I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

Psalm 121 is a strong reminder of God as the source of our strength, our help, protector and provider. It's a comforting psalm, a reassuring psalm, but what if you still struggle with anxiety?

What if you want to trust God, but find the hills around you too scary? What if any change in your life leads you to persistent discomfort and overwhelming fear?

As Christianity Today writer Laura Ortberg Turner shares from her experience:

Change of any significance has always been hard for me. Every year growing up I dreaded the first day of school, far beyond what felt like the "normal" mourning that summer was over. Going away to college was physically wrenching—I spent the first week unable to eat, convinced that I would never be as content as the hordes of new best friends I was surrounded by. While everyone around me sailed through the first few days, I cried myself to sleep and constantly warred with the nervous feeling in my stomach.

Dealing with this high-level anxiety for her entire life, Laura was encouraged as she read a book: The Anxious Christian: Can God Use your Anxiety for Good? by Rhett Smith.The thought of God using her anxiety for good had never crossed her mind. Never once did she think that it might be a tool that God was using to point her to something more. Something missing.In his book, Rhett Smith compares anxiety to a dashboard light on a car. It tells you something is up and if you don't pay attention to the light, you risk ending up stranded or in an accident. Rhett says,

Anxiety is like that dashboard light in our live that says 'Hey, pay attention to me! something is stirring under the surface and it needs to be faced.' So rather than dismiss anxiety as pointless, I think that it’s point is exactly to face our fears in life and in the process move us into a more intimate relationship with Christ.

When I feel fear, I can allow God's good grace to draw me to him and be reminded of his sufficiency in all things. I don't need to draw a direct connection between my spiritual health and my experience of anxiety when I trust God to use my anxiety for good.

Are you having difficulty trusting God on a regular basis? Instead of feeling shame in your inabilities, let it drive you to the One who is perfectly able... even if you have to do it over, and over and over again. Look to the hills, God is where your help comes from.