Mama, Take Back Your Joy From AnxietySýnishorn

If you google “What does God say about anxiety?” word-­for-­word, what do you come up with? (Go ahead and do it, I’ll wait.)

Here’s what popped up when I googled it: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6). And the other verse that came up right away was “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-­control” (2 Tim. 1:7 ESV). You’ve heard these two verses, right? Other believers have quoted them to you, and you’ve referred back to them when your anxiety was the highest, I’m sure. We’re going to debunk this “Christians can’t have anxiety” stigma, one verse at a time.

Let’s look at that popular Philippians verse first. The apostle Paul was writing a letter to the church in Philippi while he was imprisoned. Although he was in jail, the letter was pretty positive, and Paul seemed to have had a close relationship with the church. At the end of Philippians 2, Paul wrote that he was sending his “co-­worker,” Epaphroditus (yeah, I can’t pronounce that either), to deliver his letter (v. 25). The Philippians had sent Epaphroditus to Paul as their messenger to minister to Paul’s needs. As Paul was preparing to send him back, he wrote, “Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety” (v. 28, emphasis added).

Yeah, you just read that right.

Paul said he was experiencing anxiety, but that wasn’t the only time he experienced fear. When he traveled to Corinth, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:3 that he came to Corinth in “weakness with great fear and trembling.” He was afraid his preaching ability might be inadequate. While he was in Corinth, the Lord appeared to him in a vision and told him, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent” (Acts 18:9). Even with all Paul’s fear, he stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, and the Lord was with him.

I could dig even deeper into Paul’s anxiety, but here’s the point: Paul—­the guy who was pivotal in writing the New Testament and launching the early church—­was a little bit of a worrier.

You may be thinking, But Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything” (Phil. 4:6), so does that mean he’s a hypocrite? No! It means he’s human. And it also means a lot of Christians will read Philippians 4:6 and only see, hear, or retain the “Do not be anxious about anything.” Period. They stop right there. But if they kept going, they would read, “but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” If they went even further into verse 7, Paul continued saying, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Paul wasn’t saying that to meet the criteria of being a Christian, you’re not supposed to be anxious ever; he himself was anxious. He was just giving direction on what to do when you are anxious, and he was offering reassurance that God’s peace is like nothing of this world. God will guard our hearts and minds.

Now, on to that 2 Timothy verse.

Paul also authored this verse, and he was writing to his fellow coworker Timothy. Timothy and Paul had a very personal relationship; Paul compared his relationship to Timothy to a father-­son relationship. Second Timothy was written during Paul’s last imprisonment, and he was expecting to be put to death soon, so you can imagine writing these words to someone you have a deep personal relationship with—­you’re going to encourage them as you’re nearing the end of your life. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:6, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” He then continues in verse 7, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-­discipline.” I’m adding emphasis because the first time we looked at this verse, it was from a different translation, and “timid” was “fear.”

Paul was urging Timothy not to be shy, timid, or afraid to use the gifts God had given him. The Message reads, “And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—­keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.” (See, context is important!) Little Greek lesson here: The word “spirit” in this verse is the Greek word pneuma,which means “wind, breath, spirit,” 3 and Paul was referring to the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Paul was telling Timothy that the Spirit would give him the power to stomp out any fears he was facing.

The mental illness of my brain is fully capable of fear. Unfortunately, my brain senses danger, even if there’s nothing to be afraid of. My soul and my flesh (or in this case, my brain) are two separate things.

Your soul and spirit can stand firm in your faith, but your body can still be . . . well, anxious.

Thankfully, we’ve been given the gift of God’s Spirit who (even if momentarily) can shut down those fears and guard our minds with the peace of God.

The way I see it, anxiety is my trial in this world, and I’m going to persevere through it with faith. I’m going to pray with my racing mind, and I’m going to worship Him with my racing heart. I’m going to cling to my Bible when my anxiety gets going, and I’m going to continue keeping my eyes on Jesus.

My anxiety keeps me closer to Him.

And being close to Him brings me great joy.