Anxiety — Charles Stanley

Paul’s Prescription for Anxiety

We're in anxiety of those emotions all of us have to deal with in life, because oftentimes things will slip up on our blind side, and for the moment we feel very anxious. And yet the Apostle Paul said, Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The Difficulty of Practicing “Be Anxious for Nothing”

Well, all of us read those verses, and yet when it says, Be anxious for nothing, that's far easier to read than it is to believe or to practice. And anxiety is a result of responding to some situation or circumstance in life with a brief moment of fear or uncertainty, because at the moment, I'm either feeling that I'm out of control, or I do not know what the circumstances are going to come out to be.

Turning Immediate Attention Toward God

And so therefore, I feel that at the moment. The key is not to allow yourself to think long on what has caused you anxiety, but to immediately to focus your attention upon God and cry out for His help.

How Misplaced Focus Produces Worry

It's amazing how many Christians are just as guilty of worry and anxiety as people who are not Christian. And I think the reason is, in the busy schedules in which people have, their focus is on so many other things other than God, that they are very easily drawn into the same kind of emotions, the same kind of doubts, the same kind of fears that a person who's an unbeliever.

And so therefore, the reason is, our focus is not right. When my focus is on God, somehow, no matter what's going on, anxiety and worry seem to just disintegrate right in front of me, and there's this awesome sense of peace.

Trusting God as the Antidote to Worry

My God is in control. The antidote to worry is indeed trusting God, putting our faith in Him. He's our loving Heavenly Father, loves us unconditionally. Therefore, an unconditionally loving Father who is absolutely all-powerful and all-wise about all things, and who's promised to meet all of my needs, will grant me peace in the midst of the deepest kind of anxiety and worry.

Bringing Anxiety Before God Through Scripture

One of the questions that we have to ask is, how do we take our worries and our frustrations and anxieties to God? The way you take them to the Father, the best way to take them to Him is to open His Word, and if at all possible, find the passage of Scripture that deals with whatever is causing you anxiety and worry.

Read that passage of Scripture. Dwell on it. Meditate on it. Think about it. Ask yourself the question, what is God saying to me? Lay that burden before Him. Lay the cause of your anxiety and frustration before Him, and tell Him exactly how you feel.

Seeking God’s Promises in Times of Trouble

Ask Him to show you how He wants you to respond. Focus your attention upon His promises. You may go from one promise to the other. And sometimes when we feel very, very anxious, and we're facing something that we absolutely do not know how to deal with, all of that is good, because what it does, it draws us into the Word to seek the Lord and to search for His answers.

And what happens is, we find ourselves growing oftentimes in the deepest times and periods of our anxiety, because we are driven to God, and whatever drives me to Him has got to be for my good. When you and I understand, when we really and truly believe that God loves us unconditionally, it is very easy to say, Father, I'm troubled.

My heart's hurting. This is something I can't handle. God, I need You. If I understand that He's my loving Father, I can immediately, as soon as I become anxious or feel worried about something, I can immediately bring it to Him.

Trusting the Father’s Love and Understanding Human Weakness

The key is twofold, understanding that He loves me, and secondly, I can trust Him. Our Heavenly Father certainly understands that we are human, normal, natural, and that we're going to have those times of worry.

He says, Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. He knew that the people of His day were troubled about many things. And He says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

God’s Provision, Thanksgiving, and Praise

Whatever we need, whether it is peace and contentment, whether it is material need, whatever it might be, He is there, available, reliably there, always there to take away those things that trouble us.

And in so doing, not only are we blessed, but God is glorified when we come out of our times of worry and anxiety and somehow are able to focus upon Him with thanksgiving and praise. Thanksgiving and praise are great, great assets to us when we are feeling very, very worried and troubled.

Worry and anxiety that drives us to God turns out for our benefit when we end up praising Him and thanking Him, and our faith has taken a leap forward, and we can rejoice in what He's doing.