When Anxiety Overwhelms You, Draw Near to God

Introduction

Matt McGaw, pastor at Equippers Church Canberra, closes the short series "Mind Matters," devoted to our thoughts, with this message. His starting point: our mind is powerful, and the way we care for it changes a great deal in our everyday lives.

He makes it clear from the start that he is not speaking as a mental health specialist. He thanks God for caregivers and for the professionals in that field. He speaks as a pastor who, over more than thirty years of ministry, has seen God's Word, his promises and the power of the Holy Spirit help people through their battles.

Today's subject is anxiety and excessive worry. According to the figures he quotes, 29% of Australians aged 16 to 85 will experience some form of severe anxiety in their lifetime, and around 40% of young women aged 16 to 24 face an anxiety disorder over a twelve-month period. "My pastor's heart breaks," he says. To those fighting this battle, he says first of all: "We are so glad you're here." Then he offers seven anchors drawn from the Bible.

Outline of the Message

1. Anxiety is not necessarily a lack of faith

Whether or not you suffer from it chronically, everyone faces worry almost constantly. It is the place where "the outside doesn't always match the inside": you smile at church, but inside, there is turmoil.
The pastor admits that leading a church has sometimes kept him awake at night, his thoughts racing, under the weight of people and pressures. His conclusion: "You can have strong faith, be right with God, and still struggle with these things."
When anxiety becomes overwhelming, you feel isolated, even when surrounded by people. You withdraw, which isolates you further, and the devil takes advantage of it: "Nobody understands, nobody notices, nobody cares about you."
The Word answers that lie. From creation, God says: "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). "You need the church. You need God. You need to be in community, even if it's the last thing you feel like doing."
Romans 15:13 reminds us that God is the source of hope. He fills those who trust in him with joy and peace, so that they abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Even on the days when all you can say is "God, help me," he has committed himself to helping you.

2. God invites you to draw near to him

On Mount Carmel, Elijah has just seen God's fire consume the sacrifice in front of the prophets of Baal, and all the people cry out: "Yahweh, he is God!" (1 Kings 18). Then Jezebel threatens to kill him.
Elijah is afraid and runs. He leaves his servant in Beersheba, sits down under a juniper tree and asks to die: "It is enough. Now, O Yahweh, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers" (1 Kings 19:4). Instead of feeling victorious, he is exhausted, afraid, overwhelmed.
God does not rebuke him. An angel touches him: "Arise and eat!" There is a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. Elijah eats, falls asleep again, and the angel comes back: "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you" (1 Kings 19:5-7). God feeds him, lets him rest, then feeds him again.
"Yes, the journey is too great for us. We need the Lord to sustain us. Don't try to do it in your own strength."
Drawing on a thought from Pastor Sam, Matt McGaw suggests that Elijah may not have been afraid of dying, but afraid of living: afraid of another battle when he had nothing left. Psalm 28:7 says it: "Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped."
On the mountain, Elijah claims he is the only one left. That was not true: God reveals that he has kept seven thousand in Israel for himself (1 Kings 19:18). "The enemy can take a half-truth and blow it up until it becomes the truth."
God was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12). "When anxiety overwhelms you, the answer is not to pull away from God, it's to draw near." Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you (James 4:8).

3. Hand over to God what you cannot control

David knew victories, but also political turmoil and betrayal by people close to him. Psalm 55 lets us see his inner world: "My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. [...] Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest" (Psalm 55:4-6).
"How many of us sometimes want to run away, to go and hide somewhere?" Excessive worry often pushes us there.
But David adds: "As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me. Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice" (Psalm 55:16-17). Then: "Cast your burden on Yahweh and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved" (Psalm 55:22).
David could not control what he was facing, and that is often exactly why we are so anxious. He did the only thing he knew to do: cast it onto God. "It's not a polite word," the pastor notes, it is a forceful act. David did not run from the situation, he ran to God.
"Casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

4. Don't let tomorrow steal your today

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus points to the birds of the sky that neither sow nor reap, and to the lilies of the field, better dressed than Solomon in all his glory. "Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?"
According to the pastor, we get things backwards when we worry. Jesus says: "But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus does not say that tomorrow doesn't matter. He says: "Each day's own evil is sufficient" (Matthew 6:34). Don't bring tomorrow's problems into today's world.
"Anxiety says: what if? What if? What if?" It stresses you out and paralyzes you. Faith asks instead: "God, what do I need to trust you for today? What do I need today to face this day?"

5. Pray until the peace becomes bigger than the problem

"In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The devil wants you to believe that your prayers are useless and that God isn't listening. But God knows your heart, and prayer is what brings his peace.
"He doesn't promise that the situation is going to change. He says: you will know my peace in the middle of what you're facing."
Philippians 4:8 invites us to think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure and lovely. For the pastor, all of this describes Jesus, hence the call of Hebrews 3:1 to consider Jesus. "I even recommended a book to you, but the book is not the answer. The book can lead you to someone. His name is Jesus."
He shares about seasons, in the life of the church or in his personal life, when he no longer knew what to do and wasn't sleeping well. His prayer: "God, help me. I need your peace." He often finds it a powerful prayer.

6. Remember that Jesus is in your boat

A big wind storm arises, the waves beat into the boat, and Jesus is asleep in the stern on a cushion. The disciples wake him: "Teacher, don't you care that we are dying?" (Mark 4:37-38).
Even experienced fishermen were panicking. Jesus, for his part, was sleeping: perhaps he carried within him a peace and an assurance that did not depend on what was happening outside. Perhaps this is your cry right now: "God, why are you asleep? Don't you see what I'm going through?"
Anxiety and excessive worry push us to question God's character: where is he, why does he let this happen? But Jesus asks: "Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark 4:40).
"Before the storm came, Jesus was already in the boat." The presence of a storm does not mean God is not with you. God can even use storms to keep us dependent on him.
Jesus rebukes the wind and says to the sea: "Peace! Be still!" and there is a great calm (Mark 4:39). "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me" (Psalm 23:4).

7. God can handle your questions, and he sees you

Hannah, humiliated year after year because she had no child, wept and stopped eating. "She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly" (1 Samuel 1:10). She was honest before God.
"If there is one place where you can be real, it's the house of God." Here, there's no need for a mask or for pretending to be fine. Hannah laid the weight of her heart in God's hands. God can use people, but the answer is God. She eventually gave birth to Samuel, one of the great prophets.
"Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit" (Psalm 34:18).
Last point: God sees you. Hagar, caught in circumstances she had mostly not chosen, pregnant, rejected, without protection, despairs in the wilderness. God speaks to her and tells her to name the child Ishmael, which means "God hears."
Overwhelmed, she gives a name to Yahweh who spoke to her: "You are a God who sees" (Genesis 16:13). "If you feel alone in this struggle, I'm here today to tell you that God sees you. And he wants you to see him."
The pastor closes on one word: surrender. If we don't acknowledge these struggles, "it leaks," and it is often the people closest to us who carry the weight. The path begins when we lean in toward Jesus: "Lord, I need you."

Key Takeaways

You can have strong faith and still struggle with anxiety. The trap is isolation: God did not create you to walk alone.
As with Elijah, the journey is too great for you. God does not blame you for your exhaustion, he feeds you and invites you to draw near.
What you cannot control, cast it onto God, and don't bring tomorrow's worries into today.
Prayer brings a peace that guards your heart and your thoughts, even when the situation hasn't changed yet.
Jesus is in your boat before the storm, God can handle your questions, and he is the God who sees you.

Personal Application

Is there a gap between what you show on the outside and what you live on the inside? Who could you talk to about it this week?
When worry rises, do you tend to pull away from God and others, or to draw near?
What situation that you cannot control do you need to hand over to God today?
Which "what if?" about tomorrow is stealing your day? What do you want to entrust to God for today only?
In your current storm, what difference does it make that Jesus was already in the boat?

Verses Quoted

Frequently Asked Questions

Is being anxious a lack of faith?

Not necessarily. Matt McGaw shares that, as a pastor, he sometimes lies awake at night under the weight of pressure. For him, you can have strong faith, be right with God, and still struggle with worry. The danger is isolation: God did not create us to go through life alone.

What does Elijah under the juniper tree teach us about exhaustion?

After the victory on Mount Carmel, Elijah collapses and asks to die. God does not rebuke him: he feeds him, lets him sleep, then feeds him again, because "the journey is too great for you." The preacher draws a lesson from it: admit that the road is too much for us and let the Lord sustain us.

Does prayer make the problem go away?

Not always. According to Matt McGaw, Philippians 4 does not promise that the situation will change, but that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your thoughts in the middle of what you are going through. That is why he invites you to pray until the peace becomes bigger than the problem.