What To Do With Anxiety

Philippians 4:6–9

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication 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 minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

We all struggle with worry and anxiety. Yet Paul gives us a command here to not be anxious. This is not a new command; Jesus gave the same imperative in Matthew 6:25: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Yes, this is an imperative. To worry is to lack trust in God and to not believe His promises. Romans 8:28 tells us that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

If we believe that God is sovereign—which the Bible fully teaches—then we can trust that what He says, He not only can do, but He will do. He promises that all things are being worked out for good for His people.

Yet we all wrestle with anxiety and worry. So Paul gives us the solution: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Pray to God and tell Him your worries and concerns—and then believe His promises. Once we give it to God, we must let Him have it. We cannot hold on to what we just gave to Him.

When we do this, His peace—which is incomprehensible—will guard our hearts and minds.

There is one more thing that Paul adds to this equation: this is all conditional.

Philippians 4:8–9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The conditions for the God of peace to be with us are that we think about the things that are true, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. This is a pretty good description of Jesus.

Paul commands us to practice the things that we have learned, received, heard, and seen in him. In other words, read your Bible and do what it says. Then the God of peace will be with you. Then your faith will grow. Then you will believe God.

This is the disconnect many of us have: we believe in God, but we don’t believe God. We don’t read His Word, and we don’t make it what drives our thoughts. Instead, we fill our minds with the things of the world, and we let the world dictate how and what we think.

We do not need to be anxious or worried. But we must saturate ourselves with His Word and spend our time in prayer, always thinking of Christ. We must surround ourselves with other believers who will encourage us in this. We must sit under sound, biblical teaching. We must be in Christian community more than we are in worldly community.

There is peace to be found—but only in Christ.

What is the Good, God is Working in Romans 8:28?

 You don’t need to be around me long in any setting where a discussion of life and faith is present to know that I quote Romans 8:28 a lot. I don’t like to say I have one favorite scripture—the Bible is just too full of incredible passages to choose only one—but I do believe Romans 8:28 is a truth we must hold onto and turn to almost every day of our lives.

Suffering is a real fact of life. No one escapes life without seasons of trials and storms. Far too many Christians have yet to grasp the theological implications and aspects of suffering. To understand these truths, one must believe the biblical fact that God is sovereign. The Bible teaches repeatedly that everything in our lives—whether good or bad—is completely under the sovereign hand of Almighty God. As R.C. Sproul once said, "There is not one maverick molecule if God is sovereign." The Bible declares that God is sovereign. And that settles it.

Look at Romans 8:28:

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

We should never make Scripture say what it does not say. This verse does not promise that life will be easy or trouble-free. The Bible is clear on that. Jesus stated this truth in John 16:33, saying:

"In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

What a great verse and promise! But also within that promise is the assurance that we will experience tribulation. Romans 8:28 assures us that despite our sufferings—whatever they may be and for whatever reason they happen—God is working them for good.

But for what good? Most of us have been through things, or at least know people who have endured things, that seem to have no apparent good outcome. I could provide many examples, but I think we can all recall times when something happened, and we just couldn’t see its purpose or understand what good could come from it.

So, isolating Romans 8:28 from the rest of Scripture doesn’t give us the full picture. But I have good news—Paul answers that very question in the next verse. Unfortunately, many people spend so much time arguing over doctrine that they miss the answer, which is quite clear once you see it. And this answer explains suffering and why it even exists.

Take a look at Romans 8:29:

"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren."

If you missed it, let me highlight it for you:

"To become conformed to the image of His Son."

So why does God cause all things to work together for good?

So that we would "become conformed to the image of His Son."

God is using every event in your life to do the work of sanctification. He is not wasting anything. Romans 8:28 tells us that God causes all things to work for this purpose. Even our sins, the sins of others against us, and the most painful experiences in life—God is using them to shape us into the likeness of Christ.

Your cancer, your grief over the loss of a loved one, your job loss, and every other hardship you face—God is using all of it to conform you to the image of His Son.

Our sole purpose is to glorify God, and the best way to do that is to become more like Christ. The most powerful witness to the world is when they see Jesus in us.

Romans 8:28 is my go-to verse when life overwhelms me with sorrow and fear. But understanding that everything happening in and around me is being used by God to make me more like Jesus helps me endure each day. My faith grows because I know what God is doing, even if I don’t always like it.

My prayer for all of you reading this is that you will make this promise of God real in your life. Memorize Romans 8:28. Study it. Meditate on it. Share it with others. Believe this truth and rejoice in it. It is truly life-changing.