A Biblical Perspective On Worry And Anxiety
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The document discusses what the Bible says about worry and anxiety. It provides numerous scripture passages that instruct believers to not worry and instead trust that God will take care of their needs. It advises that worry does not help and to instead focus on God, take thoughts captive in obedience to Christ, and pray. Recognizing worry is unhelpful and putting one's trust in God through his word can help replace worry with peace.
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A Biblical Perspective On Worry And Anxiety
- 2. A Biblical Perspective On Worry And Anxiety
- 3. What Does Scripture Say About Anxiety? Psalm 127:1-2: “It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for he gives to His beloved even in his sleep.” (NAS) Proverbs 12:25: “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad.” (NAS) 1 Peter 5:7: “Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” (NAS) Philippians 4:6: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (NAS)
- 4. What Does Scripture Say About Worry? Matthew 6:25-27: “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (NAS)
- 5. What Does Scripture Say About Worry? Matthew 6:28-34: “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (NAS)
- 6. What Does Scripture Say About Worry? Luke 12:25-30: “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will he clothe you? And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” (NAS)
- 7. The Security Of Those Who Trust In The Lord Psalm 37:1-9: “Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.” (NAS)
- 8. Who Is Our Confidence In? Proverbs 3:26: “For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” (NAS) 2 Corinthians 3:4-6: “Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (NAS) 1 John 5:14: “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (NAS)
- 9. Who Is Our Confidence In? Romans 8:31-35: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (NAS) Romans 8:37-39: “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NAS)
- 10. What Can Come Against Us? Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (NAS) Psalm 27:1: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?” (NAS) Psalm 54:17: “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me, declares the Lord.” (NAS) Hebrews 13:6: “So that we confidently say, THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?” (NAS)
- 11. He Has Overcome Everything! John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you might have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (NAS) 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” (NAS) Ephesians 3:12: “In whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.” (NAS) Worry Is Not From God!
- 12. Taking Our Thoughts Captive Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (NAS) 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (NAS) Philippians 4:8-9: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (NAS)
- 13. Peace Replaces Worry Isaiah 26:3: “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.” (NAS) John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (NAS) Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (NAS) Colossians 3:15: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” (NAS)
- 14. How To Stop Worrying 1. Recognize that worry doesn’t help you (Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 12:25) 2. Take your thoughts captive (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 10:5) 3. Trust God to take care of things (1 Peter 5:7) 4. Put your focus on God, not circumstances (Isaiah 26:3, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Hebrews 12:2) 5. Pray and meditate on God’s word (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-3, Philippians 4:6- 8)
Editor's Notes
- Good evening, for those of you that I haven’t met, I’m David Ufford, one of the Life Group Leaders here at Living Hope Family Church. I’m pleased to have the opportunity to share with you tonight. Pastor Mike and Jane are wrapping up some well-deserved vacation and will return this weekend. Please remember them in your prayers. Many years back, I read some statements that Jesus made about how ineffective worrying and being anxious are, and I’ve tried to keep them in my mind since. Sometimes they’ve been very helpful when I’ve confronted situations with uncertainty, and other times, the Lord has very graciously had to remind me of them. Recently, I’ve been in a number of situations involving worry and anxiety, and felt that it was time to go back and review these Scriptures and the principles in them. Did you know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults or 18% of the population? Anxiety even affects up to 8% of our children and teenagers in this country. It probably shouldn’t be any wonder that so many are challenged with worry and anxiety with all of the doom and gloom in our media, and the overriding pressure to perform in our society. But none of the circumstances that we face are a surprise to the Lord!
- With all of the uncertainty going on in our world today, let’s look at what the Scriptures have to say about being anxious (Read Scriptures) Psalm 127:2: the KJV translates this as, “eating the bread of anxious toil”; how many of you know that anxiety can eat you up on the inside? The results of working under worry or anxiety are not satisfying or fulfilling to us, because the root issue remains unaddressed. Proverbs 12:25: do you know that anxiety gives you a heavy heart, and robs you of your joy? 1 Peter 5:7: “casting” here literally means to “throw upon”, like tossing cloth garments on a horse (so the horse can carry them off); of course this means that you have to leave the garments or the cares with God so He can take them away, as opposed to trying to grab them back Philippians 4:6: God is saying to us, tell me about your needs, and don’t sit around worrying about them Some of you are thinking, wait there’s more in this passage in Philippians that’s relevant: but don’t worry, we’re going to come back to this passage a couple more times
- Let’s look at what Jesus Himself had to say about the usefulness of worrying (Read Matthew 6:25-27) In Verse 27, the KJV translates the phrase, “can add a single hour to his life” as “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?” Either way you put it seems a little ridiculous. We are neither going to get any taller, nor live any longer by worrying! I used to laugh at the absurdity of that statement, and go, “well, duh”, but how many of us do it anyway? (“Cubit” is roughly the length of a forearm, or 18”) We’re told here that we should not be allowing ourselves to be harassed and burdened by the uncertainties of life. The game of “what if” can be carried to extremes and get out of hand very quickly. This is not referring to the prudent and normal foresight of providing for the future, but rather a warning to avoid any overanxious care that comes from us lacking faith in the promises and providence of God. There’s also a caution here not to value possessions or the comforts of this life so much that we worry about them. As we’re told in 1 Timothy 6:7: For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” In “My Utmost For His Highest”, Oswald Chambers, the great Scottish evangelist said, “It is not only wrong to worry, it is infidelity, because worrying means that we do not think that God can look after the details of our lives, and it is never anything else that worries us.” (May 23rd entry) Probably many of you recognize this passage and know that there is more said in the following verses about worry, so let’s continue on into Verse 28 on our next slide.
- Okay, let’s look at the remainder of this passage in Matthew Chapter 6. (Read Matthew 6:28-34) We are told twice more in this passage not to worry. Jesus offers a lesson to us by telling us to thoughtfully examine, and not just glance at, the flowers of the field; they do not work or strive or toil day and night, and yet they continue to grow. This is because God is taking care of them, just as He has promised to do for us. Note also the reference to the pagans (Gentiles) or unbelievers seeking after things or possessions, which we’ve already discussed as possibly being a stumbling point for worry or anxiety. More importantly, see how Jesus, in contrast, encourages His followers to seek after spiritual things instead, such as the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We are to focus on the purposes of His Kingdom, and as we do, the things we need will be taken care of. We need to remember the words of the old hymn: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace”. In Verse 34, note how we’re told that: Tomorrow will take care of itself The present day has enough things that we need to deal with, so why take on more troubles? I believe that God empowers us or gives us enough grace to deal with the challenges we currently face, but only as we face them. If we get out in front of God and start trying to deal with things that haven’t or may not even happen, then that grace isn’t there.
- There is a parallel passage in Luke that reiterates Jesus’s teaching on worry. (Read Luke 12:25-30) I wanted to read this passage because of one particular phrase, which I think is self-explanatory: “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?” Jesus is saying that adding an hour onto our life is a very small thing, both for Him, and compared to the even bigger things that we’re trying to undo, prevent, or fix in whatever we’re worrying about. And if you stop and think about it, this is true. (Examples: recent hurricanes) This is why He tells us in Philippians 4:6 not to put our time into being anxious, but instead to go to Him in prayer about the matter. So why worry indeed? It’s been said that worry is evidence of too much reliance on ourselves. We are not in control, so we shouldn’t be relying on ourselves. God is in control, so we should be relying on Him! The only power that worry has is to be able to paralyze us, and keep us from seeking God! It only has that power if we give in to it. We’re not trusting God if we’re worrying. He is in control, and we need to trust Him! Speaking of trust, let’s talk some more about trusting in the Lord…..(Next slide)
- Do we really trust in the Lord? Let’s look at what the Scripture has to say about “fretting” and about the benefits of trusting in God. (Read Psalm 37:1-9) In verse 6, we see, “He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday.” This is saying that God is in control of seeing that righteousness and judgment is taken care of, and it will happen just as sure as the morning sun rises (“as the light’) and as noon comes (“as the noonday”). The security of those who trust in the Lord is guaranteed! Verse 8 tells us that to fret or worry will lead to evildoing. This is often the result when we become disobedient and try to take matters into our own hands. How many of us have taken matters into our own hands and seen things get worse? The truth is, this happens when we start saying having doubts about whether God is going to come through in a situation. This is a result from insufficient faith and trust in God. We need to learn from the lessons of when Abraham and Jacob decided that God needed help in fulfilling His word. Again, Oswald Chambers tell us that, “Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way.” (July 4th entry, “My Utmost For His Highest”). And why do we try to get our own way? Because we are not trusting in God. And in case you missed it, we’re not supposed to fret about the evildoers. They may appear to prosper for a time, but God will see the justice is served.
- As we’ve just seen, God promises our security, so we ought to be able to place our confidence in Him. Our confidence should not be in our own wealth or abilities, or in our possessions. Our confidence has to be in the Lord! (Read Scriptures) Proverbs 3:26: God is supporting us, and is also the source of our strength, not only in good times, but also in times of distress or difficulty 2 Corinthians 3:4-6: the word “adequacy” here is translated as “sufficiency” or “competence” in other versions; it means having been made fit or capable through Christ 1 John 5:14: if we ask in submission to His will, which is revealed in His Word, then there is certainty that our prayers are heard
- Our confidence is rightly placed in the Lord because of His nature and character. Listen to what Scripture declares about the character and nature of our Lord! (Read Romans 8:31-35) Verse 34 asks, “who is the one who condemns?” The most important point here is that God is on your side, and He has justified you through Jesus Christ. If you’re hearing condemnation and “doom and gloom”, this isn’t from God. With God, there is always hope, and there is always a way out. The enemy would like you to believe that there is no hope, and that you are condemned without recourse. This is not so!! God loves us, and he will not change His mind about us, regardless of the circumstances that we may find ourselves in. Verses 37-39 (Read together) Now that’s a pretty comprehensive list. Does anyone see any loopholes or “wiggle room“ for anything to separate us from God’s love? Can anybody think of anything that can separate us from the love of God, and His care for us? We’ll talk more about it in a few minutes, but reading and meditating on the Word of God will strengthen and build your confidence in Him.
- We may not say it out loud, but we do think about “what if…..?” We worry about all sorts of tragedies or harm that could befall us, but Scripture tells us that we do not walk through these times and places alone. (Read Scriptures) The truth is that most of what we worry about never happens anyway. Psalm 23:4: the valley of the shadow of death can best be thought of as any terrifying place. David is saying that he will not give way to his fears in such a place, but instead will confidently rely on God. The rod and the staff are evidence of the presence of the Good Shepherd, who will watch over us and protect us. Psalm 27:1: God is our guiding light in darkness, and our deliverer. “Defense” here means a fortified and safe place for us. God is that safe place for us, we can rest peacefully in His arms. Remember that God’s light pushes away darkness & worry: they cannot co-exist. Psalm 54:17: When unjustly accused or threatened, God will reckon with our enemies. Final prosperity and success are determined by Him, and Him alone! Hebrews 13:6: We can say this confidently because Christ gave His life to purchase us. Do we really think that He will let harm come so easily to those that He values so much?
- There will be problems is our life, but Christ has overcome everything. (Read Scripture) John 16:33: The word “overcome” here is the Greek word, nikao, which means to prevail by might or mastery. There is no one Mightier than God, and he is Master of all creation! Notice also that we have a promise of peace through Christ, and that we shouldn’t panic when troubles arise. Instead, we should take courage in the fact that God is standing with us. We also need to recognize that worry does not come from God. (Read Scriptures) 2 Timothy 1:7: The KJV and the ESV translates this as “a spirit of fear”. Instead, the Spirit of God leads to boldness in the believer. Ephesians 3:12: if we’re not worrying, we are free to be bold. We’re also told in Hebrews 10:35: “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” (NAS)
- As promised, we’ve circled back to Philippians, Chapter 4. A lot of our trouble with worry and anxiety starts with our thought life, and it is very easy for our thoughts to start wandering. What may start out as a trickle or a thin stream can soon quickly turn into a rut of thought or a “gully washer” that carries us away if we do not act quickly to take control! (Read Scriptures) Our thoughts start with what we take into our hearts and minds with our eyes and our ears. The good news is that we are the gatekeeper here, so we can control this. We need to replace worry & anxiety with the word of God! This will help get our focus off circumstances and onto God’s promises. You may have to exercise discretion if you figure out that certain things like media stories trigger worry or anxiety in you. Romans 12:2: at work, we used to have to calibrate our measurement equipment to what we knew was truth. In the same way, we need to calibrate our minds to God’s truth. We can also think of this as “synchronizing” our thoughts with God’s. 2 Corinthians 10:5: there is a battle going on between truth and the things that the enemy would have us to believe, which are contrary to what God promises us in His Word. We get to decide which we are going to believe. Philippians 4:8-9: “whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, worthy of praise…”: how many of the things we listen to meet this criteria? We need to dwell on and practice these things.
- When we are confident and trusting in the Lord, His peace replaces worry and anxiety in our hearts. (Read Scriptures) Isaiah 26:3: Those who resolutely keep their trust in God will rest in His perfect peace. “Steadfast” means standing firm. John 14:27: If it’s bringing worry, and not peace, it’s not from God. Philippians 4:6: Too often we go right past the word “thanksgiving” in this passage: it says that we should let our requests be made know with thanksgiving. This means that we can tell the Lord about our needs, and know that with sure confidence He will take care of us. We should approach God in thanks for what he has already done, in addition to asking for help in other areas of our lives. Colossians 3:15: “rule” here means to preside or to sit as an umpire: in other words, we are to govern our hearts and keep them from disorder; remember when we talked about being a gatekeeper and deciding what gets in and what doesn’t? Faith is the antidote to worry. Worry springs from unbelief that God is able to do what He promises. Build faith and overcome worry by meditating on the promises of God! Dale Reese in his message at the Men’s breakfast, reminded us of Romans 15:13: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (NAS) Too many of us have the abundant life stolen away by worry and anxiety. You don’t have to let this happen.
- Now that we’ve covered how ineffective and unproductive worrying is, how do we practically stop doing it? Let’s look at some practical steps But before we begin this list, there’s a prerequisite, and that is to trust in Jesus as your Savior. If you haven’t already taken that step, then please come up after the service so we can talk. (Read List) We’ve already covered how we cannot add height to our stature or hours to our days by worrying, in Matthew 6:27, and in Luke 12:25 We have to take our thoughts and imaginations captive, as it is those things that can be pathways to worrying. We need to calibrate our minds to God’s truth. Casting our cares onto Christ means that we leave them with Him (and don’t try to take them back) We need to focus on God, who is bigger than the worry. Remember to “turn your eyes on Jesus, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim.” Praying and meditating on God’s Word is how we do # 4. Praying and meditating on God renews our confidence in Him. We have to build our faith to withstand what we may encounter in our world. We need to dwell on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, and worthy of praise. We need to dwell on the Word of God, and the greatness of our Lord!