Life Challenges

How to Overcome Anxiety?

Anxiety overwhelms us quickly. But we don't have to be passively attacked. We can fight back when anxiety attacks. The Bible arms us with weapons against dread and shows us the way to overcome anxiety.

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How to Overcome Anxiety

The Bible tells many stories about anxious people. If you feel anxious, you will feel at home in the pages of Scripture.

Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, struggled with anxiety (Proverbs 12:25). A notably godly man named David wrote a book of wonderful poems called Psalms, many of them pouring forth from his anxious heart. Even Jesus, the hero of the Bible, felt “greatly troubled” before he went to the cross (John 12:27; Luke 22:44).

God tells us in the opening pages of the Bible where all anxiety began. Anxiety is one symptom of living in a broken world where sin reigns (Genesis 1-3). We experience fear, pain and anxiety because our relationship with God has been broken. Life is not the way it was meant to be.

It is from this broken relationship with God that all the evil and pain come, when God and man parted ways because of mans’ rebellion, sin, suffering, and sorrow entered the world. And now you taste the bitter fruit of the curse every time your heart starts thumping in fearful anticipation.

We can never escape the fearful world we live in. A lot can go wrong, and does, and you can’t escape it all. The God of the Bible understands our anxiety and offers hope to actually overcome our anxiety through a relationship with him.

He wants to be with you and to help you for all your days, no matter how dark or terrifying they may seem. Everyone who has the Lord Jesus reigning in their heart, will have strength and peace that only come from knowing the Prince of Peace—the peace of Christ for this life and forever.

But in this life, we may still experience fear and anxiety. God does not promise that his presence will totally take anxiety away. Rather, he will help us learn to handle it well so that it won’t handle us. We overcome anxiety like we overcome waves—by learning to float on top, rather than coming out of the ocean altogether. God promises to swim right next to us for as long as we’re in the water.   

by Bibles.net

VERSE PAGES

Theme Verse

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 NIV

How to Overcome Anxiety?
Video: 16 Min
by Rock Singer Jen Ledger at WAY Nation
Quote

What to Do When You Feel Anxious

Here [is the] game plan when you start to worry and obsess:

1. Name the pressures. You always worry about something. What things tend to hook you?… Anxieties feel endless and infinite – but they're finite and specific.
2. Identify how you express anxiety. How does anxiety show up in your life?
3. Ask yourself, Why am I anxious? Worry always has its inner logic… What do I want, need, crave, expect, demand, and lust after? Or what do I fear either losing or never getting? Identify the specific lust of the flesh. Anxious people “eagerly seek” the gifts more than the Giver. They bank treasure in the wrong place. What is preoccupying me, so that I pursue it with all my heart?
4. Which promise of Jesus [from the Bible] speaks to you most? Grab one promise and work with it.
5. Go to your Father. Talk to Him. Your Father cares about the things you worry about. Your Father knows what you need. Cast your cares upon Him, because He cares for you.
6. Give. Do and say something constructive. Care for someone else. Give to meet human need. In the darkest hole, when life is toughest, there’s always some way to give yourself away.

by David Powlison | Source

Pop

Perfect Peace

by Tauren Wells

Chill & Relaxing

Peace In Christ

by McKenna Hixson
Article: 30 Min

Psalms for the Anxious

by John MacArthur at Grace to You

Image

When the cares 
of my heart 
are many,
your consolations
cheer my soul.

Psalm 94:19 ESV
Article: 7 Min

How to Respond to Anxiety

by Mike Emlet at the Biblical Counseling Coalition

Verse
Isaiah 26:3 ESV

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Messages: 41 Min

Peace: Overcoming Anxiety

by Tim Keller

Verse
Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Article: 7 Min

Not Worrying Does Not Mean Not Caring

by Tim Challies at his blog

Image

Trust in the Lord
with all your heart,
and do not lean
on your
own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 ESV

Contemporary

Control (Somehow You Want Me)

by Tenth Avenue North
Image

I do not occupy myself
with things
too great
and too marvelous
for me.

But I have calmed
and quieted
my soul.

Psalm 131:1-2 ESV
Article: 5 Min

Weapons in the Fight Against Anxiety and Fear

by Jason Helopoulos at the Christward Collective

Verse
Philippians 4:8-9 NIV

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Quote

Worries flee
before a spirit of
gratitude.

Verse
Psalm 139:23-24 NLT

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Article: 7 Min

The Secret to Dealing with Fear and Anxiety

by Ed Welch at CCEF

Article: 10 Min

Use Anxiety to Your Advantage

by Vince Miller at Desiring God

Quote

You will rest the most
when what you
treasure the most
is secure,
and you will worry
the most
when what you
treasure the most
is at risk.

Verse

Why We don't need to be anxious

Jesus gently addresses our anxiety in Luke 12:22-34. He helps us see that our concern comes from our desire for control. He encourages us by helping us understand the character of our Heavenly Father, who loves to provide for all our needs.
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