Anxiety and The Bible

The Bible is the account of God's action in the world and his purpose with all creation

The Bible is an unusual book. It is a collection of 66 books written over centuries by many authors. Yet it is so much more than a historical document, outlining the history of Israel (what is known as the Old Testament) and the ministry of Jesus and the early Church (New Testament). God reveals himself through the Bible, and he does this in two ways. Want to know how God thinks, and how he acts towards mankind? Real the manual!

The first way that God reveals himself through the Bible is on a broad sweep level, looking at the bigger picture. So, for example, to make full sense of the New Testament, you need to understand God’s holiness and desire for covenant relationships with His people as laid out in the Old Testament. When one bit of scripture doesn’t seem to make sense, we look at the bigger picture and other scriptures to interpret it, and the broad themes that run throughout. I call this the ‘book level’, and it builds up a sound theology, an overall picture. So, the book of Ephesians lays out a blueprint of how churches should work, and what values they should have, and the book of Galatians explains the folly of trying to get to God by trying hard and our own good works.

However, God also speaks through the Bible on a verse by verse basis - we might be reading a portion of scripture, and suddenly some verses leap out of the page that speak directly to the situation we are in, a kind of instant comment and promise from God. This is the Holy Spirit using scripture to speak to us: it is usually worth writing these verses out, or referring to them every day, as long as they seem applicable. I call these ‘verses of the season’. If God is making a promise in these verses, use that promise in prayer: speak them out – He is wanting to answer. ‘Praying the Bible’ like this and declaring God’s truths out loud is powerful.

So, we have seen that God can speak to us on a general level, and also a specific individual level through the Bible. So how does that tie in with anxiety?

On the ‘book’ level, there is a clear theme throughout that God likes to deal with and use the weak and downtrodden people rather than the powerful and mighty. He is on their side, so to speak, and is wanting to help people who call out to Him. So if problems are all around, and you feel in despair, God is the expert in sorting things out. He’s been doing it for thousands of years.

On the ‘verse’ level, I would encourage you to read the Psalms, till something stands out. Many Psalms were written by David, who was a very up and down character. And when he was down, he was really down – and he was honest with God as to how he felt. Yet time and time again, God comes back to him saying ‘I am faithful, I am full of loving kindness and mercy, you can trust me, I will help you, you will praise once again.’ That’s the heart of God. If your life is out of perspective, read the Bible and get a glimpse of God’s perspective.

"Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil….Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God” - Ephesians 6:11

A simple prayer: