The word alone is often enough to get people anxious. Anxiety affects 20% of people 18 years and older. Meaning one in every five people have some sort of anxiety disorder. Think about five of your friends; chances are one of them has anxiety. It is the most common mental health illness in the United States. With such an intense and awful thing plaguing so many people; what do we, who believe in God, have to do? Well let’s see…
Is anxiety real? There are countless Christians, from various denominations, who refuse to believe that anxiety seriously effects them, or is even real, in the first place. The reasons for those are innumerable. Some believe that anxiety disorders are signs of demonic possession, or represent a weak or not properly enabled Christian, or worst of all a Christian without enough spine to “fight back” against the enemy. So, in brotherly love for both those who don’t believe in it, and those who do, let’s examine the data and see if anxiety really is real, and if it does affect people.
So to start, what exactly does a “anxiety disorder” mean? Well according to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, Generalized Anxiety Disorder is defined as “a persistent and excessive worry about a number of different things.” The website goes on to explain elsewhere that everyone feels stress, but people with anxiety disorders experience it more often and more intensely. Concluding with the line, “When anxiety interferes with daily activities it is time to seek help.” But this is only the medical field, and will not convince everyone. So let’s look at the Bible and see what it has to say about anxiety being real.
Anxiety is often mentioned in the Bible. One verse we’ll mention is in 1 Peter 5:7, “…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
The word “cares” here is the Greek word “μέριμναν” (Merimnan) which means, worry, anxiety, or cares. So this then is but one of many verses that speak to the Biblical view of anxiety. Peter’s wording here helps us to understand that anxiety is a negative thing, just like the medical view expresses. Also, in mentioning that we should cast them onto the Lord, Peter is saying it is better to live without it. So both the Biblical and medical views are aligned.
Does God care about it? We spoke to this a little in the last section, but due to the recent Christian apprehension with trusting medical sources, as well as the variety of Christian viewpoints on this topic, warrants this topic of “God and Anxiety” to be discussed just a little bit more.
First things first… God cares about humanity! Many scriptures back this up. Not the least of them being John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10, 2 Peter 3:9, and many more. Therefore if God loves people, then He wants what is best for them. This extends to their everyday occurrences. Every little thing is under God’s purview, including the things which cause the individual anxiety. Therefore we can conclude that God wants a person to not be fearful, but peaceful (see 2 Timothy 1:7).
If God wants people to be peaceful, then He does not expect people to just “figure it out”. Because this is cruel, and unhelpful. Neither of which are things that describe God. So we can conclude that God cares enough about it to create a way for someone to be peaceful. What is this process? Well let’s look…
What should we do about it? God’s process for how to get rid of anxiety is fairly clear and lines up with the medical viewpoint, which is two fold. First is to understand it, understand where the source of anxiety lies, what is causing it, and how you respond to it. Next is to talk to someone knowledgable to help you. This can be a therapist, a psychologist or any other host of professionals, which can definitely be helpful, and should be pursued if needed. However, God himself is also a knowledgeable professional who can assist you.
Our biggest scripture for dealing with anxiety is in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
So this scripture tells us, that prayer and supplication can assist us in dealing with anxiety. For the non-religious among us, this may be confusing. But, in essence, it means that in speaking with God, and asking Him for help, and then be thankful that He will provide it. A peace will come upon us, and this peace will assist us against anxiety in the future.
This may be a little confusing, but all in all this scripture and anxiety all come from the same place, fear! Anxiety is persistent and aggressive fear in our lives. The only way to manage fear, or to deal with it, is trust. We can trust our therapist, our loved ones, and many others, but do we trust God? Do we believe that God can assist us in our anxiety, because if we do, He can and He will!
Anxiety is a serious and persistent problem for many people. With many debating if it is even real at all. But the medical science, as well as the Bible tells us that it is. With a combination of communication and trust in a variety of sources we can deal with our anxiety, and maybe even overcome it. So as we go forward in our lives, we should hope for higher things, and believe for a better future than we are currently living.
Here are some other helpful resources to consider as well: Anxiety & Depression Association of America Website & What does the Bible say about Anxiety
That’s all I have for you today… Go in peace!
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