Verses And Truth To Help Fight Worry

God, we just have so much to worry about. 

Here we are, making our list. The food, the jobs, the sickness, the unknowns and uncertainty. Reading articles and social media. We cannot escape the dread, the despair, the weariness of today. Our culture wants to solve the problem, find the source and save humanity. As long as there have been stories told, it's good versus evil. The bad guy almost wins and at the last minute, the good guy swoops in, the unlikely hero, and saves the day. And all live happily ever after. Love finds a way and the guy gets the girl, the child finds a family, the frog gets kissed and turns into a prince. Cinderella gets her castle, the misunderstood dragons become doted on pets. We love a good ending. We want to fix it, figure it out, plan, control. We want to write the story. 

So when things take a drastic, unplanned turn, we don't always handle it well. We worry. We fret. We get anxious. We fight for control of anything, all the things. 

But the truth is? We don't control the things. We can plan, but those plans, especially right now, will most likely take a sudden turn. We think we have things figured out, but it is quite possible the illusion of control is the only thing we have. 

No one wants a virus. No one wants to fear the unseen, worry about the unknowns. No one wants to lie awake at night thinking of all the worst case scenarios that could possibly come from being shut down for two weeks or more. Shelter in place? More like, shaking in anxiety? 

Let's turn that to rest in Him.(Psalms 62:5) Let's shift our thinking. Instead of worry and fear and guilt for not trusting. Let's name the fears. Say the worries. Write out the anxieties. And cry out to our Living God. (1 Peter 5:7)  The Healer. The Author and Perfector of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) The Almighty. He is powerful. Powerful. He created oceans and mountains and valleys low. He is tender and kind. He loves like no other. He can heal. He can empower us with courage instead of fear. With love instead of hate. With bold faith instead of hesitancy. With brave trust in his plans, instead of dependency on our own.(Isaiah 55:8)

The villian in our story is unseen. Its ways are still unknown and that has created fear and panic in all of society. But our God is bigger. We know his power. And he is good. 

So, we will fight worry, fight fear and fight anxiety with truth. With truth from God's word. With truth from God's heart. With truth that even this present suffering is nothing compared to what the Lord promises in our future. (Romans 8:18)

This is just a battle in the midst of a giant, spiritual war. This battle doesn't define us. This battle cannot take our faith. This battle is just a moment in time. It's just one of the many we will fight in our lifetime. 

And we can rest, because we know who wins the war. (John 16:33)

(Philippians 3:20-21)