Banished Anxiety

Anxiety weighs us down and does harm to our mind and body. There is little good that comes from anxiety. Anxiety has a negative impact on our cardiovascular system, immune system, digestive system, and our sleep and energy. There is really no part of our body that continued anxiety doesn’t impact. As for our brain, anxiety impacts our ability to think logically, plan, and it weakens our self-control. Jesus tells us, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34). Those of us who struggle with anxiety tend to be either worried about the future or the past. This makes it hard to focus on today.

“So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 11:10). For me, my anxiety is about control. Controlling the future and the past. When I feel like control is slipping from my grasp, my anxiety ramps up. Even though I know I control very little and believe God is in control. My anxiety comes from my alcoholism. During my active drinking days I wanted to control the narrative around my life. Because of this my brain has been rewired toward being on high alert. Yes, I need to work on rewiring my brain so I can reduce my anxiety. As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, I need to “Banish anxiety from my heart.” Research shows that we can rewire our brains by shifting our thoughts, believing the truth, and focusing on positive thoughts. It’s not easy, but there are ways we can do this.

In 1 Peter 5:7 we are told to “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Who is the person we are to cast our cares on? Jesus. He cares about us. His love for us sent Him to the cross to die for our sins so we could be reconciled with God. So if Jesus’ love compelled Him to die for us then that same love is asking us to cast our anxiety on Him. This is first and foremost the way to reduce and hopefully put an end to our anxiety. By casting our cares on Jesus, we are in a position to banish anxiety from our hearts. Ecclesiastes tells us “youth and vigor are meaningless.” All our running around worried about the future or the past is meaningless. We can’t control what happens in the future, and we can’t change the past. Trying to do so is meaningless. Our starting point for banishing anxiety from our heart is casting our cares on Jesus. It begins by allowing the one person who controls all things to control our past, as well as our future. So, let us cast our cares on Jesus, because He cares about us.