Quench the Anxious Heart
by Brandy Webb
I blog about lessons that I believe God is teaching me through my life experiences. Blogging actually helps me make sense of things, and, to be honest, there are many times that I know that God is teaching me through my own writing. I actually pray a lot for Him to speak through me. I do wish that it happened more often because, here lately, my blogs have been few and far between, mainly due to the fact that my life has been one thing after another for the past year and a half starting with the death of my step-father. Unfortunately, that is life in this world. We lose loved ones. We face trials. We have hardships. We struggle, and sometimes we just feel helpless and maybe even a little hopeless. It is during these times that we really need to give it all to God.
Yesterday, I was having one of those days of just overwhelmingness, and a scripture in Isaiah came to mind, He “will keep the mind that is dependent on [Him] in perfect peace, for it is trusting in [Him]” (Isaiah 26:3 CSB). Then, I remembered that I wrote a blog two years ago called Be Still, and I have to admit, I needed to read my own words because I realized that I was not practicing what I “preached.” I was not fully trusting God. I was not being still, and I was not living out my faith. Instead, I was trying to figure out how to fix things, control the situation, fretting about things I couldn’t do anything about, etc. The anxious heart keeps one’s mind from being dependent upon God; thus, not allowing His peace that “surpasses all understanding” to calm our soul (Philippians 4:7).
Therefore, I must work on quenching the anxious heart by doing what God tells me to do. Trust Him with my whole heart and to not lean on my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). I also need to heed the advice of my own son, who is suffering from a severely broken arm and facing up to eight weeks in a cast. He looked at me the other day and just said, “Mom, stop fretting. Things happen, and our God can always make it better. He can heal broken bones.”
Yes, not only can our God heal broken bones. He can also heal broken hearts. He can also calm the storms of our minds. He can give us peace during extremely stressful times, and He can help us do the impossible. All He asks of us is to trust Him, give Him control of our lives, allow Him to direct our steps, and to seek His kingdom above everything. So, my goal today is to do just that, even if I have to keep reminding myself that God has got this. I also desire to do what Paul did, to forget what lies behind me and reach forward to what lies ahead, pressing on “toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
Hence, if you are like me, and sometimes allow anxiety to overwhelm you, let us work together on quenching the anxious heart with God’s Word and His Spirit. Welcome His peace to quell the storm of overwhelmingness.