5 Strategies to Stand Down Anxiety

I think it’s safe to say that many of us are combating a bit more fear and anxiety than usual these days. Life seems to have a way of bringing unexpected, uninvited and unwanted circumstances our way, now more than ever.

During a difficult season in my life, the following passage of Scripture came alive to me in new ways:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV

Here are five insights from this portion of scripture that I embrace daily to live in peace.

1. Understand that You + God = Safety

The opening phrase is very clear, but so hard to do — be anxious for nothing. Note that God doesn’t give exceptions. Don’t be anxious for big things. Don’t be anxious for little things. Don’t be anxious for anything in between. He says there is nothing in this world that is worthy of us choosing anxiety over trust in him — regardless of how fearsome our circumstances may be. In Christ, we are fundamentally “SAFE,” regardless of what we think or feel. He constantly assures us that he is bigger than anything that can come our way. He can handle it, and because he lives within us … so can we.  

2. Reach out for Help!

The world’s strategy for dealing with an anxious situation often includes unproductively obsessing about it or running from it. God’s way is different. He says to face it, recognize we need help, and reach out for that help from God and each other. Based on the severity of the experience, that divine intervention is often multi-faceted. Our loving Father can provide help through family, friends, counselors, clinicians and sometimes appropriate medication, all bathed in prayer and faith in God. All these things are forms of grace to help us do what we cannot do on our own, in our own strength. Understanding that something is beyond us is the door to healing, if we’ll humbly walk through it. The word used to describe this reaching out for help is “supplication.” For me, that word captures the agony of the moment and the longing for the hope of help. Few prayers emanate more deeply from our souls than the prayer of supplication!

3. Be Thankful

But then, God interrupts the supplication process to say, “Before you actually pray with conviction, be THANKFUL.” Being thankful somehow puts what we’re anxious about into a bigger context, the greater God-story of our lives. And when we do that, somehow the source of our anxiety gets right sized. It’s not as ominous as before because we see things more from God’s point of view than from our own limited, near-sighted perspective.

4. Replace Your Thoughts

The insidious thing about anxious thoughts is that they seem to stay in our minds in a vicious cycle until we interrupt that cycle and LEARN to replace those thoughts with better ones. In this passage of Scripture, I think God is outlining a journey that will help us retrain our minds to choose better thoughts to stand down anxiety. It’s often not an instant fix, but we can get better at it over time. With practice, I’ve found that the intensity of the anxious moments, or even attacks, become less intense, are shorter in duration and less frequent. What’s awesome about God’s advice is that it comes with a fabulous list of life-giving alternatives—any thought that is true or noble or right or pure or lovely or admirable or excellent or praise-worthy will work. Take your pick! In the same way that only light can push out darkness, these peace-filtered thoughts empower us to be anxious for nothing.

5. Experience God … Develop Self-Control

When we turn to God in this way, we not only receive the gift of a peace that passes understanding, but we also open ourselves fully to the Giver of that peace himself. With this comes so much more—a banquet table overflowing with the rest of the Fruit of the Spirit. We get to taste love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness that also pass understanding. And along with these comes the fruit of self-control to a degree that we didn’t know was possible.

This is how I want to live. It’s a journey that has taken me from a place of feeling broken, unable to stop a cycle of paralyzing anxiety, to one that increasingly touches the peace of God and the God of Peace. 

Blessings to you.