We live in times of anxiety, “critical times hard to deal with.” (2 Timothy 3:1) Many are reeling from financial crises, family breakdown, war, deadly disease outbreaks, and natural or man-made disasters. Add to this a variety of personal worries: ‘Will the growth I discovered on my body turn out to be cancer?’ ‘What kind of world will my grandchildren grow up in?’

Not all anxiety is bad. We naturally feel some stress before a test, a performance, or a job interview. And a healthy fear of danger helps us to avoid harm. But extreme or constant anxiety is destructive. A recent series of studies involving more than 68,000 adults revealed that even mild anxiety increases the risk of premature death. With good reason, then, Jesus asked: “Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?” Indeed, worry lengthens no one’s life. Jesus therefore advised: “Stop being anxious.” (Matthew 6:25, 27) But how is that even possible?

The answer involves applying practical wisdom, nurturing real faith in God, and building a reliable hope for the future. Even if we do not now face dire circumstances, we may in the future. So let us see how taking these steps has helped Paul, Janet, and Alona to deal with anxiety.

“After runaway inflation struck in our country, food became expensive and scarce,” relates Paul, a husband and father of two. “We stood in lines for hours, but often the food ran out before we got to the front of the line. People got terribly thin from hunger, and some collapsed in the street. Prices for basic needs soared into the millions, then billions. Finally, the local currency became valueless. I lost my bank account, insurance, and pension.”

Paul was aware that, for his family to survive, he had to use “practical wisdom.” (Proverbs 3:21) “I was an electrical contractor, but I took whatever work I could find, at much less than normal pay,” he explains. “Some paid me in food or household goods. If I was paid four bars of soap, I’d use two and sell the others. I eventually got 40 chicks. When they got big, I sold them and bought 300 more. Later, I bartered 50 chickens for two 110-pound (50 kg) bags of cornmeal. From those bags, I fed my family and several other families for a long time.”

Paul also knew that the most practical thing anyone can do is trust in God. When we do what God commands, he helps us. In regard to obtaining life’s necessities, Jesus said: “Stop being in anxious suspense; for . . . your Father knows you need these things.”​—Luke 12:29-31.

Tragically, God’s great enemy, Satan, has tricked most of the world into centering their lives around physical concerns. People worry desperately about their needs, real and imagined, and strive anxiously to obtain things they do not really need. Many go into debt, learning the hard way that “the borrower is a slave to the lender.”​—Proverbs 22:7.

Some people make damaging decisions. “Many neighbors left their family and network of friends to search for ‘greener pastures’ abroad,” relates Paul. “Some went without proper immigration papers and were unable to find work. They often found themselves hiding from the police and sleeping in the streets. They did not give God an opportunity to help them. But we resolved to face financial problems together as a family, with God’s help.”

FOLLOWING JESUS’ ADVICE

Paul continues: “Jesus said: ‘Never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles.’ So my daily prayer was simply that God would ‘give us today our bread for this day’ in order for us to survive. And he did help, just as Jesus promised. We didn’t always get our first choice. Once, I got into a food line not knowing what was being sold. When I got to the front, I saw that it was yogurt. I don’t like yogurt. But it was food, so we ate yogurt that night. I am grateful to God that during that entire period, my family never went to bed hungry.”a

“Things are easier for us financially at the moment. But through our experiences we have learned that the most important antidote to anxiety is trust in God. Jehovahb will always help us as long as we keep seeking to do his will. We have seen the truthfulness of Psalm 34:8: ‘Taste and see that Jehovah is good; happy is the man who takes refuge in him.’ As a result, we are not afraid of facing difficult economic circumstances again.

“We now understand clearly that what humans need to survive is, not work or money, but food. We eagerly await the time when God’s promise will be fulfilled: ‘There will be an abundance of grain on the earth.’ In the meantime, ‘having food and clothing, we will be content with these things.’ We draw strength from the Bible’s words: ‘Let your way of life be free of the love of money, while you are content with the present things. For he has said: “I will never leave you, and I will never abandon you.” So that we may be of good courage and say: “Jehovah is my helper; I will not be afraid.”’”c

It takes genuine faith to ‘walk with God’ as Paul and his family are doing. (Genesis 6:9) Whether we now face a serious financial crisis or may face one in the future, Paul’s example of faith and practical wisdom teaches us important lessons.

But what if family problems are causing us anxiety?

“Shortly after my father died, my husband told me that he was seeing another woman,” relates Janet. “Soon afterward, without further warning or good-bye, he emptied his closet and left me and our two children.” Janet found a job, but her pay was not enough for her to keep their house. And she has faced more than just financial concerns. “The crushing anxiety of all the new responsibilities that I now had to handle alone was overwhelming,” she recalls. “I felt guilty that I could not provide as much for my children as other parents do. And even now, I worry about how others view me and my children. Do they wonder if I did all I should have to preserve my marriage?”

Prayer helps Janet tame her feelings and nurture her friendship with God. “Nighttime is the hardest, when everything is so quiet and my anxious thoughts are so loud. Praying and reading the Bible help me to sleep. A favorite passage of mine is Philippians 4:6, 7: ‘Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mental powers.’ I have spent many nights in prayer and have felt Jehovah’s peace comfort me.”

Jesus’ reassuring words about prayer in his Sermon on the Mount apply to anxieties of all kinds: “Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8) And we do need to ask him. Prayer is the primary way we can “draw close to God.” The result of doing so? “He will draw close to you.”​—James 4:8.

Yes, prayer does more than simply make us feel better for having expressed our anxiety. Jehovah, the “Hearer of prayer,” also acts on behalf of all who seek him in faith. (Psalm 65:2) That is why Jesus taught his followers “always to pray and not to give up.” (Luke 18:1) We must keep asking God for his direction and help, confident that he will reward our faith. We need never doubt his desire or ability to act. To “pray constantly” in this way shows we have genuine faith.​—1 Thessalonians 5:17.

WHAT HAVING FAITH REALLY MEANS

But what really is faith? Faith involves “coming to know” God as a person. (John 17:3) We do so first by absorbing God’s thoughts through the Bible. We learn that he sees each of us and wants to help us. Yet, real faith involves more than just knowing something about God. It also means having a bond of respectful friendship with him. As is true with a human friend, we cannot forge such a bond overnight. Our faith “continues to increase” over time as we learn more about him, as we “do the things pleasing to him,” and as we experience his active help. (2 Corinthians 10:15; John 8:29) That is the kind of faith that helps Janet deal with anxieties.

“What has truly helped build my faith is seeing Jehovah’s hand every step of the way,” says Janet. “Many times we faced injustices that seemed impossible to deal with. With much prayer, Jehovah always made a way out for us that I never could have figured out on my own. When I thank him, it reminds me of how much he has done for me. He has always come through for us at the right time, often just in time. And he has given me true friends who are genuine Christian men and women. They are always there for me and are good examples for my children.”a

“I know why Jehovah says at Malachi 2:16: ‘I hate divorce.’ For an innocent mate, it’s the deepest of betrayals. Years have passed since my husband left, but at times I still feel hollow inside. When I do, I try to do something to help someone else, and that always helps me too.” By thus applying the Bible principle to avoid isolating herself, Janet lowers her anxiety.b​—Proverbs 18:1.

“My greatest comfort,” Janet says, “comes from knowing that God is ‘a father of the fatherless and a protector of widows.’ He will never abandon us as my husband did.” (Psalm 68:5) Janet knows that God does not test us “with evil things.” On the contrary, he gives wisdom “generously to all” and gives “power beyond what is normal” to help us deal with our anxieties.​—James 1:5, 13; 2 Corinthians 4:7.

But what if we are anxious because our life is in danger?

“When I hear the siren, my heart starts racing and I run to a bomb shelter,” says Alona. “But even there I feel anxious. It’s worse when I’m outside, with no place to hide. Once, while just walking down the street, I started to cry and couldn’t breathe. It took me hours to calm down. Then the siren went off again.”

War is only one of many sources of danger. For example, the discovery that you or a loved one has a life-threatening illness can make you feel as though you have been hit by a bomb. And for others, fear of the future can cause anxiety. They worry, ‘Will our children, or their children, have to live in a world of war, crime, pollution, climate change, and epidemics?’ How can we deal with such anxieties?

Knowing that bad things happen, “the shrewd person sees the danger and conceals himself.” (Proverbs 27:12) And just as we try to protect our physical well-being, we can take steps to shield our mental and emotional health. Violent entertainment and even news reports filled with horrific images add to our own and our children’s anxiety. To avoid unnecessary exposure to these things is not hiding our head in the sand. God did not design our minds to dwell on evil. Instead, we should fill them with “whatever things are true, . . . righteous, . . . chaste, . . . lovable.” If we do, “the God of peace” will give us peace of mind and heart.​—Philippians 4:8, 9.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER

Real faith helps us to deal with anxiety. The Bible urges us to “be vigilant with a view to prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7) We can ask God for his help and for the wisdom and courage to make the best of our situation, confident that “he hears us concerning whatever we are asking.”​—1 John 5:15.

The Bible explains that Satan, not God, is “the ruler of this world” and that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (John 12:31; 1 John 5:19) Therefore, Jesus used no mere figure of speech when he taught us to pray: “Deliver us from the wicked one.” (Matthew 6:13) “Whenever the siren goes off, I ask Jehovah to help me control my feelings,” says Alona. “Also, my dear husband calls me and prays with me. Praying really helps.” It is as the Bible says: “Jehovah is near to all those calling on him, to all who call on him in sincerity.”​—Psalm 145:18, footnote.

OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his followers to pray: “Let your Kingdom come.” (Matthew 6:10) God’s Kingdom will root out all harmful anxiety forever. Through Jesus, the “Prince of Peace,” God will bring “an end to wars throughout the earth.” (Isaiah 9:6; Psalm 46:9) “He [God] will render judgment among many peoples . . . Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore. . . . No one will make them afraid.” (Micah 4:3, 4) Happy families “will build houses and live in them, and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage.” (Isaiah 65:21) “And no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’”​—Isaiah 33:24.

Today, despite all precautions, it is not always possible to prevent “unexpected events” or to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Ecclesiastes 9:11) As they have for centuries, war, violence, and disease continue to kill good people. What hope do those innocent victims have?

Countless millions, their number known only to God, will live again. For now, they sleep, safe in God’s perfect memory, until the day when “all those in the memorial tombs will . . . come out.” (John 5:28, 29) Speaking of the resurrection, the Bible assures us: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, both sure and firm.” (Hebrews 6:19) And God “has provided a guarantee to all men by resurrecting [Jesus] from the dead.”​—Acts 17:31.

For now, even those who are trying to please God will face anxieties. By taking practical steps, drawing close to God through prayer, and building faith in the Bible’s hope for the future, Paul, Janet, and Alona are all dealing successfully with anxiety. As he has in their case, “may the God who gives hope fill you with all joy and peace by your trusting in him.”​—Romans 15:13.

MY PAST:

I grew up in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., in various neighborhoods infamous for their street gangs and drugs. My parents had six children, of whom I was the second.

My mother raised us as members of an evangelical church. However, as a teenager, I led a double life. On Sundays I sang in the church choir. During the rest of the week, I lived to party, abuse drugs, and commit sexual immorality.

I had a quick and violent temper. I would use anything as a weapon to win. What I learned at church did not help. I used to say, “Vengeance is the Lord’s​—and I’m his instrument!” While in high school during the late 1960’s, I was influenced by the Black Panthers, a political group known for their militant approach to civil rights issues. I joined a civil rights student union. On several occasions we staged protests, each time temporarily closing the school.

It seemed that protesting did not satisfy my violent nature. So I started participating in hate crimes. For example, on occasion my friends and I saw films featuring the past suffering of African slaves in the United States. Incensed by those injustices, we assaulted white youths right there in the movie theater. Then we went to white neighborhoods, looking for more people to beat up.

By the time I was in my late teens, my brothers and I were confirmed hoodlums. We got in trouble with the authorities. One of my younger brothers was a member of a notorious gang, and I associated with them. My life was going from bad to worse.

HOW THE BIBLE CHANGED MY LIFE:

A friend of mine had parents who were Jehovah’s Witnesses. They invited me to their congregation meetings, and I accepted. From the very start, I could see how different the Witnesses were. Everyone had a Bible and used it during the meeting. Young people even gave talks on the program! I was impressed to learn that God has a name, Jehovah, and to hear it used. (Psalm 83:18) The congregation was made up of many nationalities, but it was obvious that there were no racial divisions.

Initially, I did not want to study the Bible with the Witnesses, but I liked going to their meetings. One night, while I was at a meeting of the Witnesses, a group of my friends went to a concert. There, they beat a teenager to death because he would not give up his leather jacket. The next day, they bragged about the murder. They even laughed off their crime when being tried in court. Most of them were sentenced to life in prison. Needless to say, I was very glad that I had not been with them that night. I resolved to change my life and start studying the Bible.

Having been exposed to so much racial prejudice, I saw things among the Witnesses that astounded me. For example, when a white Witness had to travel abroad, he left his children in the care of a black family. Also, a white family took into their home a black youth who needed a place to live. I became convinced that Jehovah’s Witnesses fit the words of Jesus recorded at John 13:35: “By this all will know that you are my disciples​—if you have love among yourselves.” I knew I had found a true brotherhood.

From studying the Bible, I began to realize that I needed to change my thinking. I had to make my mind over so that I not only acted peaceably but also saw this as the best way of life. (Romans 12:2) Gradually, I made progress. In January 1974, I was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Even after I was baptized, however, I had to keep working on my temper. For example, on one occasion while going from house to house in the Christian ministry, I chased after a thief who had just stolen the radio from my car. As I got closer to him, he dropped the radio and ran away. When I related to the others with me how I got my radio back, an elder in the group asked me, “Stephen, what would you have done if you had caught up with him?” That question made me think and motivated me to keep working at being peaceable.

In October 1974, I began serving as a full-time minister, spending 100 hours each month teaching the Bible to others. Later, I had the privilege of volunteering at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York. In 1978, I returned to Los Angeles to care for my ill mother. Two years later, I married my dear wife, Aarhonda. She was a great support to me as we cared for my mother until Mother’s death. In time, Aarhonda and I attended the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and were assigned to Panama, where we continue to serve as missionaries.

Since baptism, I have faced a number of potentially explosive situations. I’ve learned either to walk away from people who are trying to provoke me or to defuse the situation in other ways. Many people, including my wife, have commended me on how I have handled these situations. I’ve even surprised myself! I do not take credit for these changes in my personality. Rather, I believe that they are testimony to the transforming power of the Bible.​—Hebrews 4:12.

HOW I HAVE BENEFITED:

The Bible has given my life purpose and taught me to be truly peaceable. I don’t beat people up anymore; rather, I help them heal spiritually. I even studied the Bible with a previous enemy from high school! After he was baptized, we became roommates for a time. To this day, we are close friends. To date, my wife and I have helped over 80 people to become Jehovah’s Witnesses by studying the Bible with them.

I am profoundly grateful to Jehovah for giving me a life full of meaning and happiness amid a true brotherhood.

The patriarch Job is described as “blameless and upright.” (Job 1:1, footnote) Lot was called a “righteous man.” (2 Peter 2:8) And David was said to do “what was right” in God’s eyes. (1 Kings 14:8) However, let us take a closer look at the lives of those Bible characters. We will see that (1) they made mistakes, (2) we can learn much from their example, and (3) imperfect humans really can please God.

THEY MADE MISTAKES

Job suffered a series of personal hardships that seemed unfair. He got the wrong idea, concluding that God did not care whether he kept his faith in Him or not. (Job 9:20-22) Job was so convinced of his own righteousness that to others it sounded as though he were proclaiming himself more righteous than God.​—Job 32:1, 2; 35:1, 2.

Lot hesitated to make what should have been a clear and simple decision. He was greatly distressed by the gross immorality of the people living in Sodom and Gomorrah, even “tormenting his righteous soul” over their behavior. (2 Peter 2:8) God announced that he intended to destroy those wicked cities and gave Lot an opportunity to be rescued along with his family. You might imagine that troubled Lot would be the first one to leave. At this crucial moment, though, he lingered. The angels sent to rescue him and his family had to grab hold of their hands and take them out of the city to safety.​—Genesis 19:15, 16.

David on one occasion showed a lack of self-control and committed adultery with another man’s wife. Shockingly, in an attempt to cover it up, David had her husband killed. (2 Samuel, chapter 11) The Bible says that what David did “was very displeasing to Jehovah.”​—2 Samuel 11:27.

Job, Lot, and David all made mistakes, some very serious ones at that. But, as we will see, they were wholehearted in their desire to serve God obediently. They were willing to show that they were sorry and to change their ways where needed. Hence, God looked on them with favor, and overall the Bible refers to them as faithful men.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN?

As imperfect humans, we cannot avoid making mistakes. (Romans 3:23) But when we do, we need to show that we are sorry and then do what we can to put matters right.

How did Job, Lot, and David try to put their mistakes right? At heart, Job was a man of integrity. After God reasoned with him, Job corrected his wrong thinking and took back what he had said. (Job 42:6) Lot’s view of the immoral conduct of people in Sodom and Gomorrah completely agreed with God’s standards. It was his temporary lack of urgency that was the problem. He eventually fled the condemned cities and escaped God’s judgment. Obediently he did not even look back at what he was leaving behind. Although David made a serious mistake in breaking God’s law, he revealed what was truly in his heart by sincerely repenting and throwing himself on God’s mercy.​—Psalm 51.

God’s favorable view of those men is in accord with his reasonable expectations for imperfect humans. God “well knows how we are formed, remembering that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14) So, if God knows we cannot avoid making mistakes, what does he expect of us?

HOW CAN IMPERFECT HUMANS PLEASE GOD?

David’s counsel to his son Solomon gives us the key to how we can please God. “You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a complete heart.” (1 Chronicles 28:9) What is a complete heart? It is a heart that loves God and is resolved to be sensitive to his will and requirements. It is not a heart that is perfect, but it is one that yearns to serve God obediently and is willing to be corrected. Love of God and a desire to be obedient marked Job as “blameless,” Lot as “righteous,” and David as “doing only what was right” in God’s eyes. Although they made mistakes, they were able to please God.

So if we have bad thoughts that we wish had not come into our mind or say something we are ashamed of or do things that we later realize are wrong, let us take courage from the examples just discussed. God knows perfection is beyond our reach at this time. He does, however, expect us to love him and to strive for obedience. If we have a complete heart in this regard, we can be confident that we can please God too.

How were hand mills used in ancient times?

Hand mills were used to grind grain into flour to make bread. Use of such mills was a daily chore for the women or the servants of virtually every household. The sound of grinding was associated with everyday life in ancient times.​—Exodus 11:5; Jeremiah 25:10.

Artifacts from ancient Egypt illustrate the process. Grain was placed on a slightly concave, horizontal stone surface, sometimes called a saddle-quern. The grinder knelt in front of the fixed quern while grasping with both hands a smaller grinding stone, or rider, which was moved back and forth over the horizontal surface to grind the grain. According to one source, such riders typically weighed between four and nine pounds (2 and 4 kg). If used as a weapon, such a stone could be deadly.​—Judges 9:50-54.

Grinding cereals was so essential to a family’s well-being that a Biblical law forbade seizure of a millstone as a pledge. “No one should seize a hand mill or its upper millstone as security for a loan, for that would be taking someone’s livelihood as security,” states Deuteronomy 24:6.

To what does the expression “bosom position” refer?

The Bible says that Jesus is “in the bosom position with the Father.” (John 1:18, footnote) This expression refers to the particular closeness and favor that Jesus has with God. These words allude to the custom that the Jews followed when dining.

In Jesus’ day, the Jews reclined on couches arranged around the dinner table. Each diner’s head was positioned toward the table and his feet away from it, while he supported himself on a cushion with his left elbow. This posture allowed his right arm to remain free. Since the diners all lay on their left side, one beside the other, “the head of one man was near the breast of the man who lay behind him,” explains one source, “and he was, therefore, said ‘to lie in the bosom’ of the other.”

To lie in the bosom of the head of a family or of the host of a feast was considered to be a special honor or privilege. Hence, at Jesus’ last Passover, it was “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” the apostle John, who lay in Jesus’ bosom. John could thus ‘lean back on Jesus’ chest’ to ask him a question.​—John 13:23-25; 21:20.

Where does evil come from?

Normally, people want to be peaceable, honest, and kind. Why, then, do we often see violence, injustice, and cruelty? Horrific news reports are common. Is there someone trying to make people act badly?​—Read 1 John 5:19.

Did God make humans with an evil tendency? No, Jehovah God created humans in his image, with a tendency to imitate God’s love. (Genesis 1:27; Job 34:10) But God also dignified humans with free choice. When our first parents chose to act badly, they rejected God’s example and became imperfect. We inherited the tendency to sin from them.​—Read Deuteronomy 32:4, 5.

Will we always have evil?

God wants us to resist our bad tendencies. (Proverbs 27:11) So he teaches us how to avoid doing wrong and how to find real happiness. At present, though, we cannot imitate God’s love perfectly.​—Read Psalm 32:8.

Although evil abounds now, God is permitting it for a limited time to allow all to see its sad consequences. (2 Peter 3:7-9) Soon, however, the earth will be filled with happy people who obey God.​—Read Psalm 37:9-11.