These past couple of years our world has given us a lot to fret about. Just turn on the news for five minutes and discouragement will come knocking. It can be so difficult to put one foot in front of the other some days. We can easily find ourselves living in fear.

But we don’t have to stay there and we don’t have to allow anxiety to take over. We can choose to cling tightly to God and find comfort in Him. Here are some truths about the Lord that bring me comfort when I am tempted to worry.

God is near. What comfort it brings to know that God is near! We are not alone. He is always with us.

• But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. – Psalm 73:28 NIV
• Come near to God and he will come near to you. – James 4:8a NIV
• The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. – Psalm 145:18 NIV
• The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. – Psalm 34:18 NIV

God is faithful. God is steadfast and true. Always. This brings us peace, when we know how trustworthy our Father is.

• Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. – Psalm 36:5 NIV
• But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. – Psalm 86:15 NIV
• If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. – 2 Timothy 2:13 ESV

God is love. When we remember how much our Savior loves us, our hearts overflow. And we know that His love also means that He is always looking out for us and has our best interest in mind.

• We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. – 1 John 4:16 NLT
• Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. – Psalm 136:1 NLT
• And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love… Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38,39 NLT

These facts might be things we already know. And these Bible verses might be ones we are familiar with. But sometimes we forget and we have to remind ourselves of the truth. Sometimes it can be so easy to fall into despair. But might I remind you of something else – despair, discouragement, worry, anxiety, and fear are the places where the devil wants us to be. So that is all the more reason why we need to fight against it, by clinging to the truth found in the Word.

Let’s take time this week to pick a comforting Bible verse and memorize it. We can tuck the truth into our hearts to help fight off despair. And if you want an extra boost of positivity, read through the Psalms and underline every word that speaks to you. That is something I did in 2020 when we were in the midst of the pandemic. I read five Psalms a day and it truly changed everything for me. I now continue to go back to the Psalms for comfort. If you have any tips on how you battle the negativity in our world, please share in the comments. Or if you have a special Bible verse that brings you comfort, please share that as well.

Thank you for reading!

© 2022 Bridget A. Thomas