Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World

by Max Lucado

Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one.

One would think Christians would be exempt from worry. But we are not. We have been taught that the Christian life is a life of peace, and when we don’t have peace, we assume the problem lies within us. Not only do we feel anxious, but we also feel guilty about our anxiety! The result is a downward spiral of worry, guilt, worry, guilt.

The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional.

Celebrate. Ask. Leave. Meditate. C.A.L.M.

It is not God’s will that you lead a life of perpetual anxiety.

Listen carefully and you will hear him say, “Everything is secure. You can rest now.” By his power you will “be anxious for nothing” and discover the “peace… which passes all understanding” (RSV).

You can’t run the world, but you can entrust it to God.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). Paul’s prescription for anxiety begins with a call to rejoice.

This verse is a call, not to a feeling, but to a decision and a deeply rooted confidence that God exists, that he is in control, and that he is good.

To change the way a person responds to life, change what a person believes about life. The most important thing about you is your belief system.

The formula is simple: Perceived control creates calm. Lack of control gives birth to fear.

the more they realize they cannot. Life becomes a cycle of anxiety, failure; anxiety, failure; anxiety, failure. We can’t take control, because control is not ours to take. The Bible has a better idea. Rather than seeking total control, relinquish it. You can’t run the world, but you can entrust it to God. This

Stabilize your soul with the sovereignty of God. He reigns supreme over every detail of the universe. “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD” (Prov. 21:30 NIV).

God calmed the fears of Isaiah, not by removing the problem, but by revealing his divine power and presence.

Your anxiety decreases as your understanding of your father increases.

Lift up your eyes. Don’t get lost in your troubles. Dare to believe that good things will happen. Dare to believe that God was speaking to you when he said, “In everything God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28 NCV).

Anxiety passes as trust increases.

Unresolved guilt will turn you into a miserable, weary, angry, stressed-out, fretful mess.

Guilt sucks the life out of our souls. Grace restores it.

“Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy. Trust in his ability to forgive. Abandon any attempt at self-salvation or justification. No more hiding behind fig leaves. Cast yourself upon the grace of Christ and Christ alone.”

On the day when I appear before the judgment seat of God, I will point to Christ. When my list of sins is produced, I will gesture toward him and say, “He took it.” Let him take yours.

Place yourself entirely in his care. As you do, you will find it is possible—yes, possible!—to be anxious for nothing.

It is one thing to rejoice in the Lord when life is good, but when the odds are against you? Joseph knew this challenge.

To say Jesus is “sustaining all things by his powerful word” is to say he is directing creation toward a desired aim. The use of the present participle implies that Jesus is continually active in his creation. He exercises supremacy over all things. Distant? Removed? Not God. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17 NIV).

What was intended as harm became good. Why? Because Joseph kept God in the middle of his circumstance. Joseph viewed the sufferings of his life through the lens of divine providence.

He will not be deterred in his plan to sustain and carry creation to its intended glory.

we have a choice. We can wear our hurt or wear our hope. We can outfit ourselves in our misfortune, or we can clothe ourselves in God’s providence. We can cave in to the pandemonium of life, or we can lean into the perfect plan of God.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Let your requests be made known to God.

Anxiety is needless because God is near.

This is the leader who sees the challenge, acknowledges it, and observes, “These are tough times, but we’ll get through them.”

The Lord is near! You are not alone. You may feel alone. You may think you are alone. But there is never a moment in which you face life without help. God is near.

Choose instead to be the person who clutches the presence of God with both hands. “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Ps. 118:6 NIV).

This time, instead of starting with what you have, start with Jesus. Start with his wealth, his resources, and his strength. Before you open the ledger, open your heart. Before you count coins or count heads, count the number of times Jesus has helped you face the impossible. Before you lash out in fear, look up in faith. Take a moment. Turn to your Father for help.

Present the challenge to your Father and ask for help. Will he solve the issue? Yes, he will. Will he solve it immediately? Maybe. Or maybe part of the test is an advanced course in patience. This much is sure: contagious calm will happen to the degree that we turn to him.

Peace happens when people pray.

But as a child of the King, you are at the front of the line. You, at any moment, can turn to God. God doesn’t delay. He never places you on hold or tells you to call again later. God loves the sound of your voice. Always. He doesn’t hide when you call. He hears your prayers.

Now it is our turn to act on this belief. We choose prayer over despair. Peace happens when people pray.

When we see him respond in specific ways to specific requests, our faith grows.

God is not manipulated or impressed by our formulas or eloquence. But he is moved by the sincere request.

On my good days I begin my morning with a cup of coffee and a conversation with God. I look ahead into the day and make my requests. I am meeting with so-and-so at 10:00 a.m. Would you give me wisdom? This afternoon I need to finish my sermon. Would you please go ahead of me? Then if a sense of stress surfaces during the day, I remind myself, Oh, I gave this challenge to God earlier today. He has already taken responsibility for the situation. I can be grateful, not fretful.

As you sense anxiety welling up inside you, cast it in the direction of Christ. Do so specifically and immediately.

Worry refuses to share the heart with gratitude.

He had eternal life. He had the love of God. He had forgiveness of sins. He had the surety of salvation. He had Christ, and Christ was enough. What he had in Christ was far greater

Can death take our joy? No, Jesus is greater than death. Can failure take our joy? No, Jesus is greater than our sin. Can betrayal take our joy? No, Jesus will never leave us. Can sickness take our joy? No, God has promised, whether on this side of the grave or the other, to heal us. Can disappointment take our joy? No, because even though our plans may not work out, we know God’s plan will. Death, failure, betrayal, sickness, disappointment—they cannot take our joy, because they cannot take our Jesus. Please underline this sentence: what you have in Christ is greater than anything you don’t have in life.

“Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard” (Dan. 10:12 NIV). You have been heard in heaven.

You can have peace in the midst of the storm because you are not alone, you belong to God, and… You are in the Lord’s service.

But we do have the assurance that we will not live one day less than we are supposed to live. If God has work for you to do, he will keep you alive to do it.

You can lose it all, only to discover that you haven’t. God has been there all along. God has never promised a life with no storms. But he has promised to be there when we face them.

For that reason the wise man urges, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” (Prov. 4:23 NCV). Do you want to be happy tomorrow? Then sow seeds of happiness today. (Count blessings. Memorize Bible verses. Pray. Sing hymns. Spend time with encouraging people.)