One of the most searched verses on the YouVersion Bible app last year was Philippians 4:6:
Do not worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Clearly, a lot of us are looking for peace. And it makes sense. Life is full of unknowns: relationships, finances, health, parenting, global conflict. And the more we try to control everything, the more anxious we feel.
The truth about worry
The tricky thing with worry is it feels helpful. It’s our brain’s fight or flight response trying to protect us from harm. Our anxiety is our mind and body’s way of sending us a message—that we’re in danger, and we need to do something.
But research tells us that most of what we worry about never actually ends up happening. Some studies say as much as 85 percent of the things we fear will never come true!
And of the things that do happen, we usually handle them better than we expected. But anxiety still takes over because so many of the things we fixate on are out of our hands.
Worry doesn’t pay your overdue bills. Worry doesn’t get you into the college of your dreams. Worry doesn’t get you the promotion at work. Worry doesn’t protect you from the unexpected diagnosis. Obsessing over these things only drains our energy and steals joy from today.
The key is to let go of worry. But how can we do that?
How to stop worrying about what you can’t control
There is a simple picture that helps: bowling.
When you release the ball down the lane, you have done all you can. But if you have watched people bowl, you know what happens next. They lean, twist, wave, and shout at the ball, hoping to control where it goes. But the ball is already rolling. It is out of their hands.
Life is the same way. We prepare. We act wisely. We do what we can. We roll the ball. But there comes a point when we need to let go and trust God with whatever happens next.
The antidote to worry is God’s peace
Philippians 4:6 tells us to trust God. In verse 7, the advice continues:
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
It’s an if/then statement: if we trust in the Lord with all our heart and don’t depend on our own understanding, then—and only then—will we really know God’s peace.
Feeling God's peace doesn’t mean everything will go right. We’ll still have to face the unexpected in life. What it does mean is that in the middle of it all, we can stop giving worry so much power because we know who’s in control.
How to trust God with your worries
Trusting God doesn’t mean you’ll never feel anxious again. It means you have a place to go with your fears. It means you can stop spending your energy trying to control what was never yours to control.
It starts with this simple prayer: Lord, I have done all I can do. Now I am placing this in your hands.
One step at a time, you can experience peace for today and trust God with tomorrow.
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The next time you feel worry creeping in, remind yourself of these Bible verses about fear and worry.
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