I hugged my mom goodbye and walked through the airport doors, tears brimming in my eyes.
I took a deep breath, tugged my suitcase along, and repeated a simple verse over and over—it was God’s provision to me for that day, to help quell the anxiety that felt so close.
It was the last time I’d see my mom for over a year.
I was heading to Lebanon for an extended stay—to build my life there—and I was leaving all that was familiar behind me.
For an anxiety-prone person like myself, familiar is safe; unfamiliar is risk.
Anxiety has been a companion my whole life. I know the familiar tightening around my heart, the pit that pushes down in my stomach. I know anxiety.
I was the anxious little girl who couldn’t sleep, the anxious college student who felt insecure and unsure how to make new friends, and now the anxious adult who sometimes feels like the weight she carries is simply too much.
So how does an anxiety-prone girl step from all that’s familiar into the unfamiliar?
She has the Word of God in her heart and on her lips.
Thankfully, the Bible has many passages about anxiety and fear, how God helps us, fights for us, and comforts us with his presence.
But that day, I wasn’t rehearsing a well-known passage about anxiety.
I was rehearsing a small, quiet verse nestled in the Psalms. It’s the verse that helps soothe my anxiety the most:
“All my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.” Psalms 139:16 HCSB
In this single sentence, I find one of the most precious truths for my anxious mind to cling to.
God’s Word says He’s already planned all of my days.
If God has already planned all of my days, then He knows what each of them will hold. For God, there’s no such thing as an unknown future.
Before I ever took my first breath, God knew when I’d take my last breath, and He knew every breath in between.
If all of my days are already written for me, then that includes this day, too. And it includes tomorrow. And next week.
God knows you have an important doctor's appointment next week; it’s in His book.
God knows you have that interview tomorrow; it’s in His book.
God knows you have a to-do list that feels like it’s crushing you; it’s in His book.
And if He knows what your tomorrow holds, He knows what you’ll need tomorrow.
Trust God to be what you need—to be your peace, be your comfort, and be your safe place.
Jesus teaches us to pray, “give us today our daily bread (Mt 6:11).”
He gives us our bread for today, not for tomorrow. Trust that when tomorrow becomes today, you’ll have what you need.
That day, I needed a tearful hug with my mamma. I needed kind gate agents in the airport. I needed soft music to accompany me as the plane lifted off and up and away.
I needed all of those things without even knowing I’d need them.
But God knew. He already knew exactly what that day would hold for me and knew what I’d need every step of the way.
That day was five years ago now. There have been many plane rides, tears, plans, and breaths between that day and now.
There have been hard days I could never have prepared or planned for. There have been beautiful days greater than anything I could have asked or imagined.
And all the while, this remains true: God meets me each day, providing what I need.
Providing peace in the midst of receiving hard news. Providing courage when I need to have a difficult conversation. Giving grace when I mess up.
I still know anxiety. I’m still tempted to search for certainty and think through all possible scenarios, just in case.
Yet ever so gently, still, God brings me back to Psalm 139 and the reminder that He knows what’s ahead.
If you’re prone to anxiety, you’re not alone.
What fears are you holding about the future? What is causing you anxiety on this day, at this moment?
Remember Who planned this day. This day doesn't hold anything that God isn’t aware of. There’s nothing unfamiliar to God about you or about the day that stretches ahead of you.
“Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up…You are aware of all my ways. All my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.” Psalm 139:1-3, 16 HCSB
this article was originally published on Saturday SOULfood by Living by Design Ministries