The Secret to Dealing with Fear and Anxiety

Ed Welch, author of Running Scared and When I Am Afraid, offers some thoughts on fear and anxiety from 1 Peter in his post "The Secret to Dealing with Fear and Anxiety."

Here is his conclusion:

“Humble yourselves” is the only exhortation in the passage. This is what Peter wants us to hear (and obey). If we jump in at the middle—it makes no sense. We can’t cast our cares on him until we have recognized that he is God and we are his servants who have also been elevated to become his children. A paraphrase could read like this (and I highly recommend putting Scripture into your own words.)

Humble yourself before the Lord. This shouldn’t be too difficult. After all, he is God and King, Lord of all. He is the Creator. You belong to him. The creature is the possession of the Creator. Humble yourself before your King. And here is one way to express this new-found posture of humility: cast your cares on him. Did you catch that? When you come humbly before the King he reveals his unlimited love. Who would have thought? He actually wants you to cast your burden on him. You were never intended to carry those burdens alone. He is the mighty God who never leaves. You can trust him. And this casting is no mere act of your will. It comes as you know that he is God and you are not. Oh, and you can be sure that he will lift you up from your kneeling position and give you more than you ever expected.

A little wordy, in contrast to Peter’s more succinct version, but rambling and embellishment give us more time to meditate on the logic of the passage.

The secret is to

…pause before you head into your favorite passage on fear,

…consider the greatness of God,

…add some of your own confession and repentance as a way to drive the message of humility home, and then

…remember some of those sweet words of God to fearful people.

Read the rest.