What happens when anxiety rushes over you?
You can feel your heart racing. Your hands may begin to sweat. Your thoughts can through a continuous loop of worry.
Each of us have situations that trigger our anxiety. Growth and maturity happen when we learn how to respond differently to these triggers. Anxiety and worry assume our control and isolate us from the God who controls all things. When we find ourselves in the midst of anxiety, God wants to redirect our attention.
Psalm 139:23-24 says this, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
The Psalmist teaches us how to break out the triggers of anxiety. We begin to realize that we cannot conquer this issue on our own. This prayer starts to bring our attention to how God works in our lives.
John Mark Comer in the book describes our response to Psalm 139:23-24 in My Name is Hope:
When was the last time you asked God to test your mind, to show you areas where your thought life was out of sync with God’s heart?
Take the time to stop, breathe, quiet the noise around you, and ask God to test your thought life and reveal your sins. And when he speaks, confess, repent, and ask him to “lead you in the way everlasting!” Ask him to break your mind out of the ruts your brain is stuck in.
The Gospel dispels us of the lie that we have full control. In the end, the Good News is that Jesus desires us to experience “life everlasting.”
What if you responded to anxiety differently today? Rather than taking control or withdrawing, you saw your anxiety as an opportunity to draw you closer to God.
Photo by Jeremy Yap