Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25 ESV

Recently, while I was poll watching at a local precinct, a lady approached the tally machine. One gentleman looked at her and said, “we have been  looking for you all day.” She smiled inquisitively  at us. “You are the last vote, we found you.”

Words matter, but so does anxiety. King Solomon had a great ability to pull together insights into pithy statements that have layers of meaning. Let’s break down the verse

“Anxiety” – deagah – means weightiness from excessive concern, heaviness from consuming carefulness of thought, anxiousness from fear. We would think of this as a matter that is consuming our thoughts making us wearing or tired.

“Weighs down” – yaš·ḥen·nāh – means to depress or become prostrate. The root word is shachah meaning to bow down. It also means to worship as bowing down is a primary form to express worship.

King Solomon reminds us that anxiety can be so all consuming in our thoughts and heart that it exacts a type of worship from us. Anxiety feeds on being the center of attention in your mind. Perhaps, you can identify with this type of struggling. You feel helpless to escape its grips. The matter will not leave and demands to be addressed in your thoughts repeatedly.

Solomon says that one solution is to receive a kind or good word to bring hope and gladness to the heart. Where can you find a “good” word?

In Search of a good word

  • The most obvious and plentiful “good words” are found in the Bible. There is no other substitute for spending time reading, meditating, and memorizing God’s word. Today we have the privilege of listening to it, if you struggle with reading. God’s word addresses hope, deliverance from temptation, money, love, relationships, forgiveness and so much more. There is gold in the Bible, rich are those who find it.
  • “Good” friends are another source to find “kind” words. Some friends spread the joy of happiness. Some friends say the hard things we need to hear – “Faithful are the wounds of a friend”.  You can know and encourage all types of people, but your closest friends should be ones who provide hope and joy at the right times. Be careful of friends that weigh you down constantly.
  • The Holy Spirit is a comforter par excellence. Jesus said the Spirit will always be with us to lead and guide us. He comes along beside us to give us the right words at the right moment that our heart needs to hear. LEARN how to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit talking to you. He is God’s gift to you to navigate life and the cares of this world.
  • Worship has the ability to bypass our walls of anxiousness to settle us in green pastures and to drink from the still waters. On more than one occasion, I have Christian music playing in the background to saturate my spirit with thoughts of God’s love and care for me. I often will hear one phrase that I begin to converse with God. Worship stirs up gratefulness.

We have all been there…overwhelmed with life’s cares and concerns. Don’t stop at that location, Keep searching for the good word. Even in the middle of the darkest problem, God’s light is not extinguished. On this Fear Not Friday, redirect your worship to the good word of the Lord. At least now, you know where to find the “good words”.

Blessings Love y’all