“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.” Proverbs 12:25
I have sat with clients whose hands trembled before a hearing that would decide their future, and I have felt that same tightness in my own chest before walking into a courtroom knowing I have little control over the outcome. Anxiety has a way of settling into the heart like a stone, heavy and persistent. We all experience it.
But before we talk about the daily anxiety that presses on us, we have to go back to the root. When we make the decision to commit sin, our soul and a spirit are disconnected from God, producing the deepest anxiety there is. It is not circumstantial; it’s relational. It is spiritual anxiety and WILL be eternal unless it is resolved. But the moment we are reconciled to God through salvation, the root of all our anxiety is permanently resolved and we are given the ability to have inner peace.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)
Once the soul and spirit are reconciled to God, our spiritual anxiety is settled permanently. Our position is secure because our righteousness is Christ’s own. Nothing in the flesh can undo what the Spirit has sealed. Yet we still live in this flesh, in a world, surrounded by evil and hard circumstances! The mind of our flesh is where fear, worry, and discouragement still try to take hold. This is the anxiety Solomon is describing in Proverbs 12:25. The day to day weight of hard news, uncertain outcomes, and wearying seasons. God never promised believers an escape from this kind of pressure, but He did give us a weapon against it—one so ordinary we tend to overlook it.
He gave us fellow believers in the church community; and the ability to be carriers of the peace of Christ to each other! Consider these verses:
“A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!” (Proverbs 15:23)
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24)
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11)
Our words are powerful instruments to carry God’s comfort. This is one of the believer’s great weapons against anxiety. Maybe it’s not a strategy the world culture recognizes as powerful, but one God has used since the beginning to sustain His people. Words are extremely powerful.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21)
Our words carry this kind of weight because language itself is not a small thing to God. The Bible tells us “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) That Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus Christ. When we speak Scripture over one another in encouragement, we are not simply offering nice sentiments. We are infusing our words with the very power of the Creator of all things and speaking His power into someone’s life.
Encouraging words are one of the most powerful weapons against anxiety!
My friend, encouraging one another is not a nice extra for believers who happen to feel warm and generous that day. It is the responsibility we have to deploy this powerful weapon God gave us. It is participating in His work in each other’s lives. This is also why committed, active membership in a local church matters so much. The richest encouragement doesn’t happen from a distance. It requires being present, known, and invested in the lives of other believers on a consistent basis. We are commanded:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:23-25)
Notice that last phrase, “exhorting one another.” That word means to come alongside someone and strengthen them, and it is commanded, not suggested. It only happens in a local church! We are called to live deeper than our feelings. There will be days we do not FEEL like reaching out, but obedience is never contingent on emotion. But when we “bear one another’s burdens,” we “fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) That burden bearing looks like speech, time, and resources spent on someone else’s behalf, given freely, given often, given even when it costs us something.
Every time we encourage a brother or sister, we are glorifying God in the most practical way available to us, by strengthening the body of Christ and by pointing a watching world toward the God who reconciles souls to Himself. A good word, spoken in due season, is never wasted. It is kingdom work—yours and mine.
Prayer:
Lord, thank You for reconciling my soul and spirit to Yourself so that the deepest anxiety I could ever carry has already been settled. Teach me to walk in YOUR peace even when circumstances press hard against my flesh. Give me eyes to see who around me needs a good word today, and give me the willingness to speak it, to spend my time on it, and to give freely of what I have been given from You—even when I do not feel like it. Let my life and words be apples of gold in windows of silver—pointing others toward Your glory and Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
