Anxiety’s a real problem.  You see it in a scroll through social media, detect it in a chat with a neighbor, or feel it in your chest when you’re alone with your thoughts.

We’re told we should get rid of it as fast as possible, whether through spiritual means like “praying the anxiety away” or secular mental health tools like medication or therapy. Neither of these approaches work, but there’s a better – more biblical – way.

Recently, I participated in Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries’ the “Sanctuary Course” which is a study guide for small groups, designed to raise awareness and start conversations in local churches regarding mental health. I thought I’d share my segments of the episode in case it’s helpful for those of you who struggle with anxiety.  (To see the Sanctuary Course’s full course, click here. I’m featured in Episode 2.)

For more information about my approach to anxiety, please take my seven-session series for individuals and small groups called, “Anxiety as Opportunity for Spiritual Growth.” This series presents a surprising Gospel truth: that anxiety is a powerful opportunity to grow as followers of Jesus.

You will learn to encounter Jesus through your anxiety with the help of Scripture, physical practices, nature, prayer, and new self-understandings… and how to take spiritual advantage of your fears and worries.

We’re experiencing an anxiety epidemic, but it isn’t our enemy.

It’s an opportunity.

Curtis Chang is the Founder of Redeeming Babel.