I am fond of pointing out that the number one command throughout all of scripture is “Do Not Fear.” However, I realize that practical advice is as helpful as Bob Newhart’s in this counseling video:

If it were as simple, overcoming our fears and anxieties would be easy.

Then the other day, I realized the other point I am fond of making: the second most command throughout scripture is “Remember.”

Here is where we find the practical remedy that can help us not to fear. By remembering the times and the ways that the Lord has carried us through other difficult situations we are able to cling to the reassurance and muscle memory of God’s grace, which we will need to face our particular situation without anxiety.

Anxiety is worry without an object.

For example, when I am trail running and hear a rustling in the leaves, my anxious mind immediately thinks it is a bear. In that moment, my body is flooded with adrenaline and cortisol. My heart races and I start envisioning the bear attack in the Revenant. To decrease my anxiety, I need to identify what the actual object is that I fear. It is then that I notice the small squirrel scampering away from me.

Jesus provides similar practical advice in overcoming our anxieties in Luke 12:22-28:

Jesus said, “Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”

He reminds us that life in Him is more than our temporal needs of this world. His promises are eternal. In fact, He goes on to tell us to look at the ravens and lilies. He wants us to turn our attention away from ourselves and upon His creative order.

Jesus helps to point out what our anxiety (worry without an object) is actually about. It is about food (provision), our body (health), our clothing (security). Most of our worries boil down to these basic needs of our life. Then Jesus asks the crucial question: “Who of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Our anxiety actual robs us of hours of our life rather than adding to them.

As Corrie Ten Boom said: “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

Unlike Newhart, Jesus offers us practical advice for dealing with our worry. He tells us to identify the object of our anxiety (is it food, provision, health, finances, abandonment, safety), to remember that life in Him is more than just our temporal experiences here and now. Then Jesus calls us to remember that He is God and we are not.

I have used this process in a very simple method. I grab a legal pad of paper and I list out all of the areas causing anxiety in my life. I try to identify the objects of these worries. Then I flip the paper over, and remember moments in my life when God showed up.