In this series Modern Problems, Ancient Solutions, we’re examining some severe issues prevalent in current culture to see what the Bible has to say. Sometimes we look at problems and can be filled with fear because they seem like a new thing that never existed before. But truthfully, our problems are the same ones people have held for centuries, just dressed in new clothes.
As we dig into His Word, the ancient solutions we find answer everything we consider a modern problem. Jesus called himself the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). That means if I go by my way, I will get lost. If I go by my truth, I'm living a lie. And if I go by my own life, it leads to death. The only way I can know the way, the truth, and the life is through God's Word (see our blog on Bible verses about anxiety for more detail on this).
Idolatry: A Misplaced Connection
Currently, in our world, one of the biggest problems is idolatry. You and I have been created in the image of God to be connected to God. This is the purpose of our lives. We are supposed to reflect the look, sound, and ways of God. Idolatry is when we take the connection that is meant for God and plug it into some other power source. We give power to things not meant to have power, like money or sex.
The Wages of Sin
When we plug into something else, we no longer reflect the image of God. We reflect the image of the thing that we have plugged into. That misplaced connection is sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. We work for the things we’re plugged into. So if we’re plugged into a power source outside of God, we work for that thing, whether it’s power, money, lust, pride, or other issues.
And consequently, we receive a paycheck in exchange for that work. The compensation for sin is death. But when we are plugged into God and fulfill our vocation of connecting to Him, we don't receive wages. Instead, we receive a gift: eternal life.
Born for a Cause
Our culture works for sin, and sin enslaves you to whatever idol you worship. When you worship something outside of God, you build a whole system of morality and justice around that thing. Because we were born to live for the ultimate Cause, we are wired to fight for that Cause. But if our cause is misplaced, we’ll fight with the same passion that we should be fighting for God for something that has no life and future.
What is Anxiety?
I want to start by talking about the god of anxiety, but before I do, I want to highlight the distinction between anxiety and fear. Fear is a God-given biological response to imminent danger to protect us. So when there’s imminent danger, fear is not a bad thing.
However, anxiety is not about imminent danger; it’s a fixation on things that could happen. With anxiety, we rehearse scenarios in our heads. We wake up in the middle of the night thinking, “What if this happened?” The anxiety causes us to experience the same emotions we would as if that thing had already happened. For instance, we might have anxiety that a loved one may die and start feeling a deep sense of loss, even though they’re right next to us, alive, breathing, and well. Anxiety can cause physical responses like sweating, heart palpitations, and increased blood pressure. We experience identical emotions to trauma, but about something that’s not happened yet (and, if we’re honest, it may never happen due to its unrealistic nature).
Anxiety Vs. Anxiety Disorders
Our culture has amplified anxiety and made it more significant than it should be. And please don’t take that statement as an undervalue of the significance of anxiety. We all experience anxiety. But there’s a difference between regular anxiety and an anxiety disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety, and other clinical anxiety disorders are genuine conditions. And if you have a clinical anxiety disorder, seeking professional help through therapy and possibly medical intervention is essential. I am saying that every human can’t have anxiety at the disorder level. At that point, it wouldn’t be a disorder; it would be normality.
Anxiety Vs. Nervousness
On the other hand, we can’t just confuse anxiety with being nervous. One day I was walking through the lunchroom during lunch hour at the Christian school we have here at our church. I occasionally visit each table, talk with the kids while they’re having lunch, and break out corny jokes. I approached the cutest little kid, about seven years old, and said, “Hey buddy, how you doing?” He said, “I can’t!” I said, “What do you mean you can’t?” He said, “I can’t talk to you - I have anxiety!” Who told him he had anxiety? I replied, “I don’t think you have anxiety; I think you’re probably just slightly nervous.” Then I introduced myself and we had a conversation. But this is a perfect picture of confusing nervousness with anxiety.
Anxiety Vs. Positive Stress
Let’s not confuse anxiety with the natural, innate (not always negative) stress that goes along with big projects or undertakings. Challenging projects produce a certain type of stress that can be managed. Just like Jesus did in the garden, where He felt extreme stress and pressure, but said, “Not my will, but Yours,” sometimes God calls us to do challenging and complex things we don’t feel equipped for.
If we’re not spiritually minded, we will write those feelings off as anxiety and say we can’t do them. But, we can do hard things! Every time God gives me a dream, there’s a voice inside telling me I can’t do it; it’s not possible. And if I listen to it, that voice can hinder me. But we can take that stress to God and move forward in faith, knowing He will equip us to do the things He’s called us to.
The Fear Response
Anxiety produces some of the same reactions in our body a fear response does. In moments of extreme fear and anxiety, our brain is then controlled by the amygdala and experiences a drop in IQ of about 40 points. I’m not sure about you, but I need all the IQ points I can get! I can’t afford to lose any!
I remember when I was a teenager, I woke up to the sound of a gunshot in the middle of the night and my mom screaming, “Jeffrey! There’s something in the house!” I got up and ran out of my room to the sight of my dad with a shotgun, saying, “It’s a mongoose!!” Slightly confused from being woken up so abruptly, with eyes full of sleep, I got closer to the source of the object of everyone’s panic. I realized it was a baby squirrel that was in the house. We had all been highly panicked (and making very rash decisions like shooting toward a squirrel indoors) because we were all so scared that we couldn’t think rationally.
We may never be able to get rid of the presence of anxiety, but if we live biblically, we can escape from the prison of anxiety. It’s also important not to define yourself by anxiety. Don’t let it become a part of your identity. Anxiety is something you move through; it's not something you are.
Anxiety Vs. Depression
Another thing I’d like to contrast is anxiety and depression. Anxiety is not depression. Anxiety has to do with fear of things that have not happened yet, and depression is an overwhelming feeling of sadness or hopelessness. The Bible does address depression and there are biblical principles we can apply. And I think there are times that it can reach a certain point where counseling or medication may be necessary. But anxiety is not depression, and vice versa.
Be CALM
Philippians 4:4-9 holds some critical truths for finding freedom from the prison of anxiety. We will look at this passage and use the acronym CALM to equip you with four steps for when anxiety rears its ugly head and tries to set up camp in your heart and mind.
C - Celebrate
The C in CALM stands for “Celebrate.” Verse 4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” I love how he repeats himself here. Rejoice in the Lord means simply that: rejoice in the Lord. It means when someone walks out on you, rejoice. When the diagnosis comes back different than you’d hoped, rejoice. When you can’t make ends meet, rejoice. When you are broken down on the side of the road, rejoice. Rejoicing is paramount to everything. And we aren’t to rejoice only when we feel like it; we are to rejoice always!
My son was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at almost 18 years old, and when that happened, all these thoughts began to race wild through my head. Usually, I’m a praiser - I love to praise God. I sing about Him and to Him all day, from when I wake up until I go to sleep. But, when my son was diagnosed, I noticed that it became almost impossible for me to praise God. I realized the devil was trying to take one of the most powerful things I have in my life right now, my ability to rejoice. So, I went on a Chick-fil-A run. The point of the Chick-fil-A run wasn’t just to get fantastic chicken; it was to get alone in my car. When I got by myself, I said, “I don’t care what’s going on in my life right now, I don’t care what this diagnosis is, I don’t care about anything other than the fact that God has never let me down my entire life. He has never given up on me. Every failure I’ve ever had, every problem I thought was unsolvable, His love and mercy have guided me. He’s done it in the past, and I will praise God in this car right now. I’m not getting out of this car until I praise Him.”
In my car in the hospital parking garage, I started praising the Lord and shouting, “Thank you, Jesus! You are worthy of all the glory! You will not give up on my family, God! I worship you! I rejoice in you!” I saw parents walking by with strollers with strange looks on their faces, but I didn’t even care! Then I started laughing at the guy I was five minutes ago because that's not who I am! I am someone who has been called to rejoice! When anxiety stares me down and bullies me, I will step back up in its face! As a child of God, Jesus died for me so I don't have to be controlled by anxiety.
Learn how to celebrate! Start praising God when you feel that weight and pressure coming on you.
A - ask God for help.
The A in CALM stands for “Ask God for help.” The Bible says, “Be sober-minded” (1 Peter 1:13). That means to refrain from things that put you in an inebriated state of mind but also to think soberly about your life. Analyze what's going on under the surface. Analyze your weaknesses. Be honest about your problems and what you struggle with.
Stop playing the victim and take responsibility for things you may have allowed in your life. If you can’t sleep, but all you watch is true crime shows, maybe that’s why! You are the gatekeeper of your own heart. Perhaps you’re allowing things in your life that open the door to anxiety. We look at social media or browse the internet unfiltered and say, “I can handle it; I’m mature.” And we let all those things into our lives and wonder why we don’t feel good about ourselves. It’s because we compare ourselves to these people, most of whom are lying about how happy they are! How about we start monitoring what comes into our lives more?
Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” But, unfortunately, our culture disagrees with this and validates anxiety if certain things have happened to you. But according to this verse, we should rejoice always and be anxious never.
God’s way is never anxious; His solution is prayer and supplication. Supplication is asking God for what you need. Prayer is telling God what is on your heart, and pouring out all the stress, worries, and anxieties in your soul, mind, and emotions. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
L - Lay your worries on God and leave them.
The L in CALM stands for, “Lay your worries on God and leave them” The Bible says, “Casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). He has asked us to come to Him and to give Him those problems, not to find a solution outside of Him. When we seek answers outside Him, we increase the stress, anxiety, and failure we constantly feel. So take it to Him - give Him the whole of your worries.
Max Lucado tells a story about his father. Every night before bed, he would go into the kitchen and pour a glass of buttermilk, crunch up some cornbread inside, and eat it with a spoon. After eating it, he would go to every door in the house and turn the locks loudly to make sure they were locked tightly, then make his way to every window and check that they were locked. Then, he would go to the center of the house and say, “The house is secured.” Max said he could have the most peaceful rest after he heard that each night.
Your Father is in control of the house of your life, and everything that's going on in your world is secure. He has made every provision to take care of you. Stop worrying. Stop creating an atmosphere of anxiety over the things you don’t have and the things you’re not. God loves you as you are today. The whole purpose of the Christian life is to grow into who we can become in Christ, not worrying about who we will never be. We are designed to fulfill our purpose. The house is secure today.
M - Meditate
The final letter of CALM stands for “Meditate.” Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
If you’re busy thinking about what is good, you don’t have time to think about anything evil. When you focus on what is good, you won’t have time for anxiety. You’ll be too focused on how good God is.
When my son was little, he had some symptoms that indicated that he might have cystic fibrosis. Before this, I didn’t even know what that was, and after it was brought up, I remember repeating the term repeatedly in conversations and my thoughts. One day I was driving around and thought, “I’ve probably said the term cystic fibrosis 500 times this month - I wonder if I’ve said the name of Jesus that many times this month?” I wanted to say the name of Jesus at least twice for how many times I’d said cystic fibrosis.
So I just started saying Jesus’ name over and over. And as I meditated on the name of Jesus, I began to feel peace and authority. Now the Bible talks about how there’s no power in vain repetitions. The power wasn’t in repeating Jesus’ name over and over. However, when I purposed to say his name 1000 times, it signaled to my soul that Jesus had the last word. I would not allow a diagnosis to become an idol in my heart. I would place Jesus in the highest seat. (Praise God, a few weeks later, the doctors found that our son was fine!)
2 Corinthians 10:13 says, “ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Even though we live human lives, we don’t fight human battles. There are times when you've just got to put your foot down in the spirit realm.
When I was 19, I moved to Texas all by myself and lived away from home for the first time. I had some issues with lust that I was struggling to get past, and I rehearsed them repeatedly, feeling so much guilt and condemnation. Finally, one night I went to dinner alone and was fighting those thoughts. My server came by the table and put my plate in front of me. I was so distracted thinking about my struggle I said out loud, “No!” The server said, “Oh, I’m sorry sir, I’ll get you something else!” I had to tell him I wasn’t talking to him; I was talking to myself!
I had to say to my soul that I would not think in the old ways I used to. I was taking control, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against God's knowledge, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Do you see how specific that is? We have to take control of our minds to avoid being bullied by anxiety.
Today, in Jesus’ name, get CALM in your life. Celebrate, ask God for help, lay your worries on God and leave them, and meditate on what is beautiful and lovely. You will see release from the prison of anxiety.
Prayer
Father, in the name of Jesus, I join my faith with the person reading this by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, Your blood was shed for us so we could have the power of the Holy Spirit.
You suffered In The Garden of Gethsemane, and your capillaries burst because, emotionally, you were overwhelmed. Lord, You vicariously suffered for us at that moment so we don't have to suffer that same mental anguish. It is through You that we have access to emotional healing. I speak that emotional healing over them in Jesus' name. For some it may be a process to walk it out. But I believe some people will be delivered in Jesus' name now. Lord, we turn to your Word for the answers and agree in faith together in Jesus' name for miracles to occur. Amen.
