Our world is filled with anxious people. It doesn't seem to matter in which profession or area they work—ecology,
economy, politics, parenting—people are anxious about the future, unseen dangers, personal status and approval,
their health, and their general ability to work and succeed in life. Many are anxious about the state of their
souls and whether they are in right standing with God. Even Christians have these concerns.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus dealt with anxiety more than any other topic:
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you,
O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What
shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all
these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is
its own trouble (Matt. 6:28–34).
The words anxious and anxiety aren't found in the Greek. Usually, we find the word worry,
such as in this version: “Do not worry.” The concept of anxiety, however, is found throughout the New Testament.
In Greek the word merimna is generally used; it means “to take thought.” Issues such as these that Jesus raised
aren't even to enter our minds, but if they do, we are to give them no lodging. That is, “Don't give it a second
thought,” or “It isn't worth thinking about.”
And yet, how many of us spend anxious moments pondering what we will eat, drink, or wear, or how we will meet
other daily practical and material needs in our lives? After all, food, drink, and clothing are some of our most
basic needs. And that is the point that Jesus is making: God knows our basic needs. He is capable of meeting them,
and He desires to meet them.
• How do you feel when you are anxious?
• In your past experience, what have been the consequences of your experiencing anxiety?
The Attitude of Anxiety
An attitude of anxiety goes beyond moments of feeling anxious from time to time. When an attitude of anxiety
begins to rule our lives, our emotional well-being is in jeopardy.
Anxiety involves being pulled in two directions. It is an inner war. We are faced with choices about which direction
to go or which consequence might occur (and therefore which one deserves our preparation and anticipation). We
have a divided mind and also a certain degree of fear that we may make the wrong choice.
Anxiety is rarely a product of our environment. Certain circumstances don't automatically result in anxiety.
What causes anxiety in some people doesn't affect other people at all. To a great extent, anxiety is a matter of
attitude.
Let's consider the issue of speaking before groups of people. Some people delight in public speaking. Other
people cringe at the very thought. If they think they have to speak to several people—even in a small group—their
palms get clammy, their heads spin, they feel nauseous, and they start looking for an exit door. Anxiety takes
over.
Public speaking, in and of itself, does not produce anxiety. Rather, the consequences a person perceives related
to public speaking create anxiety.
Often people try to blame certain events, people, or situations for their anxiety. But anxiety lies within.
It is an emotional response to a situation that can be controlled through the exercise of the will.
In an earlier lesson, I mentioned that every emotional response to life has a positive and negative side. On
the positive side, a little anxiety can motivate us to action. If we awaken to find that we forgot to set the alarm
and we are on the verge of being late to work, the anxiety can cause us to hurry a little to get to work on time.
On the negative side, however, is the possibility of deep-seated despair. When anxiety is allowed to build or
develop into a pattern in our lives, it can be devastating.
• What new insights do you have into the emotion of anxiety?
Three Causes of Anxiety
There are at least three major causes of anxiety:
1. People perceive that they won't be able to meet or resolve their needs. Jesus addressed this cause
of anxiety in the Sermon on the Mount. Around A.D. 30 when
Jesus preached this truth, the Hebrew people, for the most part, were living in poverty. The Romans drained the
wealth of the land through taxation and acquisition. There were no social welfare programs as we know them today.
People were consumed with the daily activity of earning enough just to meet the basic needs: food, shelter, and
clothing.
Today, this cause of anxiety might be worry that people won't be able to pay the bills, find or keep a job,
or provide sufficiently for their families. The causes of anxiety at this level are very real, practical, and material.
2. People set standards that can't be met, resulting in repeated failure and frustration. Much of this
anxiety is rooted in intangible expectations, ideas, dreams, or self-set goals. Sometimes unrealistic standards
are set by others—such as supervisors, parents, or spouses—but when that is the case, the response is usually not
anxiety as much as it is anger or resentment. Only if people internalize the unrealistic expectations of others
does anxiety take over.
Perfectionists struggle with this type of anxiety. Some people set standards for themselves that are far higher
than those set by God! They expect absolute perfection in everything they do as well as everything others do.
3. People have unresolved hostility. When people feel anger, bitterness, or resentment over a period
of time against a particular person, institution, or circumstance, they feel a constant agitation or irritation
in their spirits. Again, this cause of anxiety is internal.
Now, just because anxiety is rooted in high expectations or unresolved hostility does not mean that it is any
less real than anxiety rooted in the meeting of basic material needs. The anxiety is real, it is just as damaging,
and it has the same hallmarks.
• In your past experience, have you felt anxiety of these three types? What did you do?
Signs of Anxiety
Proverbs 12:25 tells us, “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression.” In the King James Version, this verse
reads, “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop.” Anxiety pulls us down.
The symptoms associated with anxiety vary from person to person, but they generally involve one or more of these
characteristics:
• Forgetfulness
• Inability to concentrate
• Irritability
• Inability to cope with small problems
• Vacillation in making decisions
• Misjudging other people
• Feeling persecuted
• Procrastination
• Gnawing dissatisfaction
These symptoms have dire consequences if they continue unchecked. Some consequences include the following:
• A feeling of drudgery about life, especially toward work and tasks
• A loss of excitement and enthusiasm
• A loss of productivity, creativity, and energy
• Damage to the physical body
In other words, nothing good comes from anxiety!
Jesus referred to some of the negative results of anxiety in a parable He taught:
Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand
it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the
wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it
with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises
because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word,
and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who
received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:
some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (Matt. 13:18–23).
The “cares of this world” choke off the productivity of a good seed sown in our lives. When we allow ourselves
to become enveloped in anxiety, we become almost immune to any positive word, expression of faith, or insight from
God.
If you are anxious, you are so overwhelmed in looking at your problems that you don't even think about what
you might pursue as solutions. When that happens, the Word has very little impact in your life, which eliminates
the very thing that can build faith and counteract anxiety. The spiral is a downward one.
Have you ever tried to read your Bible only to find that you've gone through several verses and don't have any
recollection of what you have read? Chances are, anxiety was at work. You were seeing the words with your eyes,
but other cares and concerns kept you from taking in the words of Scripture.
Note that Jesus taught this parable about the kingdom of God. He said that the “wicked one” snatches away some
of the seed planted in our lives. But that isn't the case with anxiety. We are the ones who control what we will
be anxious about. We are the ones who allow ourselves to worry.
If you have a loss of interest in life—a loss of enthusiasm, a loss of productivity and energy, a loss of output—consider
whether you have developed an attitude of anxiety. If so, it's up to you to take action to break the hold that
worry has over you. God will help you, but you must face what you have allowed to develop in your life and take
action to counteract your response of worry and anxiety.
• In what ways are you feeling challenged today about anxiety?
God's Answer to Anxiety
There are no easy-way-out solutions for people who have allowed anxiety to become a mind-set. They literally
need to take hold of their minds and corral them, refusing to let anxiety reign.
Some people seek to escape anxiety. They turn to drugs, alcohol, or a change in geography in hopes of relieving
their deep feelings of anxiety. Others go on wanton sprees of seeking pleasure or of buying items they don't really
need. In all of these behaviors, they seek to substitute something for anxiety other than the peace of Jesus Christ.
These so-called solutions only add to the problem of anxiety. They may mask the problem for a while, but anxiety
continues to brew and build. Eventually, people must deal with anxiety or face a serious mental, emotional,
relational, or physical breakdown. When that time comes—and it inevitably comes—they face a mountain of anxiety
and the problem of a possible addiction to the drugs, alcohol, or behavior sought as a solution.
You must deal with anxiety at its root. And what is that root? A failure to trust God.
At the foundation of anxiety is the belief that either God can't take care of the situation, or God won't—and
either way, you lose because God doesn't act.
The only real lasting and healing solution for an attitude of anxiety is to place your trust in God.
1. Turn your heart over to God. If your relationship is wrong with God, you can't be right in yourself.
If you are cut off from God's peace, you ultimately can have no peace.
If you are a Christian, you must come to God and confess to Him that you have failed to trust Him completely.
Ask Him to forgive you for trying to continue to live your life according to your own plans, abilities, agendas,
and talents. Receive His forgiveness, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you trust God with your whole heart, mind,
and soul.
You may need to confess this to God many times in your life. The process is one of trusting Him more and more.
What the Word Says
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust” (Ps. 91:1–2).
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of refuge,
A fortress of defense to save me (Ps. 31:1–2).
What the Word Says to Me
• What new insights do you have about dealing with anxiety by trusting God?
2. Tell God about how you feel. Something very beneficial comes from admitting to God the anxiety that
you feel.
A verse admonishes you to “be anxious for nothing.” This phrase is followed by a call to prayer: “But in everything
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). The antidote
for moments of anxiety is prayer—a conversation with God. Supplication refers to making petitions before God, asking
Him specifically for what you desire. You are to accompany the prayer and supplication with thanksgiving; you are
to give thanks even before you receive God's provision for the answer that you know is on the way!
How can you know that God's answer is coming to you? Because God is faithful to His Word. He loves you as His
child and provides for you. In giving thanks, you are giving voice to the trust you are placing in God to love
you and care for you.
What is the result of this kind of prayer? The next verse in Philippians says that after you have made known
your requests to God, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your [heart] and [mind]
through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).
Through prayer, you become anxious for nothing and have the true peace of God ruling your heart instead
of worry and its related frustrations and damaging effects.
What the Word Says
[Jesus said,] “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not
your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Col. 3:15–17).
What the Word Says to Me
3. Turn the anxiety-causing problem over to God. After you have prayed about your anxiety and the problem
that gave rise to it, leave your problem with God. As the old saying goes, “Let go and let God.”
That is what Peter meant when he wrote, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Trusting God to solve your problem or meet your need means that you give the problem to God 100 percent. Give Him
all of your concern, anxiety, worry.
Walk away, saying in your spirit, “I may not know how the answer will come, and I may not know when, where,
through whom, or by what means. But I know the One who has the answer, and I put my trust in Him.”
What the Word Says
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you (Ps. 116:3–7).
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jer. 33:3).
What the Word Says to Me
4. Turn your mind to the positive blessings of God. Choose to think about something other than your problem.
Choose to dwell on answers, solutions, hopes, dreams, goals, new ideas and opportunities, and good things of all
types. Recall the many promises of God to you as His child. Search through your Bible and underscore passages of
Scripture that speak of God's blessings, provision, and peace. (Use a concordance to find as many verses as you
can.)
The mind concentrating on God's presence and work in this world has no room or time to dwell on evil, problems,
or negative situations. The mind concentrating on God's goodness results in emotions of anticipation, hope, faith,
and joy. Such an emotional state is the very opposite of anxiety and worry.
When Paul advised the Philippians to be anxious for nothing, and then told them to pray and give supplication
to God with thanksgiving, promising them God's peace, his very next words encouraged the Philippians to meditate
on praiseworthy things. (See Phil. 4:8.) His advice is for you today! So much of the world is steeped in bad news.
How important it is for you to be steeped in even greater quantities of good news.
Direct your reading, your media watching, and your conversations to what is good. Discuss with others how the
Lord is working in your life—how He is healing you, strengthening you, and bringing you to a higher plane in your
spiritual life. Share with others the testimonies of people you know. Build up your faith and the faith of others.
When you have a positive, praiseworthy, optimistic, faith-filled approach to life, anxiety-causing situations
will not affect you nearly as much as when you have a negative, down-in-the dumps, God-has-forgotten-me attitude.
Your best approach to prevent anxiety is to concentrate on the praiseworthy and to voice your praise to God. Make
abundant praise a daily part of your prayer life.
What the Word Says
I will praise You with my whole heart …
I will sing praises to You.
I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul (Ps. 138:1–3).
What the Word Says to Me
• What new insights do you have into the nature of anxiety and how to find emotional healing for anxiety
in trusting God?
• In what ways do you feel challenged today to be free of anxiety?
From Becoming Emotionally Whole: Overcome Negative Emotions and
Become Happier and Healthier by Charles Stanley. Copyright 1996 by Charles Stanley.
