Many of my high school students struggle with anxiety, which is common during teenage years. In fact, right now people of all ages seem to be battling anxiety due to the fears and uncertainty related to the pandemic. In class to help students, we discussed a few strategies for fixing stress when it’s something they can control and for coping when the source of stress is beyond their control. Although the discussion was beneficial, I wish I could dig deeper with my students to get at the root of the problem causing anxiety. Fundamentally anxiety, worry, unrest, longing, and lack of peace is a spiritual problem that only God can completely solve.
God created you and loves you. He designed you with three parts: body, soul (mind, will, emotion, personality), and spirit. Your spirit is the core of who you are and is how you fellowship with God. The condition of your spirit greatly affects your body and soul. Because every person early on in life chooses to live life their own way instead of God’s way, their spirit is dead and separated from God. Thus along with their spirit, their body, and soul also suffer from not experiencing the peace, goodness, righteousness, and love that only God offers. On your own apart from God you will always experience a weariness from striving to find fulfillment, a desire for brokenness to be healed, and a lack of true peace. Only by being reconciled with God will you be satisfied and complete.
Find Peace with God
Fortunately God fully understands you and your dire condition. He has graciously sent Jesus, God the Son, to save you from the fretful and deadly results of living for yourself. Anyone who trusts and obeys Jesus receives a new spirit–God’s Spirit and a new life–God’s everlasting, abundant life. Jesus, the Prince of peace, is calling you to himself. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). You can joyfully have peace and be free from worry by leaving all your concerns with God and following Jesus. The apostle Paul encouraged believers, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 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” (Philippians 4:4-7).
Find Peace with Yourself
If you have found peace with God through faith in Jesus, the next step is to find peace with yourself. If you love God, understandably you will want to obey him and please him. Yet at times you will fail or feel that you don’t measure up. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t let the devil steal your joy in trying. Don’t be deceived into thinking your performance can earn God’s love or that your past can keep you from God’s love. Instead find peace through God’s grace. When you willfully do wrong, confess it and receive his forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). When you find yourself fixating on your shortcomings or trials, correct it by focusing on Jesus who fulfills what you lack. The apostle Paul, who had a “thorn in his flesh” learned this lesson. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). When you feel frustrated because your striving to do what’s good, what’s right, or what’s significant seems to be in vain, correct it by relying on God’s Spirit in you and leave the results to him. He never calls you to do something he doesn’t enable you to do. Rest in the blessing of God’s Spirit who he has given to believers to comfort, counsel, train, and empower them (John 14:15-27, 16:7-15). God will accomplish his glorious purpose in and through those who humbly submit to him. The devil wants you to feel unworthy so you will be distant from God, discontent with yourself, and ineffective with others. Don’t let his lie that you are not worthy keep you from God and his peace. You are not be worthy on your own, but Jesus is worthy and he has graciously imparted his unsurpassed worth to anyone who trusts and obeys him.
Find Peace with Others
The peace that you find with God and yourself should overflow to others. Jesus taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). You are blessed to be a blessing. If you are a child in God’s family you should seek to bring others into his family by sharing his grace, truth, and love. Extend God’s grace by honoring others, putting their best interest first, giving people the benefit of the doubt, acknowledging good that gets overlooked, and treating others the way you want to be treated. Take the initiative to forgive, just as God did with you (Matthew 6:9-15, 18:21-35; Ephesians 4:32). Find ways to resolve conflict, mend wounds, serve the needy, assure the worried, affirm the lowly, advocate for the voiceless, and intervene for those who can’t fight for themselves. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:17-18).
From God flows peace for us and others. The solution to your failures and frustrations, your anxieties and concerns, your broken relationships and deepest longings are found in Jesus. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “You will keep him in perfect peace, him whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). Let Jesus, the Prince of peace, save and complete you. Then by his power and grace share the joy, rest, and satisfaction you find in him with others.