Anxiety In Our Hearts

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.

Proverbs 12:25

Anxiety in a Man’s Heart

Anxiety builds upon itself, as I wrote about in this post. We can even become anxious about being anxious! Anxious thoughts tend to cluster around past or future events, which we have no control over. Sometimes we let anxiety grow in us until we feel anxious all the time, unable to calm down, rest, or think clearly. 

These anxious thoughts come from our hearts. Our outside circumstances may act as a catalyst, activating these worries inside of us, but ultimately we provide the anxious thoughts. We don’t sin when we feel anxious, but we do sin when we allow anxiety to uproot our trust in God.

God tells his people many times not to fear. [1] Why do we need this constant reminder? Because we live in an anxious, groaning world filled with sin and the consequences of sin. We will all feel anxiety at some point in time because we live in a broken world. 

Who speaks the “good word?” What is the “good word?”

First, we speak the good word to ourselves when we memorize Scripture and repeat Bible truths to ourselves, especially the hope we find in the gospel. We take our anxious thoughts captive to Christ by communicating with him in prayer about how we feel and applying the Bible truths we know to our lives. 

Second, others speak the good word to us. We hear the good word from our pastors on Sundays as they expound God’s Word and our Bible study leaders during the week as they lead discussions about God’s Word. Many gifted counselors have written books and articles about anxiety with a biblical worldview (I just finished reading this book by Elyse Fitzpatrick). We can rely on all these God-given resources for encouragement.

Perhaps most importantly, we encourage each other with the good word. Your friends who occasionally struggle with anxiety or those who feel anxious on a regular basis need your help and support. You may not understand how or why they feel anxious. Sometimes they won’t, either! You can, however, still listen carefully and respond lovingly and gently. Praying with your friends instead of just praying for them will show that you care about them and trust in God’s sovereign care. Those of us who feel anxious greatly benefit from this fellowship and reminder of God’s goodness.

The good word, spoken to us by ourselves or by others, never comes with shame or guilt. Phrases like, “You shouldn’t feel this way about (fill in the blank)” or “Why don’t you just deal with it?” can easily shame us and cause us to feel guilt. We feel ashamed to even have these feelings in the first place, and guilty that we can’t just forget our fears. These phrases imply that anxiety is a ‘wrong’ emotion and can simply be ignored. Neither idea helps us work through our anxious thoughts. Even worse, these two phrases ignore the need for us to bring these emotions to the Lord in prayer. 

The good word always includes biblical truth applied to our lives with charity, patience, and wisdom, and even better comes directly from God’s Word. The good word brings glory to God by placing the gospel at the center of any counseling or help. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

The Good Word Makes Us Glad

What does the word “glad” mean? The words that come to my mind right away are joyful, happy, cheerful, and content. Proverbs 12 tells us that the good word makes us glad.

The good word doesn’t make us glad by causing our anxiety to dissipate suddenly, like water evaporating on a hot day. In fact, anxiety can cloud our minds for a long time. Rather, the good word makes us glad through the fellowship with God we experience when we bring our anxiety to him and cry out for his help, and through the fellowship we experience with those God brings into our lives to encourage us and pray with us. 

We are “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8). We will not lose heart because we find our life in Christ! [2]

[1] Deuteronomy 31:6, 8, Isaiah 41:10, Luke 2:10 (this is not an exhaustive list by any means)
[2] 2 Corinthians 4