Anxiety is a lonely place. A cursory glance at our social-media feeds and everyone else appears to have it all. Even when we remind ourselves that social media isn’t an accurate representation of how life is, that sense of being alone with our pain can remain.
The Bible has good news, though. We are never alone.
In the middle of Scripture, there is a beautiful book of songs—Psalms—that help us speak to God and hear from him too. One psalm in particular reminds us that, even on our bleakest days, we can grasp a wonderful truth: God knows, and he cares.
It starts like this:
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain. (Psalm 139:1-6)
"This knowing is the action of a loving King whose rule over the world is so complete and whose compassion for the world is so deep that he doesn’t miss a thing."
It’s an astonishing set of words: one that reminds us that even though God is huge and powerful, ruling over the entire universe and beyond, he is intimately involved in the lives of individual, messy human beings. He’s the kind of God who isn’t just interested in keeping planets spinning—he’s also interested in you and every facet of your life.
Far from your struggles being played out in secret, away from the gaze of anyone who understands, there is one who is familiar with every single thought that has ever crossed your mind. One who knows every action that you have taken—and every event that has impacted you for good or ill. His understanding of you is so comprehensive that he even knows what you’re going to say before you say it. You couldn’t be more known!
And the God who knows is good and safe. This isn’t some malicious cosmic surveillance system by which God monitors humans for information to store away in a heavenly supercomputer in order to manipulate or wound. He’s not that kind of God! Of course, as he looks at our lives, he will see things that don’t please him—not one of us has lived a life of perfection—but he’s not out to hurt us. This knowing is the action of a loving King whose rule over the world is so complete and whose compassion for the world is so deep that he doesn’t miss a thing.
Words of help and hope form the Bible for both Christians and non-Christians who feel anxious.
A little later in the Bible, Jesus utters these words:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-31)
A yoke is simply a wooden crosspiece that fits over the shoulders of two animals to ensure they keep walking together closely. This is also a picture that helps us understand the manner in which God is inviting us to walk with him. It might sound a little strange to be “yoked” with God. It’s certainly not about being tied up in a constrictive sense! Instead, this is an invitation to closeness. He wants us to be alongside him every moment of the day—with him in the lead and him taking most of the load.
He’s invited you to walk through this life in relationship with him, and that means knowing you are never isolated but always understood. Always with a place—a person—to whom you can turn. Even in the small hours of the morning, there is a God to whom you can talk in prayer—openly, honestly, personally— about your pain.
This is an extract from a new book by Helen Thorne, Hope in an Anxious World, which is designed to help both Christian and non-Christian readers understand anxiety better, learn some useful techniques to cope with it and, most importantly, show how the living God can liberate us from its grip. Helen is Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK and an experienced counsellor.
Helen Thorne is Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK. She formerly worked with the London City Mission and has written Hope in an Anxious World, Purity Is Possible, Walking with Domestic Abuse Sufferers and 5 Things to Pray for Your City. She attends Dundonald Church in Raynes Park, London.