Raise your hand if you’ve ever struggled with anxiety. *Raises hand* I sure have. I worry about packing enough for trips. I worry about cleaning my house for company. I worry about knowing the right things to say and staying on everyone’s good side. I worry about getting everything done before my head hits the pillow. And after head hits the pillow, I get anxious about what tomorrow will bring.
EDIT: I’m now going to counseling for social anxiety and it’s helping so much.
But God tells us that’s senseless worrying. He says to look to Him and that He will take care of everything. Now I’m not saying we should sit back, do nothing, and expect God to take care of everything without us even lifting a finger. But we shouldn’t be trying to do it all on our own either.
I think we can do a few things ourselves to better trust God and relax a little. One is to pray. Offer a prayer for your anxiety when you feel it come on. Another is to meditate on Bible verses that will help the anxiety.
I’ve compiled a list of verses that I like to turn to when I start to feel that anxiety kicking in and I thought I’d share them here in case any of my readers could benefit from them as well!
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
Philippians 4 (especially verses 4-7, 8-9, and 11-13. Or just the entire chapter)
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Did I miss anything? What are some verses you turn to when you’re feeling anxious?
Linking up with Meetup Monday, Merry Monday, Tuesday Talk, Titus 2 Tuesday, Living Proverbs 31, Coffee & Conversations, and Growing in Grace.
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