Struggling With Anxiety? What the Bible Says About Finding Peace

These reflections from Scripture reveal how Jesus meets us in our worries and brings lasting peace.

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I have been an anxious person for most of my life, but it definitely ramped up when I became a mom. Over the last fourteen years of motherhood, I’ve learned a lot about where my anxiety comes from, and I’ve learned tools to help deal with it.

In particular, God has spoken to me through his Word to show me a path forward through my mental struggles. I will share some of my Scripture reflections below.

Before I begin the meditations, though, I want to remind you that each of us is an intricately connected body-soul unity. Sometimes our anxiety is linked to a trauma response stored in our body. Other times, anxiety can point to a problem with our gut, or low vitamin and mineral levels. For women, anxiety can ramp up when our hormones are off or our progesterone is low. With our body in a healthy state, we are more easily able to attune to the struggles of the mind and soul.

The mind can also be influenced from outside, for both good and bad; therefore, it’s important to learn to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Speak your worries out loud to a friend, spouse or counselor. Write them in your journal and let God either confirm or reject them. When we get our thoughts out of our heads, we can see them more clearly in the light of God’s Truth.

Isaiah 58:7-9

This is the fast that the Lord wishes for us:

Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; … Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!”

Anxiety and depression are like wounds that show us where we are hurt. Sometimes we become so inward-focused on our own problems that we ignore the sufferings of those around us.

The light of Truth breaks forth when we serve others: share bread, clothe the naked or shelter the homeless. When we bring the light of Jesus’s Truth into the wound, it illumines the dark corners of our mind where the lies and injuries dwell. Then our wounds will be healed because we looked outside ourselves and saw Jesus coming to save us.

Mark 16:3

“They were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?’” 

Who will roll away the stone? The disciples didn’t yet know that it was already rolled away, so they exerted energy worrying about a potential problem that didn’t actually exist.

When we learn to trust God, we see how he provides a way where there is no way, like a stone already rolled away or a sea already walled in. When we petition God for small things, it’s like working out with light weights. We build up trust for bigger requests, knowing he sees a further outcome than we can.

Luke 24:35 

“Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

Jesus was made known in the breaking of the bread. Not just the bread when it was lifted or blessed, but when it was broken. God is revealed in brokenness. Divine Mercy is all about the Healer entering into our very core through our wounds.

A few years ago, my mom broke a bone in her wrist. To perform the surgery, the surgeon had to cut her open — he got to the broken bone through a wound in order to heal it. The surgeon then inserted a titanium plate, which strengthened the original bone structure.

Jesus is the Divine Physician, and grace is like a titanium plate that strengthens our souls. That is why we say at Easter, “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam!” Through repentance of our weaknesses, sins and wounds, God can make us stronger, holier and more like him.

In the very next verse, Jesus stands before them and says, “Peace be to you” (Luke 23:26). Jesus comes to us to give us his peace.  God makes us holy not by taking anxiety away, but by transforming us through it.

Philippians 4:6-7 

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

I used to have anxiety reading this verse that told me I should have no anxiety! You can’t just tell yourself to stop being anxious. The key is to make your requests known to God, to cast your cares on the Lord one by one. This is prayer — uniting your whole self, including your worries, to Christ.

1 Peter 5:7

“Cast all your worries on him because he cares for you.”

This verse is couched between an admonition to be humble and an exhortation to be sober and watchful. The Lord knows we have a lot of work to do to grow in virtue and avoid evil. But he gives us his presence, his grace and his care.

We can unburden ourselves in prayer by using our words to express our worries to God. This doesn’t mean all our problems will be immediately solved! But every time we cast our cares on Christ, we grow in our relationship with him. The closer we come to him, the more we experience his peace.

Finally, not a Scripture quote, but something Jesus said to St. Faustina (whose feast we celebrated earlier this October):

“The greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety. These will deprive you of the ability to practice virtue,” (Diary 1488).

Exaggerated anxiety prevents us from coming to the Lord in our need. Exaggeration means we fret about our anxiety so much that we give in to worry, and we don’t learn virtue by working through it with God. We must exert some effort to build up the fortitude and perseverance necessary to overcome anxiety.

In the end, we are all on a lifelong journey toward God. As long as we come to him with our worries, he will give us peace, transforming us one day at a time.