From Narrowness to Peace: A Soul’s Journey Through Anxiety

Da’agah l'Bitachon – From Worry to Trust

There once was a soul whose heart felt tight—a heart that had forgotten how to breathe.

By all appearances, this person was faithful. They prayed. They kept the rhythms of tradition. They lit the candles on Shabbat and whispered blessings with trembling lips. They believed in God, the Holy One, who formed the stars and parted the sea. And yet... their soul was crowded with worry.

Every day began with a tangle of anxious thoughts.What if I fail? What if something happens? What if I'm not enough? Even prayers sometimes felt like fragile hopes lost in the wind.

They didn’t speak of it often.

After all, wasn’t faith supposed to feel stronger than this?

And yet, late one night, when the house was quiet and the world dim, they opened the worn pages of Tehillim, the Psalms. Their fingers landed on an old verse that shimmered like dew:

“From the narrow place I called to the Lord; He answered me with great expansiveness.”(Psalm 118:5)

Their eyes paused. From the narrow place...That’s where I am, they thought. Tight. Constricted. Meitzar.

The Hebrew word meitzar felt like a mirror—like it had been written for them. And then came the answer: “He answered me with merchav Yah.” With spaciousness, with room to breathe.

Their throat tightened—not with fear, but with recognition. It was okay to feel this way. Even David, the great king, had cried out from his narrowness.

That night, something shifted.

They reached for a notebook and wrote a simple prayer, barely able to finish through their tears:

“God, I’m afraid. But I’m calling to You from my narrow place. Meet me here.”

In the days that followed, they began to notice something new.

Not that the worries disappeared—but that something softer was rising to meet them in those moments. When the fear crept in, they whispered:

“Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.”(Psalm 55:23)

“When anxiety was great within me, Your consolations brought me joy.”(Psalm 94:19)

Sometimes they just breathed slowly, gently, saying:

Inhale: “God is with me.”Exhale: “I will not fear.”

(Psalm 118:6)

They learned to practice something called hitbodedut—speaking to God aloud, alone in the woods or in their room, as if talking to a friend. There, in the quiet, the racing thoughts had space to land. They poured it all out: the worries, the guilt, the longing to feel held.

And they began to understand something holy:Anxiety is not a sign of failure.

It’s an invitation.

An invitation to deeper connection.

To honesty with God.

To trust that doesn’t pretend, but leans in with trembling hands.

And then the Scriptures echoed the the truth:

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.”(Isaiah 41:10)

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”(Psalm 34:18)

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength.”(Isaiah 30:15)

Could it really be that simple?

They began to believe—maybe for the first time—that God did not expect perfection, but presence.

That bitachon, trust, was not a demand, but a gift.

A gift wrapped in compassion.

And slowly, like a flower turning to light, the tight places within began to open.

One evening, as the sun dipped below the hills and the sky turned gold, they sat in stillness, repeating words that had become their anchor:

“You are my hiding place; You protect me from distress. You surround me with songs of deliverance.”(Psalm 32:7)

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want... Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”(Psalm 23:1, 4)

They lit a candle—not out of ritual, but out of reverence—and whispered a prayer born of love:

“God,I trust You—not because I understand,but because You are good.Because You are here.”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”(Proverbs 3:5–6)

And in that moment, something holy and tender was revealed:Peace had not come through escape. It had come through presence.Through allowing God into the narrowness.

And now, when they feel anxiety rise, they do not run.They breathe.They pray.They remember: Da’agah (worry) becomes bitachon (trust) when we let God into the space between the letters.

And in that sacred space,God answers with merchav.With expansiveness.With love.With shalom.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.”(Isaiah 26:3)

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”(Numbers 6:24–26)