Worry Won’t Win.

Have you read the studies that chart the rise of anxiety and depression diagnoses in the U.S. over the last 50 years? Some studies suggest it has, at minimum, doubled. Perhaps you have no formal diagnosis of anxiety or depression, but you are well-acquainted with anxious thoughts, racing hearts, panted breathing, immobilizing worry, and weighted emotions. Maybe you find yourself running through quicksand, trying to escape your emotions. Perhaps you frequently wake up thinking about challenges in your life that cause your heart to palpitate. Does fear drive your thoughts most of the day? Maybe you’ve tried all the things – counseling, spiritual armor, discipleship, prayer – even medication – and yet, you still can’t seem to get free. Today is your day.

Let’s start with looking at the recipe for peace in our daily Scripture.

• Don’t worry about anything. I know, I know. It’s easier said than done, but Scripture explicitly tells us not to worry about anything. The problem is – most of us have always worried! Our parents worried. Our grandparents before them worried. We have created a habit of worry. Will we have enough to pay the bills? Will they repossess the car? Will the kids be permanently harmed by the divorce? Will my broken heart ever mend? Romans 12:2 teaches us that we must renew our minds! We must train our thought-life to align with the Word of God, not the ways of the world or the way we’ve always thought. Worrying does not add anything to our situation; rather, it takes away from our capacity to experience the joy of the Lord. Take your thoughts captive. Here is the key: It’s intentional, daily training. If you are beginning to feel panicked or overwhelmed with a decision or challenge, stop and quote the Word of God, e.g. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I am a conqueror in Christ. I am the head and not the tail. My God shall supply all my needs. My God will not forsake me. Worry is a lie of the enemy – a strategy he uses to steal your peace. Counteract the attack with God’s truth. This takes practice. But listen, mom, you either take captive every thought and demand the enemy flee, or you live daily bound by his lies.
• Pray about everything. In the most anxious moments of your life, you can take your cares to the Lord. You can cry out to the creator of Heaven and Earth. Pray without ceasing, day and night. As a single mom who lived in government housing and often robbed my kids’ piggy banks to get gas to make it to work, I know what it is to have nothing. I know what it is to feel hopeless, huddled on a bathroom floor, and suicidal. But the more I engaged in prayer – even when I didn’t feel like it, even when it felt useless – the more the power of God rose inside me. I became a prayer warrior. I warred and prayed in the Spirit at all times – day and night, night and day. I would NOT allow the enemy to steal my life. I had already lost so much. My children deserved more. Pray about old wounds of abuse. Pray about festering unforgiveness. Pray about rejection that has caused you to make poor choices. Bring it all before the Lord. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you; there is power there!
• Tell God what you need. God knows the plans He has for us to give us a future and a hope. (Check out Jeremiah 29:11). But He also wants to hear from us. Tell God what is going on. Tell him what you need. Tell him your fears or worries about your finances, children, loneliness, etc. We often have not because we have often asked not. Be intentional in prayer about the things you need. This is God’s instruction in His word, and Jesus modeled this in the Lord’s prayer, e.g. give us this day, our daily bread.
• Thank God for what he has already done. God has already delivered you time and time again from hardship, pain, obstacles, worry, and wounds. Remember all that He has already done for you, and thank Him for it. He is a faithful God who was faithful in past seasons and will be faithful in this season. Anxiety cannot take over when our minds are filled with gratitude for God’s provision.

Moms, listen. Every enemy must bow at the name of Jesus. Every demon in Hell must go. Every tormenting thought cannot stand against the blood of Christ. Take control of worry via the word of the Lord and proclaim it aloud.

Points to Ponder:

• Describe a time when you have felt the peace of God in your life. Was there an absence of challenges, or was the peace more of an internal thing? Why do you think that is so?