“The heart of man plans his way, but Yahweh directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) In today’s day and age we take in so much that it can be overwhelming at times. This world feeds into the already ever-growing rate of anxiety among a good chunk of the population. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in 2024 there were roughly 40 million adults in the United States alone that dealt with anxiety, this being those who were diagnosed. There is no precise way to examine or give numbers to those that never were diagnosed, or for the children that deal with it as well. This means that in 2024, the diagnosed adults in America were at a staggering 19.1% of the population. Anxiety is most often driven by the need for control and/or comfort. Comfort is often pursued through control, for when someone feels they have control over whatever it is, they then believe they can fight off that which is fearful or worrisome and usher in that which brings comfort. In this pursuit of control, it is all too easy to fall prey to a false confidence that all will be well. Think about it, when you’re lying in bed and pondering over those situations that may bring a level of discomfort, inconvenience, fear, and or worries, you tend to start playing out scenarios in your mind whereby you can gain control over them. Is this what God intends for you? Not in the least. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34) Let me give you a word of advice learned over the years, there is greater comfort in surrender than there is in seeking to control. We’re deceived if we think we can control anything to begin with, the only control we’re to have is self-control in the biblical sense. You aren’t the Sovereign and therefore you must stop believing or thinking that it is within your realm, or of your duty to try and control anything. Surrender is within your control and is freeing when you do so. Control is neither within your power or ability and therefore surrender is your only option for comfort.
Allow me to let you in on a dark portion of my past without getting too carried away with it. When I was in my teenage years, I dealt with anxiety. I was never diagnosed with it but certainly would have been had I went to be evaluated. Doing the drugs I did, for as long as I did, did a number on my character, the very essence of who I was. I went from being the very social, likable, friendly, funny, class clown type of kid, to a reserved, anxious, secretive, and at times depressed kid. I sought to end my life in my teenage years many times, for various reasons which aren’t edifying nor right to discuss here. I would seek to do so through cutting my wrists, tying mini-blind cords around my neck and leaning forward until it cut off my breathing and circulation. I also tried tying clothing around my neck as tightly as I possibly could. There was a New Years Eve I spent with friends, and granted it was supposed to be a “party” in the way that teenagers mean “party”, we had no drugs and reached out to a friend who supplied us with an old-style Danish cookie tin filled to the brim with pills. The concoction of pills ranged from muscle relaxers to painkillers, anxiety medication to anti-depressants, uppers and downers, and other various medication that if taken together would be a fatal concoction. I grabbed handfuls of these mixtures and took them knowing that, that night could very well be the end of my life. This left me unconscious for over 24 hours closer to the 48-hour period, awoke to vomiting, mostly dry heaves. Couldn’t stand to my fee tfor the life of me as my equilibrium was all thrown off and every attempt failed and left me worse off than had I not tried. I had to crawl on my hands and knees, at times on my stomach to reach the staircase that led down into the basement of my friends’ house where everyone else was located. I managed to get to the bottom of the steps, using every last bit of strength I had, where I lay almost lifeless on the basement floor at the foot of the steps. Thankfully my friend’s sister had found me lying there, pulled me into the bedroom where they were all at, and I spent another 24 to 48 hours essentially in and out of consciousness. Every time I committed myself to ending it all, I always retracted last second, panicking and ripping clothing and or cords off my neck, etc… This time I was left in God’s hands, left to His mercy. He saw me through it for reasons that I did not understand, especially having lived as a practical atheist, and often being militant in my atheism, as I would verbally persecute professing believers, mocking their beliefs, and ultimately their God. This would not be the first time He showed me mercy and extended to me grace, preserving me, allowing me to live another day. I’ve gotten to a point I’ve lost count of the times I could have been dead, in all reality should have been dead… but God, being rich in mercy has spared me beyond number.
When things don’t go our way, we seek to overthrow God and take control ourselves. This is idolatry when we seek to serve self, the sacrifice given to this false god is the notion that we can control our circumstances and thereby obtain the blessing of comfort. Understand this isn’t applicable to unbelievers, for they don’t care to acknowledge let alone believe that God is ultimately in control of all things, and that whatsoever comes to pass is the will of God. However, this pertains to even us as believers. Those that have genuinely been regenerated by the grace of God can deal with anxiety, worry, fear, desire for control and comfort. We see and hear the words of Jesus echo throughout the entirety of Holy Scripture “do not be afraid.” The only healthy fear we are to have as His bride is to fear God. For the one who fears God, can like the psalmist, join in saying, “He who abides in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to Yahweh, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!’” (Psalm 91:1-2) We’ve been called to fear God, not our circumstances. Now let me be clear before I confuse any; comfort and control in and of themselves become idols when we seek them more than we seek to turn to God in those times and lay them before Him in submission. However, that being said, being that they come from our desires, we are the golden calf, the idol we’ve set up for ourselves, seeking to honor and worship self through those said idols of comfort and control. Without coming off too harsh, prescription medication is not the answer to anxiety or depression. A healthy fear of God and unwavering faith in He who is the Sovereign, He who is immutable, that is our true help in time of need. That is ultimately what will help you to overcome these often times paralyzing feelings. Submission to God is the best source of comfort, for we are incapable of controlling anything, and our ultimate comfort comes from being found in Christ Jesus, walking in obedience to His commands and His will; resting upon His character and His promises.
Our comfort is found in beholding our God. “Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, raise up your voice powerfully, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; raise it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, Lord Yahweh will come with strength, with His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him.” (Isaiah 40:9-10) So when life seems out of control and you’re hungering for control; when you don’t know what is going to happen next or what the future will hold; worried that worrying is the new norm for yourself, and therefore seeking comfort, peace, and rest; remember these words. “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and encompassed the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales? Who has encompassed the Spirit of Yahweh, or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He take counsel and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and made Him know the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are counted as a speck of dust on the scales; behold, He lifts up the coastlands like fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are counted by Him as non-existent and utterly formless. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for the graven images, a craftsman casts it, a goldsmith plates it with gold, and a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished to make such a contribution chooses a tree that does not rot; he seeks out for himself a wise craftsman to prepare a graven image that will not be shaken. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who inhabits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; it is He who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to inhabit. It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth utterly formless. Scarcely have they been planted; scarcely have they been sown; scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, but He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. ‘To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?’ says the Holy One.” (Isaiah 40:12-25)
It is far too easy to forget in those times when we’re tempted to take control and seek comfort, when circumstances are horrible; because of what we’re facing every day, the stunning, expansive, mind-boggling, heart-rattling, knee-weakening glory of God. However, our aim should be to behold our God, the One true Sovereign, the One who ordains all things that come to pass. The One who is working all things together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). We aren’t in control of our circumstances, in fact, let me ask you to do the following, pour some water in the palm of your hand and see how much you can retain without it dripping over. God holds the waters of the universe in His hands, and none drips out apart from His will. Let me get you contemplating with the following: comfort is not found in good situations or circumstances, it is not even found in an easy week, neither is it found in your health. It won’t be found in your control, nor in food, neither in friends nor family; it will not be found anywhere in the created world. There is however a huge comfort, a comfort unlike any and all comforts, and that is found in knowing this almighty God, this One who is infinite, immense, unfathomable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, majestic, and supreme. Let us diligently seek to behold our God through this lens, and the comfort and control we so sinfully desire to have will fade as we recognize the One who is in total control of all things at all times, and is working it all for your good. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.” (Psalm 119:50)