Have you ever experienced a day when everything feels overwhelming, and anxiety creeps in? I’ve shared some thoughts about the water damage to our house and expressed my belief that God is with us. However, today, every communication we received was confusing and incomplete, leaving me with a sense of stalling in restoring our home. It’s not that the insurance company won’t come through—I have no doubt they will—but their bookkeeping system is incredibly confusing.
As the anxiety welled up, it leaked out of my eyes.
In wrestling with these feelings today, I realize that my mindset needs to shift. If you, too, have struggled with anxiety and negative thoughts, I hope my journey encourages you.
Recognizing the Problem
Negative thoughts often feel like an unrelenting storm:
“At this rate, the house will never be restored.”
“These numbers just don’t add up.”
“We are going to end up paying out of our pocket.”
“I can’t trust these people.”
And the shift to …
“I am not good enough; I lack faith.”
“I’m worrying instead of trusting.”
All these thoughts today drained my peace even though I know better — I know how to lean into God’s truth. What do you do when life’s circumstances overwhelm you?
A Practical Approach to Transformation
For me, the first step is awareness. I didn’t take the time to write it down today (unless you count this post), but I took stock. I thought about why I feel the way I do, repeatedly asking why until I reached the core of the issues swirling around me.
Second, once I identified the core problem, I could counteract the negative thought patterns with the gospel. As I reflected on my feelings today, two issues arose. One is my impatience, which reveals a lack of gratitude for what I have. The other is an irrational fear that somehow, our sense of comfort, our banked cushion, will be decimated by the outrageous cost of repairs. The irrational fear reveals my idol that my faith rests more on savings than on God’s promises.
Repentance and repetition of truths I trust and believe are the cure.
One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 26:3:
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
I know peace isn’t about the absence of problems but the presence of God. So today, I profess God is near. The profession is not an “instant fix” but a process, a transformation, sometimes painstakingly slow. Anxiety still sneaks into the quiet corners of my mind. Tonight, I practice taking captive each wayward thought and reminding myself of the potential for this event to bear fruit—the fruit of patience, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.
A Word of Encouragement
My words may resonate with you in some way. It could be that yours is not about house repair or insurance but some other insidious worry. Be patient with yourself and trust that God is working in your heart. Align your thoughts with His truth to experience both freedom and peace.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
