When thinking about life, remember this: No amount of guilt can solve the past, and no amount of anxiety will change the future.
Anxiety
George MacDonald
Instead of so knowing Christ that they have Him in them saving them, they lie wasting themselves in soul-sickening self-examination as to whether they are believers, whether they are really trusting in the Atonement, whether they are truly sorry for their sins – – the way to madness of the brain and despair of the heart…Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have, this day, done one thing because He said, Do it! Or once abstained because He said, Do not do it! It is simply absurd to say you believe, or even want to believe, in Him, if you do not do anything He tells you.
Kris Vallotton
These days, it’s easier than ever to get caught up in what could go wrong, and imagine wretched worst-case scenarios. But I want to challenge us to take Paul’s instruction in Philippians 4 to heart! Let’s choose to feed our souls on something better than the worst possible outcome. I encourage you to find whatever is pure, worthy, excellent, and anything of good-repute – and meditate on that today!
Julia Loren
Worship moves you into a place of peace where you can receive His love. No matter what is going on in your life, entering into the presence of God through worship will enable you to drop the shield of anxiety, release your pent-up emotions, calm your heart and receive a peace that passes all understanding. Once that peace settles in, God’s loving presence floods in. It shields you from fear of the future and enables you to enjoy His presence in the now. Focus on the face of Jesus—no matter what storm rages around you—and though the storm rages, you will no longer notice because you are captivated by Him.
Katherine Walden
A consistently stressed Christian is one who has not learned to navigate through stressful experiences by trusting in a consistently faithful God.
Michael Maiden
Your soul needs hope the same way your lungs need oxygen to survive. We cannot be healthy without hope. When hope walks out, fear, discouragement, depression, anxiety and other hurtful things walk in. Hope is heaven’s healing antibiotic that kills the virus of fear. Have hope.
Chris Summerlin
The bottom line about all of our emotions or feelings of dread, apprehension, and uncertainty comes down to one thing: The fear of not being in control. – When there’s something beyond our control and we feel uncertain about the outcome, that’s going to create the emotion of anxiety in us. In the New Testament, the word anxiety means distracted or pulled apart – this is the opposite of peace. That “distraction” or “pulling apart” is going to create stress within us. And that stress, whether we realize it or not, is going to have a profound effect on our lives. Understand this can make you physically ill. It will divide your mind. And where your mind goes, the overall health of your body will eventually follow. That’s why recognizing what it is and learning to deal with the emotion of anxiety is so important.
Ann Mack
I will both lay down in peace and rest, for you God, cause me to dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8. We are in a battle, spiritually and physically. While we are doing what we need to do to combat all this craziness that is going on in the world, we must all remember to reset ourselves. To take breaks. To get away and do something else. Worship, dance, read your Bible. Go for a walk. This is what will make us stronger and keep us out of fear. Fear wants us to regress, to shut up, to stay silent, to freeze, do nothing. But I REFUSE to do nothing. When you are fearful, you will not make good decisions or have a clear head.
Priscilla Shirer
Fear is one of Satan’s primary schemes for crippling God’s people. I’m not talking about legitimate concern. I’m not talking about the protective warnings of wisdom and godly counsel. I’m talking about fear. Incessant worry. Up-all-night anxiety. Worst-case scenarios becoming the only probabilities you can think about. Fears like these, instead of simply raising our blood pressure, ought to set off some fire alarms. Why am I feeling so paralyzed like this? We clearly know from Scripture that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7 NKJV). So whenever you sense a “spirit of fear” invading any particular area of your life, you can know by process of elimination that it’s not coming from God.
Wendy Imboden
The quickest way to open the door to stress is by entertaining the lie, “I have to figure this out.” Praying and waiting on the Lord often feel counterproductive, but it actually increases our faith muscle and develops our discipline to move and work from a place of rest.