We have all had times in our lives when we have experienced anxiety, stress, or fear, but the three experiences have differences. So we’re gonna talk about those three things today in this episode, what the Bible says about anxiety. Let’s look at the definition first of all, of each of these words, anxiety, stress, and fear, to discover their similarities and their differences.
Then we’ll look closely at what the Bible says about each of these words.
What the Bible Says about Anxiety
The first one is anxiety. Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, and it is typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.
Fear is a synonym for anxiety. Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous or likely to cause us pain or a threat.
It can also be defined as a mixed feeling of dread and reverence. For this definition, it might be the love and fear of God, for example.
Then let’s define the term stress. Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. An example here is he’s obviously under a great deal of stress.
I would venture to guess that we’ve all experienced one or all three of these things in our lifetime. Obviously, at times, both fear and anxiety are helpful to us, keeping us from making poor decisions or protecting us from harm. So, as the great Billy Graham said, “Historians will probably call our era the age of anxiety.”
Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered on anything short of God and his will for us. The funny thing is that Billy Graham wrote those words in 1965, but they are still true for us today, maybe even more so. Something to consider about all three of these things is how they affect our relationship with God.
I have found this to be so true in my life, so I’m sharing all of this from experience. In the Bible, it says, consider this: anxiety, stress, and fear can distract us from our relationship with God. Sorry, that’s not from scripture, but consider this: anxiety, stress, and fear can distract us from our relationship with God.
But the Bible does say in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
He even goes on further, the Lord does, and he tells us exactly what we need to focus on instead.
That’s in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.”
The truth is, we aren’t the first people to deal with anxiety, fear, and stress. The Bible mentions all of these things in different forms. You might remember the story of Esther, one of my favorite stories in scripture and Esther. Four. The Jewish people were anxious because of a Roman decree, a royal decree, that had been set, and they were going to be killed.
However, Esther was working to save them. She, too, is anxious as she was risking her life on behalf of her people. Fear, death, and the unknown are key elements of anxiety. This is why not all anxiety is sinful, but we do not know what God tells, but we do know that God tells us in Matthew six to not worry about the necessities of life.
This is probably the verse that sticks out in our minds when we think about what the Bible says about anxiety. It says in Matthew 6 25, “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body. What you will wear is not more than food and the body more than clothes.”
It continues in verses 26 and 27. “Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not so much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying at a single hour to your life?”
Another example from God’s word that I’m reminded of often is when I think of fear and anxiety is the story of Jesus and the disciples in the boat.
During a storm, the disciples easily became distressed because of the storm, but Jesus remained calm. He even rebuked them for their lack of faith, but he also rebuked the wind and the waves. One thing that we must always remember is that as long as Jesus is there, there is nothing to fear.
So I want you to think about this as you ponder the things that anxiety and fear have brought into your life.
I know I have plenty of stories that I could share with you about times when anxiety and fear took over my life in a big way. But each time I was always brought back to scripture when I really sat and thought about it, when I really sat and gave it to the Lord. And almost every single time he would take me to those two scriptures I shared with you, the ones in Philippians four and Matthew six, and I wondered sometimes, why do you keep bringing me back to these scriptures?
But the Lord was reminding me of what he promises in scripture. So every time I prayed, he brought me back to those scriptures. I hope that you will find some key verses of scripture that will help you in times of anxiety. Keep those key verses near and dear to you. Either memorize them or write them on a couple of note cards and stick them in your purse or your wallet or your car, or clip ’em up on the mirror in your bathroom.
These are ways that we can use scripture to help overcome our anxiety. I hope that you’ll put this into practice in your life this week.
Need some Scriptures to focus on. Download my free list of 80+ verses that talk about “fear not”. Click on the image below to download.
