How to lower your anxiety level (1)

When we’re stressed, the surge of negative emotions can be overwhelming. And unless you unburden your soul before God, it’s easy to make wrong decisions, succumb to wrong impulses, move in the wrong direction, and explode at the wrong people. The psalmist addressed this: “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you.” The extent to which you consciously lean on God, drawing strength from Him, is the extent to which you will lower your anxiety level. It’s no coincidence that many of the psalms start with David crying out to God for help and end with him rejoicing because he vented his frustrations to the right person—God! The truth is, life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it. Your job, your finances, your marriage, your children, your health, and your future are all sources of anxiety, so you will never be totally free from angst. But you can lower your anxiety level by following Paul’s advice: “All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus…Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so…we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times…but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5 MSG). To quote a well-known pastor: “The more you pray, the less you’ll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry.”