My Go-To Verse for Stress and Anxiety

It was after 8:00 and dark in Brentwood, California. My cell phone had just died and I did not know for sure how to get to my dad’s home in the valley more than 30 miles away. Stress and anxiety began to crowd the space in my little Mini Cooper.

That was my predicament earlier this week after enjoying dinner with some fellow mid-life bloggers. I never let my cell phone battery get so low. In fact, my husband and kids tease me that I practically start hyperventilating if it goes below 50%. Well, yeah… because THIS is what can happen if it does! But on Tuesday, I had accidentally left a bag at home with my charger in it, and I didn’t discover that fact until I was almost to Los Angeles.

I took a right on Wilshire Blvd. in search of a CVS (where I could get a charger) and suddenly found myself surrounded by tall buildings in very unfamiliar territory. I turned around and headed back to Brentwood and eventually found a Ralph’s grocery store. No chargers there. Near tears, I asked the young checker if they sold maps. He looked at me like I had three heads and said, “Maps? Like the kind you would unfold?” He shook his head no. Then I asked if the 405 freeway intersected with the 101 (that was the part I wasn’t sure about). He said, “I THINK so.” So I took my chances and ventured onto the 405. Forty minutes later I pulled into Dad’s driveway.

So what’s a girl to do in moments like these? It’s easy to let the stress and anxiety spiral out of control, rendering even the most confident of women to barely be able to function. But God’s Word has the solution.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7. (NIV)

I memorized this verse many years ago. (I love that my Bible notes show exactly when this verse first spoke to me. Eleven years ago this month!) Now, when stress and anxiety descend upon me, I meditate on those words, over and over again. I pray for Christ’s peace to eradicate my fear. God’s promises are real! He truly does begin to guard our hearts and minds when we call out to Him.

Though it’s not the version I memorized, I especially love this verse in The Message. It brings the words to life for me.

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

This version of the Paul’s letter to the Philippians gives me a beautiful word picture. In my mind, I can see see the dark clouds of worry becoming prayers that God sees and cares about. I love the truth that God promises that His wholeness and goodness will settle down upon me when I shape my worries into prayers. It is indeed wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of my life!

I’m so grateful that I have God’s Word tucked safely in my heart for moments like I found myself on Tuesday. His Word is alive, true and always available in my time of need.

xoxo,

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