By Carrie Brown McWhorter
The Alabama Baptist
The most shared, bookmarked and highlighted Bible verse of 2018 is a verse of reassurance and comfort, which doesn’t surprise those who provide help in troubling times.
According to the YouVersion Bible app, the most popular Bible verse of 2018 is Isaiah 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (NIV).
Lisa Keane, director of clinical counseling for Pathways Professional Counseling, said the verse’s popularity doesn’t surprise her. Research by the National Institutes for Health suggests that nearly 1 in 5 Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder, and people have an innate desire to be consoled, she said.
“God created us to want and need to feel safe. It’s one of the basic needs that Maslow discovered early on in psychology,” she said. “We need to feel safe before we can attend to other needs and tasks, and when we don’t feel safe or when we feel afraid, we search for safety and comfort.”
Comforting words
Isaiah 41:10 offers that, she said, so it makes sense that if people are searching online for comforting words, those from Scripture would be a good choice. Words like “don’t be afraid,” “I am with you” and “I will hold you up” offer peace in the tragedy of the nonstop news cycle, she said.
“Just this morning I was reading stories of great loss due to wild fires, of political angst around the world and of tragic losses of life in a senseless shooting. With headlines like these it can often feel like we are swimming in a sea of negative stories that inundate us with feelings of not being safe or that something terrible is going to happen to us any minute,” she said.
In October, John Thomas, associational mission strategist for Southeast Alabama Baptist Association (SABA), saw tragedy come to his corner of Alabama when Hurricane Michael’s fierce winds blew through the Wiregrass region. He has no doubt the words “do not be afraid” are needed by many believers and even unbelievers during the storms of life, whatever those might look like.
“Scripture speaks to that, that people cry out to God even though they may not know Him yet,” Thomas said. “There’s an inward thing in all of us to seek Him, to seek our Creator. This verse certainly speaks to people reaching out, looking for hope, looking for answers.”
Even those who are not sure about a personal relationship with Jesus might believe there’s a supreme being that offers strength in hard times, Thomas said.
“There’s some comfort, some kind of assurance in that,” he said. “And for the believer, there is reassurance. The world is in a mess, but there is hope.”
In a world where crisis and tragedy seem to be constants, believers have to think differently, Keane said.
“As believers we have to train our minds to focus on what is true and not just what we feel,” she said. “I may not feel safe in this world when I am flooded with images of unrest, natural disasters and death. But what I know to be truth is that God is in control. He is with me and upholds me even in the midst of certain anxiety.”
The ever-increasing use of apps like YouVersion, which has been installed on more than 350 million devices worldwide since its introduction 10 years ago and continues to see annual increases in Bible engagement through its various features, is a hopeful sign, Keane said.
“People are searching for truth, and as a counselor I find this encouraging that they are searching the Word of Truth,” she said.
“But it also tells me we are a people who are hurting and scared. We need to come alongside those who are anxious and help them find the truth from Isaiah too.”
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