, or taking from me? Once you’ve answered that question then you can begin to replace those anxious thoughts with thoughts that will add good things to your life.
Next is Matthew 6:34 which says: So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Now some worriers may read this scripture and think oh no, I have trouble and worries coming tomorrow and it will freak them out even more, but let me give you my perspective on this scripture. A lot of people’s worry comes from thinking about too much at one time. They are thinking about what they have to do today, what’s on the schedule next week, where they want to be in their career next year and so on. Their mind is being pulled this way and that way and it’s all over the place. They are worrying about today, tomorrow, next week, and 10 years from now. It’s just too much! So what this scripture is saying is to focus. Don’t get so ahead of yourself that you become panic about what’s to come. So how do you do this? Well you can do what my husband calls compartmentalization. Focus on one thing at a time. If you are working on one thing, don’t wander off and think about something else. Stay focused on the task at hand. Another way to help with this is to plan. Creating schedules and plans for your month or even your quarter can be helpful in not getting overwhelmed with what you need to do. So now, each day you know what needs to be done and you don’t have to worry about tomorrow because everything is spelled out for you. So give compartmentalizing a try. I know we live in a multitasking society, and we constantly have access to media 24/7, but try to focus on one thing at a time and see if it decreases your worries.
The next scripture is Philippians 4:13 which I think most of you know and it says For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. This scripture is recited soooo much and it is a great reminder that with God, we can do anything. So what does this have to do with anxiety? Well you may think don’t worry because you can do anything with God. And while that’s true, that’s not exactly where I’m going with this scripture. Sometimes our stress and anxiety is self inflicted. You have to ask yourself if there is something you are trying to do and it is causing you a lot of stress and worry and anxiety is this something God wants me to do. You can do anything with God…but it’s important to make sure that God is in what you’re doing. Sometimes we make plans and decisions that cause anxiety and worry and that’s because God isn’t in. We often are trying to fit a square peg in a circle whole while saying I can do all with Christ and yes that’s true, but maybe it’s not happening because Christ doesn’t want you to do that thing. This is when we have to do what another scripture says and that is seek first the kingdom of God and make sure God is cool with your plan. So once you know that he’s all in on your plan you can proceed to achieve because God is with you with him all things are possible.
Our last scripture is Joshua 1:9 which says This is my command-be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. In this scripture God tells us to do something that he mentions 365 times in the bible and that is to fear not. It is not a coincidence that we are told over and over and 300 times over not to fear. I’m sure God knew we would need to hear that time and time again because fear will come. This scripture is a reminder when you become afraid and that fear leads to worry and anxiety to do it anyway. To be courageous and strong and to go forth anyway. That is how you overcome fear and anxiety and worry. By moving forward day by day. You beat it by having the thought and feeling the feeling, rationalizing it, and pushing through with God’s word in tow. Being strong and courageous doesn’t mean you’re never scared, it doesn’t mean you’re this person who isn’t bothered by anything, and it doesn’t mean you don’t have a tough or bad day. Being strong and courageous and even fearless means despite all of that you don’t quit, you keep working toward your goals, you continue to put yourself out there, you keep reminding yourself of God’s word, taking those deep breaths, because taking deep breaths are essential when you deal with anxiety, and you do whatever it is that must be done in order for you to be great. And the more and more you do it, the less and less you will anxious about it because your life will become an example or God being with you and you can use your past successes as a reminder of how great you really are.
So there you have it. I just gave you a few scriptures to help with anxiety, but God’s word is full of scriptures to help you with his issue. Reading his word and applying it to your life can be so beneficial in overcoming worry and anxiety and I pray that you have found my interpretations helpful.