Devotional Title: An Anxious Culture

In today’s society, anxiety, depression, and fearfulness are everywhere. They show up in our movies, TV shows, social media feeds, books, and conversations. And they’re often paired with quick solutions that promise relief: pills to calm the mind, alcohol to numb the stress, and drugs or other substances that offer a temporary sense of peace.

Anxiety feels normal now. Expected, even.

Growing up, I felt anxiety in familiar places: before athletic events, big tests, and public speaking. Those emotions can be natural. But anxiety also showed up in moments when pressure felt overwhelming and expectations felt heavy. At times, it felt like anxiousness was being pushed harder than it ever needed to be.

There was one season in particular when I felt anxiety more intensely than I ever had. My business was collapsing. It felt like I was losing my relationship with my girlfriend, who I’m marrying in a week. And my health wasn’t where I wanted it to be. Each night, I would get three to four hours of sleep and wake up drenched in night sweats, shaken by night terrors.

But one thing resonated deeply with me, something my father told me. He said, “Son, be grateful this opportunity has happened to you now. And when you go to bed at night, lay your head on the pillow and submit your fears and anxieties to the Lord. Ask Him to calm your mind, and thank Him for what He has done for you.”

That stuck with me. It helped me understand the difference between carrying anxiety on my own and surrendering it daily to the Lord, with thanksgiving. I learned what selfish, human anxiety feels like when you try to manage it alone, and I learned the power of handing it over to God with gratitude and trust.

So the real question becomes this: when anxiety shows up, where do we take it?

Our culture is quick to offer answers. Take this medication. Drink this. Use this substance. Distract yourself. Escape. But at the end of the day, we have to ask an honest question: do these things draw us closer to a Christ-like life, or do they pull us further into human substitutes that never fully satisfy?

The answer is clear. These are temporary, human substitutes, not the lasting fulfillment found in our Lord and Savior.

Reading Philippians 4:6, Paul gives us a very different response to anxiety than what we typically hear in everyday life.

“Do not be anxious about anything.”
At first glance, this can feel unrealistic. Anxiety often feels unavoidable, and fear can feel natural. But Paul is not dismissing the reality of anxious emotions. He’s pointing us toward a deeper truth: God is inviting us to trust Him fully. The key word here is trust. The question becomes, how are we trusting God instead of relying on the substitutes the world offers? How are we keeping anxiety from dominating or controlling our hearts?

Paul follows this command immediately with instruction.

“But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

This begins with something important: “in everything.” That means the smallest concerns, the biggest fears, and even the things we never want to say out loud. Nothing is too insignificant or too heavy to bring before God.

Next, Paul tells us how to bring those burdens to Him: “by prayer and supplication.” Prayer speaks to our ongoing relationship with God, our communication with Him, and our posture of worship and dependence. Supplication is more specific. It is the act of bringing our requests with humility, honestly and earnestly, without pretending we have it all together.

Finally, Paul adds a crucial phrase: “with thanksgiving.” This is often what we lose when anxiety takes over. When we’re overwhelmed, it’s easy to believe what we’re facing is the end of the story. But thanksgiving shifts our focus from what we lack to what God has already provided. Gratitude doesn’t ignore hardship, but it anchors our hearts in the truth that God has been faithful before, and He will be faithful again.

And when Paul says, “let your requests be made known to God,” it isn’t because God needs information. He already knows. This is about surrender. God invites us to bring our needs to Him so we stop carrying them alone and learn to depend on Him with trust.

Anxiety may be a part of living in this world, but it does not have to control us. God does not promise a life without fear, but He does promise peace when we bring everything to Him.

So when anxious thoughts come, pause. Instead of reaching first for a distraction or a temporary fix, bring your concerns to God. Pray honestly. Ask boldly. And give thanks intentionally while submitting everything to his feet. 

Not because everything is perfect, but because God is present.

In an anxious culture, choosing prayer is an act of trust. And choosing trust is how peace begins to grow.

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