I hate anxiety. Not just the somatic, psychological disease, but what the existentialists understood as an effect of a lack of meaning or fear of non-existence. But life is full of it. We dread the unknown and the future is entirely unknown, and somehow we have to make peace with that.

Jesus didn’t die for you to be anxious. He died for freedom from existential anxiety. He gave us the gift of purpose and certainty in God by repairing the relationship between us. We can be happy and truly happy. Even psychological anxiety is defeated: what do we have to worry about? There are no insecurities under the ultimate rock of God.

It’s only when we go back into ourselves and become self-centered and take on the delusion that we are self-sufficient. Our anxiety died in Jesus and it’s replaced with faith. There is such a freedom. Any earthly failure is insignificant. We rely on humility and prayer to God. Our identity is not in earthly work, but rather our eternal efforts. We have to keep the eternal picture in mind.

Whenever we are overwhelmed or lose control of our mind to the chaos of rumination, we can be certain that no authority compares even a little bit to God. Nothing on this earth can give us approval. All comes from God. We can throw the world away for a glimpse of the Lord.

One antidote is courage. The courage to be is a self-affirmation of one’s being in spite of a threat of nonbeing and the anxiety associated with it. We are full of the fear of death, guilt, condemnation, meaninglessness, and emptiness. In spite of this, we need the strength of faith to stand firm in God. Yet this is not of our own accord; we can only find the source of courage from God.

We need courage with every step. Every moment we forget our dependence on God. Our helplessness is always apparent and deluding ourselves into thinking we are not only reinforces the problem. Even in the mundane of everyday life, we need the courage to be.

Often, we need courage through action, and the main action we take in our modern world is through speech. Speech is the key device for interpersonal relations; we must use it to be holy. Being courageous must come with careful discernment and we must put a careful guard on our mouths. Yet we need to know when we must speak. When fear paralyzes our tongues yet we know it will do the Lord’s work, we must act and speak with courage.

A reminder is not enough. We have to actively practice courage at every moment. In all that we do, we have to lean into discomfort and get stronger under God. Little by little, we grow in God’s courage and become little gods.