Overcoming Anxiety
The fourth step addressed in Psalm 37 is in verse five where it says, “Commit thy way unto the Lord.”
Committing your way to the Lord is two-fold.
First, there is the part of doing everything that God has already told you to do in His Word. David said in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Many times anxiety in the life of a Christian is directly related to disobeying a direct instruction in the Scriptures. Examine your path. Are you being obedient to what you know that the Bible has commanded you to do? Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Did you catch the part of that verse that says when you observe all that is written in His Word that you would reap the rewards? Most people obey as much as they want to, but they have drawn a line that God is not allowed to cross in their lives. These are areas that they place off-limits to God. Do you have such areas? If so, it could be the reason you do not have freedom from anxiety is that you have not yet committed every way to the Lord.
The second part of committing your way unto the Lord is taking each decision to the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Often we go to God in prayer only when we run out of our own thoughts. As long as you believe that you are wise enough to run your own life, you will continue to face the anxiety of those decisions. The Bible tells us that we are not capable of running our own lives in Jeremiah 10:23. “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
Our decisions must be based either on direct instruction from God’s Word, or filtered through prayer. This is why 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.”
Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Remember careful is a Bible word meaning full of care or anxious. Instead of being full of care, we are to pray and commit our way unto the Lord.
