“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Matthew 11:28-29
LEARN
As a biblical counselor I find many women come for help with their anxiety in order to find a cure. This makes sense as the desire in counseling would be to work through issues in your life, and there are many practical tools that can help alleviate anxiety that should be utilized- however, there will always be a piece of our anxiety that may not have a cure this side of eternity. It is in this piece of the anxiety puzzle that I encourage women to view anxiety as something we see as a daily battle, and to not expect to perfectly rid ourselves of the worries of life.
Instead of focusing on getting over our anxiety (which often times leads to more anxiety) our focus should be on working in our anxiety. In this understanding, our hope is not focused on fixing our anxiety as our main goal, but fixing our eyes on Christ. When we do this even in the midst of anxiety we can learn what it is like to suffer well, and not be surprised if we can’t find a quick fix for our worries. So, instead of rising above our anxiety we can rise within our anxiety. We can have small victories, while recognizing our ultimate victory has already been accomplished in Christ.
In an attempt to rid ourselves of anxiety we forget that our anxiety is an opportunity to turn to God and recognize our shortcomings as humans. It is in the midst of anxiety that God promises us a hope and a future- one that is not dependent on our own abilities. So don’t lose heart. God is with you, he cares about you, he has not abandoned you, and he is desiring for you go to him with your worries.
KNOW
Anxiety is inevitable in our world because of the fall. We are in the midst of chaos, confusion, pain, suffering, sin, loss, sickness, and sorrow. In this life your anxieties may never fully go away, and you may feel overwhelmed or powerless to stop your anxiety but DON’T FORGET - GOD ISN’T OVERWHELMED. In fact he is the opposite. He is in control, caring, present, and available to you. Just because God hasn’t rid you of anxiety doesn’t mean he can’t, or that he is not with you, or that you have failed God as a Christ follower. So don’t lose sight that however you feel doesn’t take away from God’s power and the ultimate victory we have been promised (check out the book of Job for further studying on this). As you can see there is a lot we can learn about ourselves and God because of anxiety, but the biggest thing we can learn is to let go of our expectations of ourselves and lean more on God.
DO
One of the resources we have available to help you work through your fears is our book Gospel Activities for Women: Anxiety Edition. This book is a resource for women with practical exercises that deal with anxiety from a biblical and whole person approach. For other resources on anxiety you can also check out our RECOMMENDED RESOURCES tab! And lastly one of my favorite, short and sweet encouragements for anxiety is a resource from Bob Kelleman titled Anxiety: Anatomy & Cure.
