Last night, at about 2am, I was trying to help my daughter get back to sleep after yet another wake-up. She looked at me with those anxiety filled eyes and whispered this request: “Mommy, when you go back to your room, can you write me a little note about, like, not worrying and stuff? And just give it to me in the morning?”
Although I could barely keep my eyes open, I returned to my bedroom and proceeded to write that note. I included a familiar Scripture passage about anxiety & worry: Philippians 4:6-7. This morning after giving her the note, she gave me a note with the following message:
“Thank you so much for the card. I love you. I am glad you are my MOM!”
As my pastor shared yesterday, there is power in having Scripture close to us. The Jews used to literally bind God’s word to their forehead or arms. Now, most of us in the western church have our Bibles, and sure, we open them on Sunday at church (maybe), but do we literally carry Scripture with us? Or better yet, do we spend time memorizing it and meditating on it?
In the recent weeks, I’ve been challenged myself to spend more time memorizing Scripture. And as my daughter has struggled with anxiety, I’ve been seeking out verses that we can work on together, so that she has the TRUTH hidden in her heart.
When those lies come to her mind, I want the truth to kick them right out!
So this morning, we spent the beginning of our homeschooling day reading verses about worry and fear. We talked about them, and then we wrote them out on index cards to hang on her bedroom wall. When we placed them on her wall, she noted how she would be able to see them when she wakes up at night.
I had looked up all these verses and found the ones I thought would be best for her. But when I read them aloud to her, one verse spoke to me so powerfully that it brought me to tears. As I think about how much I just want to take away any fear from my daughter’s heart, it occurred to me how much more God wants that for us.
He literally sings over us and takes away our fear with His love.
[bctt tweet=”God does not want us to live in fear.”] He does not want us to be paralyzed by anxiety. If you haven’t done this already, I encourage you to memorize some Scriptures.
If you don’t know where to start, here’s the ones I am working on with my daughter:
- Psalm 56:3
- Psalm 27:14
- Zephaniah 3:17
- 2 Timothy 1:7
- Psalm 94:19
- Joshua 1:9
Awesome blog, Esther. Your are doing the best possible thing for her by having her hide God’s word in her heart!
Thanks! I definitely see how it can help her both now and in the long run.
This will be so helpful for My grandson which suffers anxiety.
God Bless you for sharing
My girl with anxiety will be so thankful to have this. We’ve done something similar to this but it gets lost or we just stop focusing on Scripture (really don’t know why, I’m sure I let life get in the way). Anyway, thanks so much.
This made me cry, my 9-year-old daughter, deals with anxiety so bad it often makes her actually ill. Lately, though she just comes home and cries. So so sweet and innocent and gets taken advantage of and left out because she’s just a quiet little wildflower. I was looking for verses to put on some notecards I have for her. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for these verses. I think many are suffering from anxiety during this Covid 19 crisis, so these verses will not only serve my family as comfort, but my neighbors and friends as well.
I’m glad this was helpful!
Christena, my heart also went out to your sweet 9-yr old “wildflower”. My 8-yr old twin grandson suffers so. Virtual school is hard for him. He so misses his friends and the social interaction. Often doesn’t sleep well and the anxiety begins building on the weekend for the school week ahead. I don’t know your child’s name but as I pray for my twin grandsons, I will ask the Lord to be a calm presence for her.
Thank you for these scriptures. My sons anxiety is so bad, especially in the times we are in now. These will help so much.