What The Bible Has To Say About Worry And Anxiety
Anxiety is real, and it can be debilitating. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the U.S. and affect over 40 million adults, or 19.1% of the population, and Nevada is in the top 10 states of highest end reported instances of anxiety in the country. So, what does God have to say about the very real struggles with worry and anxiety? Did people in the Bible struggle with anxiety? There are stories throughout the Scripture of people who were struggling with fear and anxiety on a daily basis. Here are a few examples:
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” - 1 Peter 5:7
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” - Matthew 6:34
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” - Philippians 4:9
What The Bible Has To Say About Worry And Anxiety
Is the Bible’s solution really to tell people not to worry? If you could just “stop worrying” or not be anxious, wouldn’t you have done that a long time ago? In fact, the most commonly used word in the Bible for “be anxious” is merimnao (MAIR-IM-NAH-O). It is used 19 times in the New Testament and means: take thought, care, be careful, have care, to worry. In fact, the same word is used when Paul is promising to send Timothy (his disciple) to visit the church in Philippi. Philippians 2:19-20 says, “If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along. I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare.” In other words: I have no one else like Timothy, who merimnao about your welfare. This word is all about care!
What we are anxious about reveals what we deeply care about.
Anxiety is not something to be ashamed of or to be ignored, but something to be listened to. At the root of anxiety is not only worry, but something that you care deeply about. So why would the Bible tell people to not do that, to not merimnao? In Greek, one of the root words of merimnao is merizo, which means to distract, to divide, to draw different directions. Are there things dividing your soul? At the center of many anxieties are things like the need for control, fear of the future, fear or scarcity, fear of security, and to each one of those things God says, “Let me worry about that. That was never yours to hold on your own.” If this is an issue at least 1 in 5 people are facing, what are followers of Jesus going to do about it?
Cling To God: Psalm 63:7-8 says, “Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.” Anxiety cannot be fought alone; people need the strength of the One who both holds the universe together and created your inmost being. How do you cling to God? Paul says to fix your thoughts to things that are true, lovely, honorable, admirable. Make a list of these things! Read Psalm 23 5 times a day.
Support One Another: The power of showing up with curiosity, awareness, and clinging to God yourself to hold others with anxiety in God’s presence is that you can help bring truth when it’s hard to see. You don’t need to bring solutions. In fact, you can’t. Most people need you to sit with them in their anxiety. One of the greatest things you can say to someone else is, “I bear witness to your story.” How are you bearing witness? Let others show up well for you, and be the one to show up well.
Pray: Pray about EVERYTHING. Try God. Talk to him. Struggle with him. Be anxious with him. He can handle it. And he has something to say. Jesus himself put on flesh, lived, felt real things, was anxious to the point of sweating drops of blood. He called to the Father, had friends around him, and prayed. This Jesus knows.
Cling to God, support one another, and pray. For more resources on mental health, visit canyonridge.org/help.