- Matthew 6:25-34 25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefor take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Where withal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
- Matthew 11:28-30 28Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
- Proverbs 3:5-6 5Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
- John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
That's just to name very few. There are many more. The Bible says "fear not" or "be not afraid" 103 times. (Not 365 times, like many people say.) But 103 times should have been good enough for me, and it wasn't. All of the scriptures basically say, "God's got this, God cares, don't worry." And every blogger and writer that I'd ever come across said, "Just stop. Jesus said not to worry." As though it's that simple. If you believe it's that easy, then you have never dealt with anxiety. You've probably worried, yes. Everyone worries about some things. But true anxiety can't just be turned off. I think the worst thing that I heard about having anxiety as a Christian, is that it shows that you don't trust in God. Worrying means that you don't believe that He loves you and is bigger than anything you face. Which of course, is true. And that's why it was the hardest thing to hear (or read, rather.) If I fully, 100%, trusted God, I wouldn't worry.
I spent hours at night, scrolling through many Bible verses, which were nice and I'm sure, comforting to many, but not to me. I finally found something that made me feel better. Actually, my anxiety almost completely vanished. It was John 14:2-4.
The thing that almost instantly calmed my fears, was not 103 different verses telling me not to be afraid. It was knowing where I was going to spend eternity. My anxiety is mostly related to death, injury and illness. And how out of control I am of those things. Every time I heard of someone who was young and healthy being stricken down with cancer, I had a panic attack. I would think, "I'm young and I think I'm healthy. But I'm still not safe." And when I wasn't obsessing about myself, I would be checking my children for symptoms, and following them around with hand sanitizer. But then I began to read what the scriptures had to say about Heaven, and that "peace that surpasses understanding" came over me. I'd heard of it, but hadn't experienced it before. I still had some symptoms that were troubling me. I was still convinced that I should go to the doctor and that this "might be something." But suddenly, I felt that even if it was "something," it would be fine. I would be fine. God would walk with me through it, and even if I died, I'd go to Heaven, so what was I worried about?
I had met people before who were anxious to get to Heaven. People who said they couldn't wait to be with Jesus. And I always thought, "I can wait. I can definitely wait." I could not understand how anyone could be okay with dying. And then I realized, you have to become okay with it, because it's going to happen. The current global mortality rate is 100%. We're all going to die, eventually. So you have to know what happens after that, and be sure that you're going to the right place.
I had met people before who were anxious to get to Heaven. People who said they couldn't wait to be with Jesus. And I always thought, "I can wait. I can definitely wait." I could not understand how anyone could be okay with dying. And then I realized, you have to become okay with it, because it's going to happen. The current global mortality rate is 100%. We're all going to die, eventually. So you have to know what happens after that, and be sure that you're going to the right place.
I'm not completely recovered. I'm actually a little anxious as I'm typing this, and I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I'm also not saying that if I were diagnosed with something serious, or had an accident, that I wouldn't have a momentary freak-out. I'm sure I would. I was worrying about finances just this morning. I still triple-check the locks on the doors and windows every night. I still worry. We all do. Having at least a small amount of fear can be healthy, it helps protect us from danger. We live in a fallen world. We need to use caution and lock our doors and wear our seat-belts. But now, when the worry begins to overtake me, I can take a deep breath, and remind myself that it's all going to turn out fine. Heaven is my ultimate destination, I'm just passing through this life with all of its troubles.
I intend on writing a post about Heaven. I'm doing some research right now, and the more I learn about Heaven the more I become one of those people who can't wait to get there. If you're a Christian and aren't excited about your future home, you should be. You are so mistaken if you think it's all cherubs playing harps and floating around on clouds. And if you aren't a Christian, let me assure you that hell is not some really hot, sauna-like party, where everyone will hang out and exchange stories about all their sins and worldly escapades. It is solitary, hopeless, unending torment and pain. You will not be with your buddies or family in hell. Jesus is the only way to Heaven, and if you don't know Jesus and you want to, please say the following prayer:
As a future resident of Heaven, you have nothing to fear on this Earth. All of the other verses about fear and anxiety are true. God is in control. God loves you. You are worth more than many sparrows. Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light. Don't let your heart be troubled. But, if those truths don't comfort you, and even if the worst things happen to you here, this is not your home. You belong in Heaven, where there will be no tears, no pain, no darkness.
