Silence in Chaos: Why Having Faith Doesn’t Make You Immune to Anxiety (And How to Find Real Peace)

by | Nov 27, 2025 | Foundations of Faith

By The Hearing Him Team Read Time: 10 minutes

You are at church. The lights are low, the band is playing that worship song about “resting in the Father’s arms.” You lift your hands, close your eyes, and sing. But inside, your stomach is in knots. Your mind is racing at 100 mph, running through the week’s to-do list, the difficult conversation you need to have with your boss, your bank balance, and your parents’ health.

You love Jesus. You believe the Bible. But if you’re honest, the physical sensation dominating your chest right now isn’t the “peace that passes all understanding.” It’s tightness. It’s chaos.

And then comes the guilt: “If I had real faith, I wouldn’t be anxious. What is wrong with me?”

Welcome to Phase 2 of the Hearing Him Project: Real Life. Today, we are going to defuse the anxiety bomb—not with bumper sticker slogans, but with the deep theology of the Cross. We will discover that the silence you are looking for isn’t the absence of problems, but the presence of Someone in the middle of the chaos.

The Elephant in the Room: Do Believers Get Anxious?

There is a cruel stigma in many churches that says anxiety is a “sin of unbelief.” We are told, “He who trusts does not worry.” While the intention is to encourage, the result is often crushing to those who are already suffering.

Let’s look at the Bible honestly. Elijah, the great prophet of fire, had a panic attack and asked to die under a broom tree (1 Kings 19). David, the man after God’s own heart, wrote psalms that are veritable screams of anguish: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” (Psalm 42:5).

And the supreme example: Jesus in Gethsemane. In Matthew 26:37-38, the Bible says Jesus began to be sorrowful and troubled. He said: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Luke reports that His anguish was such that His capillaries burst, and He sweated blood (hematidrosis).

If the Son of God Himself, in all His perfection, experienced the crushing pressure of emotional anguish over the future, who are we to say that “believers don’t get anxious”? Anxiety is a human reaction. Faith is not the vaccine that prevents anxiety from arriving; faith is the tool we use when it arrives.

Diagnosis: What is Spiritual Anxiety?

In the Hearing Him method, we define anxiety simply: Anxiety is the mind’s arrogant attempt to live tomorrow, today.

When we are anxious, we are trying to be God. We are trying to control future variables that do not belong to us.

  • “What if I get fired?”
  • “What if the medical test comes back positive?”
  • “What if I end up alone?”

The “What If” is the thief of peace. God is the God of the “I AM” (Present). Anxiety is the god of the “What If” (Imaginary Future). When you leave the “now,” you leave God’s grace zone. The manna in the desert fell only for today. Those who tried to store manna for the next day saw it rot. Anxiety is trying to eat tomorrow’s manna. And that rots our soul.

The “Silence in Chaos” Method: 3 Steps to Realign

In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul (who was writing from prison, a place of extreme chaos) gives us the roadmap:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Here is the practical strategy we developed in our E-book 6:

1. The Exchange (Petition vs. Worry)

Worry is a conversation you have with yourself about things you cannot solve. Prayer is a conversation with God about things He can solve. The first step of “Silence in Chaos” is to transform circular thinking into vertical thinking. Instead of thinking: “Everything is going to go wrong in the meeting,” speak out: “Father, the meeting is Yours. I don’t have control, but You do.” Verbalize it. Take it off your mind and put it on the table.

2. Gratitude as a Weapon of War

Paul says “with thanksgiving.” This seems illogical. Being thankful in the middle of a crisis? Gratitude is the neurological and spiritual antidote to fear. Fear focuses on what is missing. Gratitude focuses on what is present. When anxiety hits, stop everything and list 3 real things you are grateful for right now. “I am breathing. I am saved. I have a bed.” This forces your brain to exit survival mode and return to the reality of God’s goodness.

3. The Guard of Peace

The text says the peace of God will guard your hearts. The original Greek word is a military term: to stand sentry. God’s Peace isn’t a fuzzy feeling; it is an armed soldier at the door of your mind, preventing lies from entering. How do you activate this soldier? By the Frequency (which we learned in Phase 1). When you stop and listen to what God says about you, the scream of fear diminishes.

The Art of Letting Go (A Spoiler for the Next Step)

Often, our anxiety persists because we refuse to let go of control. We want God’s peace, but we also want God’s pen. We want to write the ending of the story ourselves.

The most powerful prayer against anxiety isn’t “Get me out of this problem,” but rather “Thy will be done.” This is what resolved Gethsemane. Jesus prayed, sweated, cried, but ended with: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” The moment He let go of control, the Bible says an angel came and strengthened Him.

Comfort comes after surrender. Silence in chaos doesn’t happen when the storm stops. It happens when you discover that Jesus is in the boat with you, and you hand Him the rudder.

Conclusion: Holy Monday

Tomorrow, when the alarm goes off and the reality of life comes knocking, you will have a choice. You can wake up and swallow the pill of fear, mentally running toward the week’s problems. Or you can apply Silence in Chaos.

Stop for 5 minutes. Breathe. Remember who you are (Identity). Hand over the day that hasn’t happened yet. And step into your routine not as a victim of circumstances, but as a son or daughter walking hand in hand with the Father.

Anxiety screams, but God whispers. Who will you listen to today?

This article is an introduction to Phase 2: Real Life. If you struggle to control your emotions and want practical tools to overcome fear, E-book 6 “Silence in Chaos” was written for you.

[I Want to Learn to Overcome Anxiety] | [START HERE]