Anxiety Is an Opportunity to Know God’s Peace

Six years ago, I could not have written Anxiety: Knowing God’s Peace. I was a prisoner. Anxiety crippled me and held me captive. Satan took advantage of an extended season of depression I was going through that had been triggered by the impact of a myriad of dif­ficulties in our church and family. Mounting pressure from every direction, along with my own angry response to it, collided to create a swirling storm of fear. I had experienced anxiety before, but never like this. I couldn’t go on. Some days, I didn’t even want to.

Twice I went to the emergency room showing symptoms of a heart attack. After my second trip to the ER, my physician sent me to a cardiologist to get blood work and a stress test. He determined that I hadn’t had an actual heart attack (the kind that causes permanent damage to the heart muscle) but a stress-induced heart problem that causes only short-term harm.

The Mayo Clinic calls it broken heart syndrome—a tempo­rary heart condition that is brought on by stressful situations or grievous loss. It involves a surge of stress hormones disrupting the heart’s normal pumping function. This condition mimics a heart attack by causing a similar set of symptoms, including chest pain, shortness of breath, an irregular heartbeat, and generalized weakness. When this occurs, people believe they are having a heart attack. I did—twice, in less than a year. And what I experi­enced is more common than I knew. No matter what your anxiety looks like, the Bible speaks truth and peace into our mind and heart. Click To Tweet

Perhaps you can relate to one or more parts of my story. Perhaps not. Regardless, we all struggle with various forms of anxiety. What does your anxiety look like? Is it mild worry? Or full-blown panic? Or something in between? Do your feelings of anxiousness come and go—or are they constant? No matter what your anxiety looks like, the Bible speaks truth and peace into our mind and heart. Scripture directly addresses the anxious heart in helpful ways. 

Anxiety Is Entwined with Our Bodies

Anxiety is a persistent part of our human condition. It’s so common that an estimated 23 million Americans suffer from panic attacks, while millions more identify themselves as having some form of anxiety disorder. It’s helpful to realize how hon­estly the Scriptures uncover this side of human experience, shed light on the effect that anxiety has on our bodies (and vice versa), and fuel the faith that strengthens inner security and peace.

Thousands of years ago, Jewish patriarchs recognized the impact of powerful emotions on the body. For example, Jacob feared the possibility of premature death from deep sorrow and distress (see Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 44:29). When his son Judah pleaded for Joseph to release his youngest brother Benjamin, he specifically begged to be allowed to return Benjamin to his father. Judah said, “As soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol”—that is, to the grave by premature death (Gen. 44:30–31).

The Bible also contains examples of the reverse happening—of anxiety being caused by physical suffering. The author of Psalm 102 pleaded with God to listen to him in his distress, which was not connected to his sin but occurred alongside his physical afflic­tions (see vv. 3–5). Job, too, is an example of this. As the result of immense loss and excruciating bodily pain, he experienced deep anxiety. “I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil” (Job 3:26 NIV). Even the apostle Paul experienced burdens that were “beyond [his] strength” (2 Cor. 1:8).

Scripture Heals Our Souls

We are so amaz­ingly designed by God that he should be exalted and praised—though the full interplay of our bodies and spirits, as well as the understanding of our beautiful and yet complicated emotions, remain mysterious to us (Ps. 139:13-14). One thing is clear, however: we are always made up of body and soul . . . together . . . always. Regardless of what physical elements may contribute to our anxiety, every mental or emotional strug­gle we experience is also an opportunity to develop our faith. Our souls are always in need of the Spirit’s ministry of grace and truth through the Word (Ps. 119:50, 92, 143). Regardless of what physical elements may contribute to our anxiety, every mental or emotional strug­gle we experience is also an opportunity to develop our faith. Click To Tweet

I’m not a physician, but I am a “soul doctor”—a pastor who wants to help others connect with the healing words of Scripture so that mental and emotional peace will reign in our heart, despite whatever physical or circumstantial challenges we may face.

The Goal of This Book

Debilitating fear strikes us out of nowhere. We don’t always know why we’re anxious. Though external pressures do act as triggers, and while some anxiety arises from physical problems, fundamentally there is something going on in our inner person. Fears and doubts hijack our peace, inner turmoil ensues, and our hearts pound.

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad” (Prov. 12:25).

This proverb hardly needs explanation. Anxiety in our hearts troubles our spirits, which in turn affects our bodies. Anxiety weakens us—it drags us down. But there is something that lifts us up and makes us glad: a good word—whether from God in Scripture or from a faithful friend.

In this book, I aim to bring both.

Peace is a recurring theme in this devotional; you will see it crop up again and again. I will help you to understand not only what a peaceful state of mind looks like but also how to maintain that state of mind by training the eyes of your heart to habitu­ally look to the Lord. Additionally, I will help you to understand the connection between the peace of God and peace with God. In other words, the experience of the peace of God flows out of an ever-deepening awareness of being securely at peace with God through faith in his Son.

How We Will There

To reach the goal of knowing God’s peace—not only in our heads but in our hearts—this devotional takes you on a 31-day walk on God’s road. First we define anxiety. I do this by opening up Scripture’s abundant pantry of truth in order to feed our souls. I also shine a flashlight on the real-life experiences of men and women in the Bible who, like us, struggled with anxiety. Once this foun­dation of understanding is laid, we look at the character of God and see how his promises speak to our anxiety. In the final and longest section, I open a chest of biblical wisdom to show you practical ways you can fight anxiety.