Anxiety Can Lead You to God ... Or Away
Megan Fate Marshman
4 min read ⭑
In the age of information, we find ourselves swimming in a sea of knowledge, a double-edged sword that promises empowerment but frequently leaves us feeling overwhelmed and anxious. With endless facts at our fingertips, we navigate a world that demands constant decision-making, all while grappling with a fear of the unknowable future haunted by a triggering past.
Solomon, in Proverbs 3:5, imparts timeless wisdom to guide us toward a more relaxed way of living. We find that anxiety loses its grip when we embrace Solomon’s wisdom to “lean not on [our] own understanding.” Let me explain.
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Paul writes in Philippians 4:6 (the most highlighted Bible passage on Kindles, by the way), “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Put simply: Don’t be anxious; go to God!
Go to him.
Let anxiety have a purpose: let it lead you to God! Utilize your anxiety as a vehicle to drive you to God.
The interesting thing about anxiety is that it has the potential to do something meaningful. Wild, right? That’s probably what James had in mind when he wrote about trials being productive in our lives (1:2–4). Stick with me.
Have you ever tried to get rid of the anxiety by praying about it? I’ve certainly tried to pray away anxiety. Why wouldn’t we? I mean, God might just take it away, and doesn’t 1 Peter recommend casting (imagine anxiety on your fishing line) all our cares on him? But I wonder if anxiety is more like a door than a wall in our relationship with God. Or maybe it’s more like a warning light on the dashboard of our lives, notifying us of something that needs to be checked out. Anxiety is our response to something being off. Once we realize it —
Wait! We’re going to pause right here with “Once we realize it” and bring to consciousness something that is likely unconscious. How do you realize it? When you’re in an anxious moment, it’s hard to realize anything, isn’t it?
Anxiety can be the very thing that cripples us and forces us to try to lean on our own understanding of whatever we’re anxious about. But God also has purpose in it. I wonder whether our problem is less about anxiety and more about what we do with it. Let’s consider anxiety as a doorway into intimacy with the Father. That is Paul’s suggestion in Philippians 4:6.
I’m not telling you to try harder not to be anxious. I’m not going to try to explain away your anxiety or pretend that going to God will just take away the anxiety in the moment. There are other books for that. This book is about not doing anything on your own. This book is about the incredible potential of bringing everything out of hiding and giving it to the Lord, who already knows it all. He knows what we’re worried about, and he’s not worried about it. He wants you to talk to him about it, but you don’t need to be anxious about your anxiety. You can relax.
It’s like the moment you experience turbulence on an airplane. If you rely on your understanding about planes and turbulence (which I’m assuming is very little), your stomach will drop. You’ll imagine the worst, clutch the seat for safety and panic. Everything will feel out of control until you hear that voice from the cockpit. The pilot saw it coming, understands it, and will tell you everything you need to know about it. Pay attention to the pilot’s tone and words. When they invite you to buckle your safety belt in a calm, cool and collected manner, you feel better about it, right? You can trust their words because of their knowledge. Their tone and words regarding the turbulence can give you greater understanding of what your tone ought to be too. (Now, if they’re freaking out on the intercom, feel free to freak out as well.)
For those of you living anxiously, let me tell you: this book will be a journey with God. If you lean on someone who is outside of time, you have the potential to hear his tone over the intercom: “Buckle your safety belt. We’re going through turbulence, but I saw it coming and I’m in control. I’m taking you to My own planned destination.”
Rather than praying for God to just take away your anxiety, open it up with him, the one who understands, the one who knows the future anyway. Now, realize this: he may not tell you the future, but I can already tell you the tone he’s going to use. He’s not worried about a thing.
Go to God.
Megan Fate Marshman is determined to use her life to spread hope, share truth and celebrate others. She currently finishing her Doctorate of Ministry as she serves at Willow Creek Community Church, Hume Lake Christian Camps and Arbor Road Church. She enjoys writing books and Bible studies and adventuring all over the globe sharing the love of Jesus. Her next book, Relaxed: Walking with the One Who Is Not Worried about a Thing, releases in August 2024. She’s authentic, she’s compelling and she doesn’t make everything about her.