How many of us have had stress tangibly build up inside us, in a short time, until we felt like we were having an anxiety attack? Maybe it even was an anxiety attack. Scary!
As Christians we’re not supposed to suffer from stress, fear, and anxiety, right? How many places are we told to cast our cares upon Him? Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved (Psalms 55:22; ESV). “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life… which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:25, 27; ESV). Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7; ESV).
Initially, it’s not having the fear, anxiety, or the stress that’s the problem; it’s how we deal with it. We should trust in Jesus and hand the issue over to Him—which we may have to do over and over again. But not handing it over can be a lack of trust which can be sin. At the very least, it steals our peace, and if we let our emotions control us, we usually stumble headlong into sin! Yikes!
So what should we do?
There is a pattern in the Psalms that can help deal with intense stress: 1) The Psalm opens with pleading the situation; “How long will You allow my suffering, Lord?” 2) Then asking God to smite the cause of the situation; “Lord, break the teeth of the wicked.” 3) Closing by the recognition and praise of God; “You alone are the creator of all things. I will trust in You because of all the wonderful things You’ve already done for me.”
The trick is to remember to cast our cares, worries, stress, fear, and anxiety upon Him.
So simple, right? The trick is to remember to cast our cares, worries, stress, fear, and anxiety upon Him.
First, explain to God what is happening, how we’re feeling, and why we’re concerned.
Second, according to the pattern in Psalms, we ask God to smite the cause of our anxiety. Or should we? In the gospels we are told to love those that spitefully use us. In Luke (9:54-56; NKJV), when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” At this step we should ask God to bless those involved in the situation/cause of the anxiety.
Finally, we conclude with praising our God for what He means to each of us. The key here is to make it personal—thank Him and praise Him for who He is to us; thank Him and praise Him for what He’s done for us this week, this year, in our lives; thank Him and praise Him for what He’s doing in our lives and those He has brought into our lives.
It sounds so simple, but we have to remember the key: make it personal. Our relationship with Jesus should come out in our praise. As we voice all the things the Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings, and our Savior has done for us, we are reminded of who He is and what He can do—and just how small our problems are compared to Him.
Trust in Jesus with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and “just stand up.”