How to Overcome Anxiety – Part 3

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Matthew 6:32

Here are two more steps to overcoming anxiety: 1) Ask for help. Paul wrote, ‘Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus’ (2 Corinthians 7:5-6). You’re not unique; others are facing the same fears too. By ‘telling’ on your anxieties, they begin to lose their power. Remember: ‘Two are better than one…If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!’ (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). Share your feelings with someone you trust, and ask them to pray with you. People are more willing to help than you might imagine. Less worry on your part often means more happiness on theirs. 2) Focus on God, not yourself. Jesus concludes His call to calmness with this challenge: ‘Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need’ (Matthew 6:32-33). If you seek wealth, you’ll worry about every dollar. If you seek health, you’ll fear every blemish and bump. If you seek popularity, you’ll obsess over every conflict. If you seek safety, you’ll jump at every crack of the twig. But if you focus each day on God’s kingdom, ‘He will give you everything you need.’ An unknown poet wrote: ‘Said the robin to the sparrow, “I should really like to know, why these anxious human beings rush around and worry so.” Said the sparrow to the robin, “Friend, I think that it must be, that they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me.”’

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to learn that You have placed others in my life to help me and for us to share each other’s burdens with. Thank You Jesus, Amen