“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.“
What are you carrying today?
Some burdens are invisible.
You can go to work, make dinner, have a conversation, and carry on with your normal routine while your mind is somewhere else entirely.
No one else may see it, but you feel the weight. Proverbs understands that feeling:
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down.”
That’s a remarkably accurate description. Anxiety can feel heavy. Even when nothing has actually happened yet, the possibilities of what might happen can begin to weigh on us as though we’re carrying tomorrow’s troubles today. They exhaust you and wear you down.
Proverbs doesn’t offer a complicated solution. It simply says,
“but a good word makes him glad.”
Sometimes that good word comes through another person. Maybe a friend reminds you that you’re not facing this alone or someone who has been through something similar tells you there is a way forward. Maybe your spouse notices that something is bothering you and speaks a word of encouragement.
Don’t underestimate what a good word can do.
But for the Christian, there is an even more dependable place to hear one.
God speaks.
When anxiety tells you that everything depends on you, God’s Word reminds you that your heavenly Father knows what you need. When fear tells you that you are alone, Christ says,
“I am with you always.”
God doesn’t merely tell you to cheer up. He gives you something objective and certain: He tells you He loves you, cares for you, walks with you, and Christ died for your sins so you are forgiven and right with Him.
Those aren’t positive thoughts we use to talk ourselves out of worrying. They are promises from Someone outside of us, spoken by the God who cannot lie. We cling to them by faith.
I wish that meant every anxious feeling immediately disappears. Some may, but our minds have a way of focusing on the negative and wallowing in anxiety. Nor does it mean that the thing we were anxious about will go away. The medical results still have to come. The difficult conversation still needs to happen. The financial problem may still be there tomorrow morning.
But you don’t carry those things without a word from God. In fact, you don’t have to carry them at all. You can lay them down. You can rest knowing that God has you, He knows what you need, and He will bring you through it.
You can also ask for His peace. God’s peace is not like man’s concept of peace. His peace is beyond our understanding and greater than any situation.
Also, remember that sometimes you may be the person God uses to bring a good word to someone else.
Pay attention today. Someone around you may be carrying a burden you cannot see. A thoughtful phone call, a few minutes of listening, or a simple reminder of God’s faithfulness may mean far more than you realize.
Anxiety weighs the heart down.
A good word can help lift it.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
You know the worries I carry, including the ones I have told no one else about. When anxiety weighs down my heart, turn me toward Your promises and remind me that I am in Your care. Thank You for the people You use to encourage me, and help me notice those around me who need encouragement too. Give me a good word to share with them. Above all, keep me anchored in Your sure Word and in Jesus Christ, who has promised to be with me always.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
