Even kings get anxious

First Love - Inspiring others to fall in love with Jesus

“How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day” Psalm 13:2

I was once asked how I managed to stay calm and peaceful during difficult times. It came as a surprise to me as I have had to work very hard for years to fight against anxiety. It’s not that I don’t get anxious any more, it’s more that I have learned what to do with the anxiety when it attacks. Anxiety can strike at any time and no-one is immune to it – even Kings.

King David knew a thing or two about anxiety. Yes, he was a man after God’s own heart, a leader and a strong soldier but that didn’t make him immune to feelings of despair. David not only had the external attacks of his enemies and they’re numerous attempts to take him down to deal with but he also suffered from attacks of the mind too. “How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind everyday”. This certainly doesn’t sound like someone that has it all together but he did accept that these were attacks that had accumulated over time, that he had allowed to take over his mind.

You may not have a real life enemy trying to hunt you down, but there is a spiritual enemy who wages war against your mind and attempts to rob you of peaceful thoughts. So how do we overcome anxiety? Well there are many remedies out there, I have even tried a few in my time, however the most reliable and dependable solution I have found is in leaning towards God. Casting my burdened mind onto him brought me healing. Now I am not saying that on every occasion my situation changed or the problem of the moment went away, it doesn’t always happen like that. However, what I did experience was an overwhelming sense of peace and contentment that God had it in hand.

You see an aim of the enemy is to have you believe that when an anxiety occurs you are helpless and there is no way out. But this is a lie and you do have a choice, you have a choice to trust that God will lead you out.

So what are you anxious about? God says, “be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6) instead, pray as David did “Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall. But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me. (Psalm 13:3-6).

Trust in his unfailing love to heal you.