How Can We Overcome Worry?

Many people worry about worrying. We do this because we’ve heard the classic passage in Matthew 6:25–34, where Jesus told His followers not to worry. He told them this not once, but three times (vv. 25, 31, 34)! So, in addition to worrying about having our basic needs met, we now become anxious about disobeying the Lord Jesus and being in sin.

Let me encourage you to relax. Although Jesus does tell us not to worry, we should view His words as an encouragement and not as a prohibition. The Lord Jesus intended His words about worry to be a comfort to His followers, not to become a cause of guilt. We should not categorize worry as a sin. Instead, we need to recognize that the Lord’s purpose in saying “do not worry” was to calm our hearts and minds, not to burden us under a pile of guilt.

This is similar to when my son would be studying for his final exams in high school. He would be stressed, and I would encourage him by saying, “Don’t worry—you’ve studied. You’ve got this.” It comes as no surprise that my words of comfort didn’t make him instantly stop stressing. At the same time, I didn’t think he was disobeying my fatherly direction by continuing to worry. No, I realized that I needed to keep encouraging and calming his heart when he continued to stress. That’s how the Lord Jesus views us when we’re anxious. His words of comfort are never intended to add to the many other worries that are troubling us. That said, Scripture gives us some helpful ways we can cope with worrying.

The Alternatives to Worry

When I was a student at Dallas Seminary, the stress of school, work, and family really got to me. As a result, I went through a terrible time of anxiety. It seemed as if I was getting eaten up by worries. My wise wife encouraged me to put some study time into Philippians 4:6–9 and develop a plan to overcome anxiety. As I studied, I found the passage had three alternative actions to help me counteract worry and two promises for peace of mind. Here are the alternative behaviors we can adopt instead of giving in to worry.

Rather Than Worry, Pray

This first principle emphasizes prayer as an antidote to worry. Paul writes, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (v. 6). These words highlight what most of us understand as prayer—asking God for something (evident in the words “prayer,” “supplication,” and “requests”). Yet, our requests should all be made with thanksgiving. Just as we’re to pray about everything, we’re to be thankful for everything that comes from God’s good hand. This verse led me to develop, for the first time in my life, an ordered and structured prayer notebook. I organized all my daily prayer lists, with some requests made every day and some different “asks” listed by different days. Regardless of the requests, I also wrote out all the specific items for which I was thanking God. Every day, my thanksgiving list grew longer and longer, and I never neglected to begin my prayer time by expressing my gratitude to God. This simple practice had a dramatic effect on my anxiety. I began to see all that God was doing in my life and to trust Him more. And when I found myself worrying, I would take a few minutes to pray with an emphasis on thanksgiving. But this was only the first step.

Rather Than Worry, Renew the Mind

A second antidote to worry is mind renewal. Paul’s exhortation calls for worriers to dwell on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise” (v. 8). So many of our anxieties are based on fears and falsehoods. It’s been said that 85 to 92 percent of our worries are illegitimate; they deal with events from the past that can’t be changed or fears for the future that will not happen. I’ve been told that a thick fog covering seven city blocks with a depth of 100 feet, if put into liquid form, would fill less than an 8-ounce glass. Put in proper perspective, our worries, like the fog, seem much larger than their actual size.

Obeying God’s Word as a lifestyle has a tremendous impact on overcoming worry.

That’s why we need to focus our minds on that which is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and praiseworthy. In my quest to overcome anxiety, I took several actions to change my thinking.

First, I memorized and meditated on Scripture. I found about 50 verses about God’s presence and peace, wrote them on 3×5 cards, and memorized them. Every day I would review my verses, especially before going to sleep and immediately upon waking up. I carried the cards with me so I could review them periodically throughout the day. Then, I committed to memorizing long passages of Scripture that were especially meaningful concerning God’s peace.

A second way I focused on true and excellent thoughts was to change my music-listening habits. I decided that I would listen to faith-oriented music exclusively, whether on the radio or my own collection. It’s not as if my regular music was evil in some way, but while struggling with worry, I wanted to fill my mind with positive truth.

Yet a third decision I made was to be far more selective in my viewing habits. I used to think that I could brush off the vulgar language or ungodly behavior so common in media. Then I realized I could not, so I radically cut back on my viewing of any TV shows or movies that had negative content. At first, this left me with virtually nothing to watch, but I found I wasn’t disappointed. I had much more time to add positive virtues into my mind. Changing thought patterns led to a tremendous downturn in worrying. But that’s not all that changed.

Rather Than Worry, Live Obediently

Obeying God’s Word as a lifestyle has a tremendous impact on overcoming worry. Paul told the Philippians that they were to remember what they learned, received, heard, and had seen in his life, and to “practice these things” (v. 9). Paul had taught them to live as he lived in obedience to God. I realized it was not enough for me to be satisfied with mere superficial obedience to God. I needed to take the Scriptures more seriously and live a godly life even when no one was looking or would ever know. This was a great challenge but it did help with worry.

God’s peace is supernatural, granting us calm and comfort even when we have real worries.

The reason obedience is so crucial is found in Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” Disobedient behavior causes us to become anxious about potentially bad consequences. Obedience produces confidence and courage to face the future. God certainly wanted my total obedience in order to honor Him. But further, my fully committed obedience would also help me overcome worry.

The Promises of Peace

In Philippians 4:6–9, Paul says that if we follow these antidotes to worry, we receive two promises from God that should encourage us. First, the peace of God will guard us. He writes that “the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).

The point is that God’s peace is supernatural, granting us calm and comfort even when we have real worries. The word “guard” can be used to refer to a military guard providing security. When we engage the alternatives to worry, God becomes our personal guard, granting peace and security to us in a supernatural way.

The second promise is that the God of peace will guide us. That’s why Paul says “the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9). Of course, we know that because we’re united to Jesus the Messiah, God will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). What Paul is saying is that God will be with us in the sense that, as we face uncertainty in the future, we know we have the Lord as our guide, directing our steps. That’s why we can have peace as we walk with Him.

Final Thoughts

A friend of mine told me that worrying is like shoveling smoke—pretty useless. I have found worry to be like sitting in a rocking chair—we have lots of motion but we don’t get anywhere. It’s clear that worry is useless and debilitating. The Lord Jesus encourages us to overcome it. And Paul gave us some specific actions to use as alternatives to worry. If you find yourself battling worry, the path to peace is available. It will certainly take some effort to adopt these antidotes, but the peace they bring will be more than worth the effort.