How do you handle your anxiety?
Faith lets us look beyond our circumstances and fix our eyes on Christ. In this article I want to answer a question many people bring to me: is there a cure for anxiety?
Why I don’t promise to make anxiety disappear
When I sit with people who struggle with anxiety, I often ask, “What do you hope for from therapy?” A common answer is, “I want to get rid of my anxiety. I can’t stand it.” My honest reply is that we cannot remove anxiety completely. People are often surprised.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) says plainly: “Feeling anxious is a normal part of life.” It also explains that an anxiety disorder involves “more than occasional worry or fear,” and that for people with these disorders anxiety “does not go away, is felt in many situations, and can get worse over time.” That difference matters. A professional can help you with a disorder. But the goal is not an emotion-free life. The goal is a different relationship with the emotion.
My pastoral view, not a medical claim: God made us able to feel fear and worry so that we can notice danger and care about what matters. Anxiety is part of how we are built, even when it is loud and uncomfortable.
What happens inside you
Here is how I explain it in plain language, as an illustration and not as a lecture. When we sense a threat, the body prepares to act. The heart beats faster, breathing quickens and the muscles tense. These changes are meant to protect us. When no clear threat is in sight, we may feel those same changes simply as agitation or dread. The NIMH describes it this way: anxiety “can occur even if there is no current threat.”
Your mind also tries to make sense of what you feel. If you do not take hold of that process and just let your thoughts reach their own conclusions, fears can attach themselves to the wrong things.
Picture a baby playing with a favorite toy when it suddenly makes a loud noise. The baby cries. The crying itself is upsetting, and soon the baby is afraid of the toy, though the toy never did anything wrong. Something similar can happen to us. A frightening phone call, a health scare, a conflict or a loss leaves us shaken, and the fear attaches to whatever was nearby. We start to fear that thing, instead of asking what really set the alarm off.
Anxiety as a messenger
Emotions give us information about our experiences and about what matters to us. Anxiety is a messenger. Many people try to ignore it because it is unpleasant, even painful. Scripture offers a better path. Paul writes: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6, NIV)
In today’s words: do not fight the messenger. Listen to it, tolerate it for a moment, and bring what it is saying to God in prayer. The message is more important than the discomfort of hearing it.
Then Paul adds: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7, NIV) Notice what he does not say. He does not say the storm will never come. He says peace will stand guard over your heart and mind.
Even when you cannot name what triggered your anxiety, learning to tolerate the sensations and set them before God helps you work through what you are living.
Three practices for living with anxiety
Think of chronic pain. The more you demand that it go away, the more it frustrates you and the louder it seems. When you accept it as irritating but not as something you must destroy at once, it often loses some of its grip. Anxiety works much the same way. The more you demand that it disappear, the bigger it gets, and all your attention goes to it. This is my observation from years of pastoral and counseling work, not a research finding. These three practices are my own suggestions, and the NIMH fact sheet in Sources supports the journal and the professional help.
1. Stop fighting it
One way to approach anxiety is to learn to let it be. You do not have to get rid of it first. When it asks for your attention, gently turn back to what you were doing and place the worry in God’s hands. The apostle Peter puts it this way: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6, NIV) And right after: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7, NIV)
In short, you can hand your worry to someone who cares about you.
2. Give your worries a set time
If the first practice is not enough, try this one. When your mind is racing and you cannot focus, find a quiet moment. Set a timer for 15 minutes and write down everything that troubles you in an emotional journal. The NIMH fact sheet suggests the same simple habit: “Keep a journal.”
Setting aside a regular time each day can help you contain your worries. You know you will have time to face them, so they do not have to run your whole day. If what you write distresses you more, share it with a professional.
3. Make an anxiety box
Find a shoebox and cut a slot in the lid. Decorate it as you like and keep it where you will see it. When worry starts pressing in, write it on a slip of paper. As a pastor, I also believe the enemy of our souls likes to use worry against us, so I pray before I drop the paper in:
“Lord, this is what worries me. You told me not to be anxious, so I am putting this in the box. I cannot handle it by myself. It is for you to carry, and I trust you with it.”
I am not saying your problems will disappear because you drop them in a box. A box has no power. Prayer does something different: it moves a worry from your hands to God’s, and it shows you how many of your worries repeat themselves. Scripture promises his peace in the storm, not a life without storms.
When to ask for help
These practices are a first step, not a replacement for a professional. The NIMH says that if coping is hard, or if symptoms of stress or anxiety will not go away, “it may be time to talk to a professional.” If your anxiety keeps you from sleeping, working or caring for your family, do not wait for a better season. Pray, and also call.
A safety note: if you feel chest pain, faint or have trouble breathing, get urgent medical care or call 911. Do not assume it is only anxiety.
What is one worry you could set before God today, and who could you ask to stand beside you while you do?
Would you like to talk with a professional? Call (407) 559-7093 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern) or find professional help here. For general questions that are not an emergency, write to drduany@zodugroup.com. Please do not send health information by email.
This article is for education only. It does not offer diagnosis or personal advice, does not replace evaluation or treatment by a health professional, and reading it or writing to us through this site does not create a therapeutic or pastoral counseling relationship. This site is not an emergency service and is not monitored continuously: do not send health information through comments or public forms. The author is a licensed psychotherapist and pastor, and is part of ZODU.
Sources
- National Institute of Mental Health. (2024, December). Anxiety disorders. NIMH. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
- National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). I’m so stressed out! Fact sheet. NIMH. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/so-stressed-out-fact-sheet
- New International Version. (2011). Philippians 4:6-7. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4%3A6-7&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). 1 Peter 5:6-7. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+5%3A6-7&version=NIV
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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