Fearless Future: Face the Unknown Without Anxietyनमुना

Both of my sons and I were released from the hospital on the same day.

Our oldest had survived his first asthma attack, but that was far from our last hospital visit. Seven days later I was back in the hospital with life-threatening postpartum complications. And since then, our son’s breathing problems have sent us back to the emergency room at least a half dozen times.

When ongoing scares become familiar, how do you live without fear of the future?

Or even harder, how do you find joy in a season this scary?

I’ll tell you what doesn’t work, from my own experiences:

• Pretending your feelings don't exist.
• Striving to work up more faith.
• Trying to control every outcome.

Here are some things I’ve found that do:

Plant Your Feet

By this I mean, be where you are. Don’t panic. If you feel overwhelmed, try to stay present with what’s actually going on around you. What do you know? Where are you now? What do you need to do? If you’re not familiar with the therapy term “grounding,” I encourage you to google it when you’re done with this plan. It’s a technique I learned from my counselor of using your five senses with purposeful breathing to help you physically calm down. My first step is always placing my feet firmly on the ground.

Pay Attention to Your Heart and Mind

Fear and anxiety leave us stressed and spiraling about things “out there.” What others are doing, what dangers may come, what isn’t what it should be, what could end up worse than we feared. Look “in here” to notice what’s going on in your heart and mind. Is that fear? How are you responding? Is that anxiety? Why is it there?

Now that you’ve noticed, the next steps help you do something about it:

Lift Up Your Eyes

Lift your focus up from what troubles you. Look beyond the things that are outside of your control. Ask God to show you how He is there with you, so you don’t have to be afraid. By reading on the Bible app today you’re taking steps in His direction.

Ask God to help you trust Him, to see more of how He is at work in you and around you. Trade in that lesser painful fear for the greater worshipful kind, as you notice in awe and wonder how your loving God cares for you. That’s where joy will start bubbling up in you, happiness and contentment independent of any circumstance—because God is with you.

Ask God What To Do

When fear and anxiety rule, we play their game. We listen to them and do what they say. Our agreement and alignment with their negative outlook gives them free rein to mess with us.

We get to agree with God and align our thoughts and actions with what He says instead. That doesn’t mean He will always say or do what we want. But He will guide us in truth, and He’ll never abandon us to fend for things on our own.

You know what I find interesting? Proverbs, including Proverbs 31, was written before Jeremiah.

In an unwanted situation, in chaos that massively disrupted every part of their lives and families, God’s people already had an easy-to-memorize acrostic poem reminder that they could laugh without fear of their future. And while in their hardship, God promised that He had good plans for what lay ahead.

I pray that this small Bible plan offers you the same, and it’s been an honor to serve you these past few days.

If you enjoyed this reading plan, I’d love to help you ditch fear and move forward in your life free from anxiety. Click here for complementary access to my favorite tool for getting rid of fearful anxious stories and receiving more of God’s truth.