Anxiety and Faith: Finding Peace in God's Presence
Rachel Geckle shares how faith in Jesus brings peace and hope in the midst of ongoing anxiety, reminding us that God is always present and never far.
- Description
- Transcript
Rachel Geckle shares her honest journey of living with anxiety while following Jesus. Despite the stigma that faith and mental health struggles can’t coexist, Rachel reveals how God meets her in the middle of fear, sadness, and uncertainty—not with shame, but with presence and peace. Through life transitions and moments of despair, she’s learned to trust God, express her emotions, and hold on to the truth that He is near. If you’re battling anxiety, you’re not alone—and you’re never too far from God’s love and hope.
Rachel Geckle:
Some Christians might say, you don't have enough faith if you're experiencing anxiety, or are you really a Christian?
I became a Christian as a child and I still deal with anxiety. And sometimes, in church circles, that can seem taboo. But I've also come to the understanding that just because I deal with anxiety does not mean I'm not a Christian.
Your mental health is not a sin and is not separating you from God. In fact, God wants to work in that and he will if you let him. I have dealt with anxiety for at least the last 10 years, probably more than that. But my world was shaken after college because of life transitions.
All of your friends moving away. I was in a new job I that I had never experienced before. And that's where the anxiety really started to bubble up in me. When I had to determine, okay, how do I walk in life with seemingly never ending anxiety? And that's something I wrestle with even today, even this past week – that my whole body starts to, what seems like, fall apart.
I get exhausted. I am sad and even hit the pit of despair. Through various circumstances, both in my control and out of my control… Actually, I should say that again, I don't have much control of things in my life. Many of us don't, but we can control how we respond. Expressing what your emotions are to safe people and to God.
God can handle your emotions, whatever they might be. Your anxieties, your fears, give those to God. You can trust him with it. He can take it. He's experienced it. And in the past few weeks, what has actually helped me – not get out of anxiety because I'm still in it and I still deal with it consistently – is in those times, God often tells me, not audibly, but reminds me to remember.
Remember what he has done for me. Remember what Jesus has done for me. Remember that he's present and he's active. He is working and he is with me, that Jesus came to earth to walk with us. And continues to give us his presence through the Holy Spirit. That he is in it with me as a faithful friend sitting next to me in those moments of deep despair or anxiety, even if I'm angry with him or frustrated or am confused or have no idea what he might be working in. That he's present with me.
And in the midst of that, that actually gives me peace. When anxiety flares again, and if you know Jesus, you can experience his presence. And if you don't know Jesus, you can come to know him to receive him and his presence with you. He promises that he will never leave you or forsake you, even in the midst of your deepest anxiety.
That promise has changed everything. It gives me hope in the midst of anxiety, hope in the midst of despair. It gives me peace in the midst of chaos, and I want you to know that even if I don't feel it, that it's true. You are never, never too far from God, and that makes all the difference.
