Tendency Toward Anxiety

 

Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, I will also help you,

I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10 NASB

We can become anxious about all sorts of things. We worry about future events, we fear dreadful outcomes, and anxiety grows like weeds in our hearts and minds choking out hope, faith, courage, and trust in a future that is in God’s hands.

There is the run of the mill anxiety described above, then there is a chemical, biological anxiety that is driven from something within us. This latter type of anxiety runs in my family. I have one relative whose doctor told them that they were the most nervous person the doctor had ever met in his life. I’ve noticed that depending upon the state of my physical health my anxiety increases or decreases. The type of anxiety I experience is not tied to anything in particular, but is “free-floating”. It is anxiety looking for a place to land, something to latch onto. This generalized anxiety is a constant challenge. I have to guard against it and recognize it for what it is and not let it carry me away when circumstances are ideal for it to thrive in my thinking.

But we all experience anxiety. And we all can face it with courage with God’s help and guidance.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 NASB

I wish that I had a list of all the things that I have been anxious about throughout my life. I guarantee you that 99% of the things I have been anxious about either never came to fruition, or worked out ultimately to my benefit. I’m sure you could say the same thing. In the end, anxiety producing events in our life work to our good as we overcome obstacles and watch again and again how God takes our anxious events and turns them to our good.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB

Everyday brings opportunities for good along with challenges our way. We can give in to fear and anxiety when problems and difficulties arise, or we can trust that God will bring us through with victory over our hardships and leave blessings in the wake of all our worry. 

We live with one thing always within our power: choice. We can choose to believe and trust God, or we can allow anxiety to have its way with us and make us miserable. Let’s choose faith and trust over fear and anxiety.

We may not be able to help how we feel. But we need not let feelings drive our choices and decisions and attitudes. For if we will only remember a fraction of the times God has taken care of our events and circumstances we can go forward with confidence knowing that God is not limited by our weaknesses. We are lifted up by His strength as we rely upon Him in faith trusting all outcomes to the Lord’s will for us.

Prayer: Dear Lord, anxiety abounds in this world, and we are prone to it, nevertheless as we give our fear and anxiety to You we can trust that our outcomes will be good no matter the circumstances each day brings our way. Thank You Lord for giving us help and strength in time of our need. Amen.

What's So Good About Good Friday?

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Luke 23:33

One tradition says that Good Friday got its name from “God’s Friday”. When I think of Good Friday I think about Jesus’s suffering and death and at first glance there seems nothing good about it for our Lord.  Yet because of Him and what He endured on that cross for us it was definitely our Good Friday.

There are portions of the Bible that are difficult to read. The endless genealogies in the Old Testament, and all the detailed rules for setting up the temple with its numerous regulations. Yet for me, the hardest part of the Bible to read is about the suffering, humiliation, and undeserved death of our Lord and Savior Jesus.

I remember when Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ movie was first released. Every Christian felt almost duty bound to go and see it. The movie was probably the most accurate representation of our Savior’s crucifixion ever to be seen on the big screen. It was detailed, and absolutely horrible and painful to watch. To this day I have only watched it a couple of times because of how it represents our Lord’s suffering and death with such painful attention to detail regarding what Jesus endured.

The suffering and crucifixion of Jesus would be horrible to read about and think about if not for the fact it took His death on that cross to cleanse us of our sins and make a pathway for our entry into heaven. We have the hope of our own resurrection thanks to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Thank God that the story of Jesus did not end with a horrible death on a cross but with an empty tomb and a Risen Lord sitting at God’s right hand in heaven. He paved the way for our redemption through the horrible things He suffered on our behalf.

While we feel grief remembering that terrible death on a cross, out of what seemed a tragic event came something good beyond words. Life Everlasting was granted to us by the sacrificial death of Jesus. The Good News in its essence is that Jesus died for us so that we can be Saved through His loving sacrifice. Without Him we would be left in darkness to pay for our own sins and without that Good Friday we have nothing good to hope in or look forward to. The darkness that covered the land on the day of His death would have been an eternal darkness for us without Him.  Yes, Good Friday is Good.  It is Good because of all that it encompasses, including everything that came afterward.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, it will take an eternity of praising You for all that You have done for us. It is almost beyond our comprehension to take in all that You suffered and endured for our salvation. While it is painful to think about Your suffering and death for us, we are so grateful that You were willing to go to the cross to save us. We praise You for it Lord, and forever will do so. Amen.