Our dog is massive. He is part Great Dane, part Saint Bernard, and all lap dog. Fittingly, his name is Samson. His biblical namesake is the well-known, long-haired strongman judge of the Old Testament, but size is where their similarities end. While our Samson looks intimidating and has a bark that would scare the toughest of folks, the truth is he’s a big baby. Samson is afraid of everything. If it’s just our family at home, he’s a goofball, fully expecting to be snuggled at all times. He even loves to have his giant head held in my arms the way I’d hold a baby. Yet when a new person comes to the house or we go for a walk, he becomes the most terrified beast. Note: not terrifying, but terrified. When we go for walks, Samson hates curves on the trails because he can’t see what’s coming down the path. When someone comes to the house, he barks at them while hiding behind me. He literally quakes with fear if he doesn’t know what’s going on. Our dog trainer once called him insecure. I call him anxious.

Samson has gotten better over time. This is largely because as he grows, he comes to understand more and more that he is safe with us. When he knows he is safe, he has no need to be anxious, afraid or insecure. In Psalm 23, the Shepherd leads His sheep to green pastures and still waters, where rest and restoration are found. This is not because of anything the sheep do other than choosing to follow and trust the Shepherd. The protection of the sheep is not the concern of the sheep, but the concern of the Shepherd. The sheep can rest because they know they are safe. Anxiety, stress and worry are exhausting. It requires us to constantly be on alert, waiting for the next bad thing to happen. It’s mentally and emotionally wearing. It’s also physically rough as our bodies carry tension, and our stomach and skin respond to a nervous system in turmoil. We are so desperately in need of rest, but we cannot receive it until we accept that we are safe. We are safe not because of our own efforts in protecting ourselves, but because we trust our Shepherd.

The Lord is our Shepherd. The more time spent with the Shepherd, the more we come to trust His deep care of us. This does not mean that hard things no longer happen. It does not mean that we won’t experience trials and suffering in the world. Rather, we can go through those things without anxiety or the weight of the world resting on our shoulders. In our identity as sheep of the Shepherd, as children of God, we know that things of this world are temporary, that we are more than enough because of Jesus Christ, and that where we are weak, He is strong. The trials still come, but we move through them with a sense of peace, even joy, because our safety is secured in Him.

Engage

• What anxiety, stress or worry are you carrying today?
• Spend some time asking the Good Shepherd to teach you about the safety found in Him.
• What does it look like for you to live out of a place of security, free of anxiety?

Supporting Scripture

“He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams” (Psalm 23:2).

Photo: Getty Images | This article was originally titled “Samson the Anxious” in the September 2026 issue of The War Cry.