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Key Bible Verse: It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones. (Psalm 127:2) Dig Deeper: Philippians 4:11-13

Anxiety can often indicate to us that there is something constructive happening within us, beckoning us to follow it in order that our lives may be transformed. I remember my churning stomach the very first time I lined up in the starting blocks to run the 300-meter hurdles in high school. I hoped that anxiety would eventually go away, but it didn't, and I came to realize that it was a feeling that helped me feel capable and ready to sprint from the blocks as fast as I could.

But how do you know if the anxiety you are experiencing is a healthy or unhealthy anxiety? Normal, healthy anxiety occurs when you confront the unknown, doubts arise, and the transitions ahead of you seem unclear. Healthy anxiety gives you the ability to say, "I can do it." But unhealthy anxiety is characterized by worry and an inability to make decisions in life, leading to mental and emotional paralysis. We say and believe, "I can't, and I won't."

Anxiety is a part of our lives, but we don't have to let it keep us living in a prison of fear or retreating in shame. We have the opportunity to look it square in the face and allow God to use it to transform our lives.

—Rhett Smith in The Anxious Christian

My Response: I will make a list with some examples of "good" and "bad" anxiety.

Thought to Apply: I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, "By the grace of God I am what I am." —John Newton (British hymnist, clergyman)

Adapted from The Anxious Christian (Moody, 2011) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.

Copyright © 2012 by Christianity Today/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me to view my anxiety as an opportunity for change and dependence on you, and not to let it paralyze me with fear, doubt, and inadequacy.

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