ANXIETY

WINSDAY WISDOM Session 40

(I borrowed this Winsday intro idea from my pastor, Tim Gibson.)

We have a young Boxer dog named Jada. She has worked her way into my heart only because she falls into the Love first and Love most challenge group. This hyper canine has maxed out my tolerance scale.

She has one quality fairly common with most dogs. Anxiety! She becomes highly anxious about sounds, silence, visitors, and solitary confinement. She has exceptional hearing. Every noise makes her jump. She paces in fear. She whines with every need which is a good way of communication. But she also whines just to annoy me.

Jada is depressed when we leave her alone. She becomes full of anxiety just watching us prepare to leave. Her life is best when everything stays the same.

We humans are very similar. We are more comfortable with the routine. We can become anxious at the drop of a pin. We fear the unknown and the unexpected. The possibility of anything that changes our sense of “normal” fuels our fears.

We imagine the worse. It robs us of peace. We exchange the pleasant moment to buy shares in future fears. Most fears never come to fruition. They dissipate faster than stock market gains.

Unexpected news or anticipated fears can cause us to pace through the day and lose sleep through the night. We jettison joy. We forfeit peace.

We feel anxious! Anxiety is the mind and body’s reaction to stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. It arrives with a sense of uneasiness, distress, or dread you feel before a significant event which may or may not happen.

I am sure you are aware of how anxiety feels without this description.

The siren sounds. The clock is ticking. The kids are crying. The relatives are coming. The stove is smoking. The crowd is bigger. The clouds are darker. The bank account is empty. The medical report is pending. The choices are confusing. The deadline is looming. The spouse is waiting.

And all that happens while you try to decide what to order from the restaurant menu.

Most life events cause pressure.

You feel nervous. Your heart races. You hyperventilate. A full panic attack leaves you numb, unable to concentrate, paralyzed in thoughts and actions.

What causes anxiety? Anything! Everything!

Changing circumstances. Health issues. Loved ones. Unloved ones. Possibilities. Impossibilities. We all get anxious. Maybe through different causes or for different amounts of time, but we all battle anxiety.

That is why the #1 Textbook encourages us not to be anxious. Do not be anxious about anything…God has given you peace for every situation and every future event. Do not be afraid.

Why? We have hope. Hope: the confident certainty that we will experience all the goodness and joy God has promised…somehow…someway…sometime. Guaranteed.

Why do we have hope? We have a God who loves us. We have a God who controls all events for our ultimate good. We have a God who cannot lie. We have a God who encourages us to cast our anxiety on Him, and He will take care of us.

“For we are all dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending” (Herman Melville, Moby-Dick). Does that describe how you feel?

The great heroes of faith in the #1 Textbook battled anxiety. The future frightened them. They were flawed and broken. They fell and failed. They paced and lost peace. They became weak and depressed. They were restless and sleepless.

Somehow, they found hope. That same hope is available to each of us. We remember them because they faced their anxiety and fears with faith, hope, and love.

In order to learn how to avoid anxiety, we must first know the feeling of anxiety and identify what brought it on. It can paralyze us if we do not move past it. Hope can push us past our anxious thoughts into the realm of peace.

Learn to preach to yourself the truth about God and your circumstances. We spend too much time listening to ourselves thinking anxious thoughts. Worry and anxiety do nothing to help. They find their origin in “uncertainty.” They do not change any of our circumstances or our life’s quality or its longevity.

Anxiety is not sinful; it is natural, just like fear and worry. Uncertainty is connected to distrust of God. The antidote is faith in God. God loves you and controls all things for your ultimate good. Strengthening your faith is part of His plan.

“Lift up your eyes to the mountains. You will see your help on the horizon. Your help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He still controls everything in it” (#1 Textbook).

Trust in God is the best way to cope with anxiety. TRUST IS A LEARNED HABIT.

“God plans everything for your good” (#1 Textbook). We prefer the routine. However, change is part of God’s plan.

Anxiety does not go away because someone suggests that you stop being anxious. But you can learn how to better deal with it. For example, it still gets dark. That never changes. But you learn how to turn on a light. In the same way, you can learn how to turn on the light of faith which dispels anxiety.

What can you do to learn to preach to yourself about the antidote to anxiety?

1. Read the #1 Textbook and observe how the examples of faith struggled with anxiety and overcame fear and anxiety through trust in God.
2. Watch the birds. I was recently reminded to trust in God by a sparrow on my fence. Last week, I drove down the street and observed thousands and thousands of blackbirds sitting on the overhead wires. Not one of them was worried about the future. Who takes care of them all? The same God who says that you are more valuable than all of those birds.
3. Do some stargazing. There are more stars in the universe than all the grains of sand on earthly beaches. More than all the words ever spoken by man or woman since the time of Adam and Eve until the latest newborn. God knows every star by name. The God who created, controls, and names every star loves you. That is an awesome thought! You are of more value than all the galaxies in this universe.

Routine can be comfortable. Change is real and will interrupt your routine. Most of the unknown and unexpected will never happen. But that does not stop us from battling anxiety.

Give yourself a break from anxiety today. Trust God. He knows and controls what is about to happen. God loves you. God is with you and for you. That is a certainty.

I encourage you to throw your anxiety into the wastebasket. Let the city crew take your anxiety trash to the dump. You really do not have to pick up the anxiety litter.

Go look at the #1 Textbook. Look at the birds. Look at the stars and tell yourself that everything is going to turn out OK. I did not say that. God did!