Having Faith & Sharing are Antidotes to Anxiety

We are living in challenging times as our nation enters an economic recession. Every day we are reminded of this through articles in the newspapers and stories on radio and television. The steady drumbeat of news about home foreclosures, increased unemployment and high food and energy costs adds to our anxiety and stress.

So how does faith matter in times such as these? When we are living in periods of prosperity, it is easy to become self-reliant and forget about God and our dependence on others. When tough times comes, we often realize that we need friends, family and God.

Jesus Christ encouraged his followers not to be anxious. He said, "Do not worry about your life, about what you will eat or drink or about your body and what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?" (Matthew 6:25).

What is the opposite of anxiety or worry? The answer is to trust and to have faith.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians from a Roman jail, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). When we pray to God, we are exercising our faith by believing that God can do what it is we are seeking.

In addition to faith, there is another important thing to do in tough times: Remember to share with others. When we help someone else, we also benefit from acts of charity. In helping others, we feel good about the deed done and it gets our mind off ourselves and our troubles. Even if it is limited to donating a can of soup or vegetables, looking after a shut-in, volunteering an hour or two for some worthwhile cause, do not let your limited means be an excuse for doing nothing.

Perhaps the best biblical example of giving is the widow who donated her "two mites," which are small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. "Calling his disciples to Him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on.'" (Mark 12:43-44).

It truly is more blessed to give than receive and it does reduce anxiety--for others and yourself.