“Welcome back — grateful you’re here. May the Lord bless you, your family, your loved ones, and every generation that comes after you.”
Now, before we dive in, let me tell you something funny.
I used to think of myself as superhuman. I would walk into anything headfirst. Then came my thirties, family, and all of a sudden, I’m the guy checking his front door locks three times before going to bed. It’s funny how growing up turns you into your own dad.
Father God, I pray for the peace of God over our hearts and minds. In the name of Jesus, draw us near to You. The Bible says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Only God Can Take Away This Fear
I really don’t like being anxious. I used to think I was the type of person things never got to. I did things. I took risks. No fear — I just experienced life the way God intended. But as I got older, my mind started to think about things, worry about things, analyze things — especially when it comes to family, finances, my future, leaving a legacy, becoming the person God intended me to be. I think most people hide under the guise of confidence. I know I did.
To be honest, I’ve dealt with racing thoughts — the unknown, the constant worrying about what might happen, trying to anticipate everything. Just consumed by stress, trying to release the fear of the unknown.
I’ve realized I’ve been extremely anxious about a lot of things, even while trying to hide it behind confidence. Looking back, I was anxious to the point of almost being paranoid about little things — trying to control everything, especially when it came to the people I love and my finances. But no matter how hard I tried, only God could take away this fear.
When I exalt God — when I go to Him, when I really seek Him — the things that used to seem so big become extremely negligible. You start to get a sense that only God has control over our lives. No matter how anxious we get, no matter how much we try to control and analyze and manage everything for our families and our children, only God has the final say over what happens in our lives.
My journey with anxiety started in early adulthood, juggling multiple jobs I didn’t even like, trying to support my family, never great with finances — honestly, just surviving. But God has blessed me, one way or another, through all of it. I share this because the God we serve is amazing. When you hand Him the thing that feels huge, it becomes negligible in His hands.
Part of my personal journey — besides my spouse — is that where some people have family members to lean on and talk to, God had me work through a lot of this more on my own with Him. And I believe that’s exactly what built my strength to overcome so much anxiety. Living through years feeling alone in it, I now believe God was preparing me for difficulties I couldn’t yet see, in a way only He could design.
You become grateful for everything. Gratitude demolishes anxiety. It also teaches you to give back — to become bigger than yourself, to start thinking of others instead of just your own fears. And I believe God is breaking the mental stronghold I’ve been trying to walk out of, and bringing me through to the other side.
Fear Doesn’t Stop With You — It Passes Down
I used to be obsessively worried about my spouse before I became a parent. Looking back, I realize I was projecting a lot of my own fear — and sometimes we repeat that same cycle and pass our fears onto our children without even realizing it.
As believers in Christ, we have to remember that our Father, our Lord, did not give us a spirit of fear — He gave us a spirit of courage and power. He has given us strength, and He created us to fight the enemy through His Word.
I’ve learned that when you spend time reading your Bible, in Christian meditation, listening to God, even writing down what God is putting on your spirit — that time with God changes things. Spending time with God has genuinely changed my life. I’ve personally dealt with real paranoia, and I’ve learned to take it straight to Jesus Christ instead of carrying it myself.
God has given me the ability to look back and see that so many of the things I was afraid of were the enemy playing tricks on my mind. As soon as I recognize that, I can let it go.
So what I’m trying to say is this: keep your vision bigger than your fear. Hold onto your vision — for your life, for your love, for your grandparents, your children, your spouse. God protects you from generation to generation, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.