When You Feel Anxious, Alone, and Afraid

When You Feel Anxious, Alone, and Afraid

Scripture References

Primary text

• Psalm 9:9-10

Other references

• Psalm 22:19
• Psalm 31:5
• Psalm 65:5
• Psalm 75:1
• Psalm 86:5
• Psalm 118:28-29

Overview

Life has been up-ended—jobs lost, shelves empty, retirement accounts shrinking, tension everywhere. Craig Groeschel takes us to the Psalms to show that trust isn’t a vague sentiment; it’s rooted in knowing God’s name and character. Each text unveils a different facet of who God is so that in weakness, uncertainty, or isolation we can say with confidence, “You are my God,” and rest in His strength, faithfulness, hope, nearness, goodness, forgiveness, and love.

Context

Preaching to a nearly empty room during pandemic social-distancing, Groeschel names the collective disorientation: cancelled events, worried parents, unstable finances, sickness, and fear. The message is tailored for anyone battling anxiety, loneliness, or dread.

Main Points

“Those who know Your name trust in You” (Psalm 9:9-10)

• Trust flows from relationship; you rarely trust someone you don’t know.
• What you call a person reveals the intimacy of the relationship (e.g., telemarketers mispronounce “Groeschel”; close friends say “Groesch”; six children alone say “Daddy”).
• Likewise, what you call God shows how well you know Him—He is not “the big guy upstairs” but a personal Father.

“Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.”

God, You Are My Strength (Psalm 22:19)

• When you’re at the end of yourself, His power begins.

• Illustration: Bench-pressing a 45-lb bar after burnout sets—Groeschel quits; his spotter keeps lifting, showing how God carries us when our arms give out.

• Every weakness is an invitation to experience divine strength.

God, You Are Faithful (Psalm 31:5)

• People, circumstances, even self will fail, but God’s faithfulness never does.
• Paul reminds us: even when we are faithless, He remains faithful—He cannot disown Himself.

God, You Are My Hope (Psalm 65:5)

• Hope is not in economies, governments, or medicine but in the Creator who spoke galaxies into being.
• Isaiah’s promise: those who hope in the Lord renew their strength and soar like eagles.

God, You Are Near (Psalm 75:1)

• James: draw near to God and He will draw near to you—every time.
• In isolation or quarantine, the Holy Spirit’s presence is immediate and constant.

God, You Are So Good, Forgiving, and Loving (Psalm 86:5)

• “God is good all the time—and all the time, God is good,” even when life is painful.
• He is “so ready” to forgive; confession opens floodgates of mercy.

• Story: Funeral of a 40-something father—congregation still declares God’s goodness, illustrating anchored faith amid grief.

• Nothing can make God love you more, and nothing can make Him love you less; love is His very nature.

Make It Personal: “You Are MY God” (Psalm 118:28-29)

• Groeschel’s college spiral: addiction, arrest, and shame—until a Gideon Bible introduced him to a God who became “my God.”
• Salvation is not inherited; each person must turn from sin and call on Jesus’ name.

“You are my God, and I will praise You… Your faithful love endures forever.”

Key Truths

• Trust grows as we learn God’s names and experience His character.
• Weakness is the doorway to God’s strength.
• God’s faithfulness is unaltered by human instability.
• Hope anchored in God outlasts every economic or physical storm.
• God’s goodness and readiness to forgive are greater than our worst failures.

Response

• Call God by the names Scripture reveals this week; speak them out loud.
• When anxiety rises, hand God your weakness and consciously receive His strength.
• Replace doom-scrolling with reading Psalms that declare His faithfulness.
• Confess any known sin immediately, trusting His eager forgiveness.
• Share a personal testimony of God’s goodness to encourage someone isolated or afraid.

Closing

The antidote to anxiety is not a cliché—“just trust God”—but a real relationship with the God whose very names testify to His power, faithfulness, hope, nearness, and love. When you know Him like that, you can say in any crisis,

“You are my God.”
And because He is good all the time, you can lift your hands—even while waiting—and worship.

Prayer

Groeschel led listeners in two prayers: one for believers to deepen trust, and a salvation prayer for those making God their God. He thanked God for His attributes, asked for peace that surpasses understanding, confessed sin, and declared trust in Jesus as Savior, inviting the Spirit’s power to make every believer a “faith-spreader, love-giver, and hope-dealer.”