Anxiety doesn't seem like it should be part of the Christian life.
When we suffer through life's difficulties and struggle internally with anxiety, many wonder why we put our trust in a God who clearly doesn't care about His own creatures. It seems utterly foolish to the world - but oh, how He loves us, and how He knows our hurting hearts.
Fear is a real threat for everyone, including Christians. The belief that God directs all things does not place Christians in a bubble, shielded from the darkness of this world. We are susceptible to horrific, tragic, aching realities - and our anxiety about it is real. It's important to acknowledge that anxiety about how we're going to face another day is a real threat that can't simply be "prayed away" or "fixed." Jesus himself experienced deep, aching anxiety in Gethsemane as he prayed for another way to complete the Father's will.
It's important that we empathize and acknowledge when a loved one is suffering through a difficult trial or anxiety. We need to come to terms with the fact that this life is hard - especially for those who have faith. It can be tiresome to profess our hope in the "not yet" while still living in the "now."
Yet, we can rest knowing that God hears our hearts.
Psalm 56:3 says "When I am afraid, I put my trust in You." When we rest on the promises God has given us in His word and pray for comfort and strength, we can put fear and anxiety to rest. We serve a God who keeps a record (verse 8) of our petitions made and tears shed. He hears and knows our hearts and is faithful to provide the strength we need to withstand each day. His grace and goodness is sufficient for all of the worries we carry around.
That doesn't mean that once we pray, we'll be healed for good from all our trouble. We will still experience a cycle of distress and comfort - that's the reality of living in the kingdom of God that has come, but not in its fullness. We look ahead to a day when tears and pain will pass away in the eternal presence of the Lord. Yet, we live in a fallen and broken world - and we are called to suffer, even as we profess the goodness and faithfulness of God.
This way of living is a light in the darkness.
Often I find myself most inspired by those who have professed the goodness of God through the most unimaginable circumstances. In the church where I grew up, a devoted couple lost their daughter in a horrific murder. Yet they forgave her murderer's terrible crime and publicly glorified God, even as they grieved the loss of their daughter. I think about them often when I'm faced with a mountain that seems too impossible to climb.
God is sufficient to carry you through every season of your life, even if the pain never really goes away. And in our steadfastness and unrelenting praise, God's glory and power are evident to those who may not yet know Him. He is able to relieve us from our burdens - and He will complete the work He has begun in us. We need only to put our hope in Him.
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