The Cure to Anxiety

     

      It is incredible the way anxiety can step foot into every crevice of your life. It starts out slow, a reaction to an upcoming test or a paper being due. Maybe it is finals week. A day or so goes by and the anxiety starts to fester. It starts to grow. The anxiety about your paper turns into anxiety about your grade in the class. The anxiety about your grade in the class turns into anxiety about graduating, which turns into anxiety about your future. If you are like me, this snowball effect seeps into your emotional behavior. Maybe you will get angry or depressed out of what seems like nowhere. I find these times to be the hardest to do anything productive, including reading my bible. Luckily, there is this ultimate procrastination tool called the Internet, which is filled with many magical distractions: most importantly, Pinterest. This is where many times I have accidentally stumbled across biblical comfort in times of anxiety – “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7, NRSV). In times of high stress, I find that we turn to the world for a comfort that can only come from our heavenly father – “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you. I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10, NRSV).
There are many ways in which people handle stress and anxiety. Some college students search for comfort in a drink, a blunt, or through a single night of companionship. The problem is that none of these vices will actually solve the problem. They are just distractions that cause the anxiety to further fester. The real answer to anxiety is expressed in the book of Philippians – “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understandings, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7, NRSV). Prayer is the only cure for an anxious heart. But if nothing that I have previously presented finds you any comfort, then look at it from a logical standpoint – “And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life” (Matthew 6:27, NRSV)?