Change is at the heart of most of our anxiety. Something was moved, something was adjusted, something changed. But, the one constant in life is… change. So we become anxious of our relationships. We become anxious about our health. We become anxious at our place of work. We become anxious of our place in life. We become anxious of our finances. We become anxious of our future. I guess you get the point? We are easily anxious. Although, no one would admit it. It seems to be a Christian faux-pa to speak of stress. “I’m stressed out“, goes through our heads nearly on a daily basis, but you cannot get some people to admit it. All the signs are there, they look the part, act the part, speak the part, but they will not admit it. Are you stressed? “Nope, I’m fine“. What has happened to us that we cannot admit it when we have a problem we cannot solve? Giving the benefit of the doubt, we could conclude that some may do this out of a deeper sense of anxiety toward God. Maybe they simply believe it is a lack of faith if they admit. To the contrary, we are demonstrating a lack of faith when we do not admit it. Did you know that is what church is for? It should be a place for you to talk to someone, get encouragement, and more importantly, get some equipping help. For the actual answers to this specific problem of anxiety I will refer you to Philippians 4.6-9:
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
Everyone suffers from anxiety to some degree. It seems to be more and more debilitating as we go. In fact, I believe it to be the leading cause of disobedience within churches today. People know to do what is impactful (ie. fellowships and connections); but do not fulfill it due to their anxiety mechanism kicking in. For something so prevalent, there must be a prescription.
God’s Anxiolytic (anti-anxiety prescription)
First let’s agree that most every believer wants verse 7— “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” To have their heart and mind kept by Christ. In other words— guard (grk. phrourēsei) our minds. It would be nice for someone to stand guard and set up a perimeter around our hearts and minds— protecting them from negative thoughts, ill feelings, and fleshly control. Good news! We do! He is the Holy Spirit. This happened at the point of salvation, which is why the verse says “through Christ.” Through Him we have a victorious-guard called the Spirit of God in us. However, just because there is a guard, doesn’t mean we listen or allow Him to carry out His duties. We have a free-will to say no and to ignore His advances.
What should come with this guard? Just as Love for each other separates us from the World… how we handle difficulties also shows our Lord’s power in us. A peace that is unmistakably from God. We are to be known as a “people of peace” because of our peace of mind and peace in distress (Matthew 5.9). This should become automatic, because verse 9 continues— “…the God of peace shall be with you.” We shouldn’t live like we are comfortless or miserable because He is there. The God of peace is with us and in us. Someone may be thinking— “Uummm…it doesn’t always work that way.” True! Let’s get into that directly…
By percentage, how much of the time do you over-think, justify, worry, fret, escape, or flat out deny the anxiety welling up in you? _________. Notice Paul said: “hearts and minds.” The stress usually originates in our mind. We convince ourselves, talk ourselves out of it, dream-up notions, ponder, worry, stress… then anxiety takes hold. This in turn infects our hearts with distrust, bitterness, anger, discontentment, and yes even depression. This is not God’s will for you AT ALL! God said here “He… shall keep.” He promises to hold on to you, bind you and protect you, and bonus; He cannot lie. God has got a grip on you and cannot let go. God has got this! As stated earlier this is “…through Christ…”. So Jesus has a plan, in fact it’s more like a formula. Notice again in verse 7— “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep…” The “and” connects the verses together in a conditional clause. Verse 7 comes naturally and automatically, if you follow the formula in verse 6. If you want to begin the process of eradicating the effects of anxiety you should practice the formula in verse 6— “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Simple formula: Don’t do this… Do that.
What should we worry about? nothing
What should we pray about? everything
I will admit that this blog post today is something I use in counseling, disicpleship, and with my own family. It has made me a happier person. I can also tell you that after all of that experience I can almost see the expression on your face as you read this… How in the world can I worry about nothing and pray about everything? I am glad you asked! This was a NT practice that has escaped Christians today. Look at 2 verses with me for clarity. 2 Corinthians 10.5— “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” Every thought? That’s a lot of prayer! Yes it is. Our prayer life of 2,4, or 10 prayers a day aren’t cutting it! That is why 1 Thessalonians 5.17 says— “Pray without ceasing.” What should we worry about? nothing. What should we pray about? everything.
Everyone’s mind tends to dwell on things, which infects the heart. If you dwell on the situation, person, circumstance, etc.— it will inadvertently turn negative. We inadvertently become ungrateful for what He does everyday and only focus on the things in front of us with a slanted point of view. So we pray— with thanksgiving.
According to verse 8 God has surrounded you with: truth, honesty, justice, purity, love, good reports, things that stir virtue, and praise. Dwell or, “think on these things”. Have you noticed though, that everything that is… true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report; that is full of virtue and praise— are all in and of God? So we should be dwelling on Him! Yes! Just as Matthew 6.33 says, “seek ye first the kingdom of God,” Matthew 6 then says—“and all these things shall be added unto you.” What things? Jesus said in Matthew 6 it is the very things we normally dwell on/stress over: provisions, housing, clothing, shelter, people. Instead, dwell on Him and He will take care of these things. It is hard to focus on other things, when you are in a conversation with someone, unless your relationship isn’t that great. Having this constant contact and conversation with God about every negative feeling, thought, worry, and stress— allows for a deeper relationship.
Everyone has a choice to make in verse 9— “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
Do— It is not enough that you learn your Bible; it is not enough that you have received or sat to hear truth; it is not enough that you have seen it modeled by other Christians; You have to obey it! When you do not put into practice what you have been taught; walk in the Spirit; continue your walk of faith; be led of the Spirit— you are a sitting duck! Too many believers have made themselves immobile targets. You have stopped and allowed the enemy to “get a bead on you.” It is not enough then, that you learn this formula—you have to DO IT!
Make this a new habit and eventually stress and anxiety will not have the stronghold on you that it does now. Take God’s prescription for your anxiety.
Again: What should we worry about? nothing. What should we pray about? everything.
One thought on “God’s Anxiolytic”
There is truth and power in Gods Word. We talked about these very verses of scripture in our discipleship concepts a few weeks back. I immediately thought about my need to cast down and bring my thoughts into the submission of Jesus Christ. I thought about the combat veterans that take their own lives every year. They succumb to the thoughts. Memories turn into imagination, guilt turns into despair. So many people need to hear and do. As Christians we can have victory through Jesus if we would cast down imaginations and take captive every thought into the submission of Jesus, and set our minds on Him. This has been instrumental in my walk. Thanks for sharing, and God bless!