Anxiety and Pain

Pain is hard. It’s relentless and it wears you down. And that can lead to anxiety: “What if it gets worse? It already feels unbearable. How will I manage?” Living with chronic pain as I do, I know that our adversary, the devil, delights in using anxious feelings to rob us of joy, ruin our contentment, and divert our focus from trusting God. Every day—and I mean every day—I have to dismantle anxious thoughts and make them captive to Christ. I have learned that when we grasp the hand of God in willful trust, anxiety is defanged and fear is declawed. And we can trust God because He has hand-tailored our hardships; no suffering can touch us unless first filtered through His fingers.

So, our defense against anxiety? Fix our eyes on Jesus. Gazing at Him, rather than our troubles, opens the path to God’s peace that passes all human understanding. Then the devil has to concede defeat, hightailing it and taking with him all those awful fears. Friend, don’t allow anxiety to ambush you. Instead, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It’s a great remedy from Philippians 4:6-7.