Reframing Anxiety Through God’s Love
Do you want freedom from anxiety and fear?
As a Biblical counselor who comforts people with anxiety, I've learned that healing and wholeness can only come from God's Word. When someone shares that they feel anxious, I ask two questions. First, "What's making you anxious?" and second, "Who are you concerned about in these feelings?"
I can't think of anyone who has ever said they were thinking about someone else when answering the second question. It's always about us. We are the focus of our anxiety.
I'm scared people won't like me.
I'm worried I won't fit in.
I'm afraid to do something I can't do.
I'm nervous I will lose my ______ (you fill in the blank).
We're drowning in a culture that promotes self-reliance. Our worldly perspective and self-absorbed thoughts create wrongly motivated behaviors. An entitled mindset that seeks instant gratification produces anxiety and takes our attention away from God, our creator.
Our pride assures us we can handle our circumstances, and we lack trust in God to help us. Trusting God can mean delayed gratification and obedience, even when our path isn’t clear.
God didn't create us to handle the trouble in our lives alone, so when we labor in our strength, we can expect to wrestle with anxiety and never have spiritual rest. If our goal is to rule our lives alone, taking what we want when we want it, we lack love, and there is no gain in anything apart from love.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28).
What we need is:
Someone we trust who cares about us and who can share our pain and rescue us. Faith.
Someone who gives us hope for a future and a perfect eternity on the other side of this fractured world. Hope.
Someone who loves us, despite our faults and failures. Love.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Faith, hope, and love bring us joy and peace. Only God can give us these divine provisions perfectly.
Love is the dominant reality standing the test of time, and love never decays compared to the temporary circumstances of our earthly lives. Love is the greatest because it's eternal and the most Christlike virtue of the three.
Love is the key that connects us to God's eternal nature, while faith and hope point us toward the day when we will see face-to-face the glory of Christ. Faith and hope vanish into the perfection of that glory, but love remains.
God's love remains forever, and it's here right now, available to all of us. If you're anxious, trust in God's love for you and rest in your faith, knowing that one day there will be no more fear or worry.
What more do we need to be anxious-free?
Father, Hear Our Prayer
Thank you for loving us, Father. We can only love you and others because you first loved us. May our love for you and those you bring to our lives show the world your power that transforms our anxiety into peace. You promise to give us hope when we repent and believe in your sacrificial work on the cross. We believe your son, Jesus, came to earth in human form. He lived a perfect life, died for our sins, rose from the dead to conquer death, and ascended to heaven. May your light shine in our hearts to overcome the darkness and protect us from the enemy. In your name and for your glory, we pray. Amen.
