DIY: Finding Peace in an Anxious World

What is a DIY Study?
DIY studies are interactive Bible studies designed to help you build an engaging relationship with God. These studies will teach you to use various tools like podcasts and videos to engage with the Bible in a way that best fits your learning style.

These studies were originally created for teens, but can be helpful for anyone. Click here for a printable version of this study.

This is a study on how to stay calm and be at peace even when life gets crazy.

Whether school is stressing you out, you feel anxious about the future, or you have conflict in relationships with friends or family that you’re afraid to deal with, God wants to be a place of refuge even in the midst of chaos. He wants to be the calm in the storm. This study looks at the story of Jesus calming the storm for his disciples.

Watch this

Watch this video to get a visual summary of the story you will be reading.

Watch this: “The Stress Test”

This video is an example of what it feels and looks like when we’re stressed out. Our heart races, we become focused on how we look and how others perceive us, and we don’t always know how to react. How would you react if you were in this scenario?

Listen

Listen to the song “breathin” by Ariana Grande. Pay attention to the lyrics and think about how you relate to them.

Feel my blood runnin’, swear the sky’s fallin’
How do I know if this is fabricated?
Time goes by and I can’t control my mind
Don’t know what else to try, but you tell me every time
Just keep breathin’ and breathin’ and breathin’ and breathin’
And oh, I gotta keep, keep on breathin’

“breathin” by Ariana Grande

Think about it

• When was a time you felt like the “sky was fallin”? (overwhelmed with school, fear of what friends think, anxious about future)
• How often do you feel like the “sky is fallin’”? Why?
• God can be the voice that reminds us to breathe and help us get through the roughest storm.

Read

Teacher’s note: read these verses like you’re telling a story!

“That day, at evening, Jesus said to his followers, “Come with me across the lake.” So they left the crowd behind and went with Jesus in the boat he was already in. There were also other boats that went with them. A very bad wind came up on the lake. The waves were coming over the sides and into the boat, and it was almost full of water. Jesus was inside the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The followers went and woke him. They said, “Teacher, don’t you care about us? We are going to drown!”

Jesus stood up and gave a command to the wind and the water. He said, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and the lake became calm. He said to his followers, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

They were very afraid and asked each other, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the water obey him!”

Mark 4:35-41 ERV

Key questions

• What are the storms in your life?
• When you’re in a storm, how do you react?
• Do you get angry at God or people, try to escape, or shut down?

Think about it

• When the disciples were in the storm, they thought God didn’t care about them or the fact that they were drowning.
• Jesus showed them that He did care, and was actually the solution to the fear and anxiety they were feeling.
• When we turn to God in the middle of the storm, He can bring us the calm and peace that we want!

Write about it

• What does it feel like when you are in the storms in your life? You can write a poem, song, spoken word, or even just use bullet points. Use this emotions chart to help you when you feel stuck.
• If writing is difficult for you, you can draw out what you feel instead.

Review or reflect

• Write out what it feels like to be calm, and what you imagine the “refuge” that God is can feel and look like. You can write a poem, song, spoken word, or even just use bullet points. Use this emotions chart to help you when you feel stuck.
• If writing is difficult for you, you can draw out what you feel instead.

Listen

How to start praying

The T.R.U.E. Prayer is an acronym that can help you start learning to pray:

• T = Thanksgiving
• R = Requests/Needs
• U = Uncovering Sin
• E = Emotions

Teacher’s note: take time together to show how to pray the T.R.U.E. Prayer.

For further study

Bible study

• Read the rest of the book of Mark. Try an audio Bible or a paper Bible with a translation you like.
• Psalm 27:4-5 MSG
• Philippians 4:6-7 ERV
• 1 Peter 5:6-7 TPT

Take action

• Pray about what you feel about the storms in your life
• Find Scriptures about how God helps you be calm and pray about how you feel about them
  You can look up keywords on BibleGateway or other Bible search sites to find these Scriptures. (some keywords – calm, storm, anxious, afraid, refuge)
• Talk to a friend or family member about what you prayed about.
• Next time you’re in a storm, use the Scriptures you found to help you stay confident and calm through it. Take time to breathe and talk to or pray with a friend while you’re in it.
• Now that you have the tools you need, don’t run from the storm but take it on, resolving the issues you need to resolve in order to move forward through it.