There are times when our mental health derails us, and we need to and should pursue every avenue to reclaim a healthy mindset. Sometimes, that requires medical attention, treatment, and counseling. Other times, we have simply let our thoughts run wild and unchecked, failing to hold every thought captive to the truth of God's Word. When we let the guard down our on souls and minds, they become ample territory for anxiety and worry to grow. Scripture says,
"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7
Let’s face it - sometimes this life can suck. It can be incredibly chaotic - filled with worries, concerns, and fears. If we have a family – a spouse and children – then those worries and fears are compounded as we feel the need to take care of them and protect them. That’s where helicopter parents come from. Throw in our jobs, and the demands on our time and treasures seem to get overwhelmed. Then, as if we don’t have enough on our plates already – we get the unrest we see in the news every day. We see turmoil and hate-filled protests; we see mass shootings and criminals doing things that we cannot imagine. We must be cautious and teach our children extreme caution. We don’t – can’t – trust our leaders to do the right thing, no matter who those leaders are or what political party they represent. Or illness hits – a bad diagnosis leads to an uncertain future, for us or for a loved one.
Of course, often, our worries are our own doing. We feel the pressure to buy more and better stuff to provide for our families. Maybe we simply desire more—a bigger, better house, a better car, a better phone. Oh, let’s go on vacation somewhere—after all, we need the time off; we deserve it. But then… the economy turns, job loss, inflation hits – hard.
Even if we don’t always acknowledge it, our level of anxiety for our future, our children’s future – and the future of our children’s children – often takes its toll. And sometimes gets extreme. But if we are honest, the real source of our anxiety is quite simple – it is a lack of control. Perceived control diminishes our anxiety, while lack of control frequently invades our calm. Our perceived control and our anxiety have an inverse relationship – as one increases, the other subsides. But we all know – the only thing certain in this world is that nothing is certain. None of us knows what tomorrow holds – no matter how hard we try. Corrie Ten Boom has been quoted as saying,
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”
It might be easy to sort of take for granted that Christians have the worry and anxiety thing all under control. After all, the Bible teaches us not to worry. Right? But we know that despite what the Bible says about it, Christians are not exempt from anxiety. Jesus himself, in the Sermon on the Mount, spoke of the human tendency to worry:
“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" - Matthew 6:25-26
In Philippians 4:6, the Apostle Paul wrote: “Do not be anxious about anything…” Don’t be anxious about anything? Yeah right. Don’t be anxious about the cancer diagnosis we just received? Don’t be anxious that I just lost my job? As great as that teaching sounds, just simply reading the verse – hearing the words – doesn’t seem to do the trick, does it? Jesus said, “Don’t worry, because we are much more valuable than the birds of the air. They get fed, don’t they?” Sure, that sounds great – but how in the world do I go from here to there?
We once had a close friend in our home church who, when we discussed the issue of worry was quite honest with us all. Clenching his fist he said, “I just can’t help it. I have to worry. If I’m not worried, I worry that I’m missing something I should be worried about.” Then he asked this rather simple-sounding question: “How do I stop worrying and begin trusting?” How do we stop worrying and begin trusting? How do we begin trusting God? Well, the answer is simple. It’s not easy, as they say – but it’s simple. Surrender.
Faith leads to relationship; relationship leads to trust; trust leads to surrender. The thing is – once you trust, surrender is easy. If our own lack of control is causing anxiety – wouldn’t it be wise, then, to trust in the one who does control it all? Doesn’t it only make sense that we would trust in the one in whom we place our faith? In whom we place our hope for eternity? Of course, it does. Built around his teaching that we are to not be anxious, Paul included these words:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:4-7
And, by the way, Paul wrote these words while under Roman imprisonment. Rejoice in the Lord always. In all things - in all circumstances - we are to rejoice in the Lord. Not for all circumstances, but in all circumstances. This isn’t based on a feeling – but rather on a decision that we make, deep inside, that God is good, and he is in control. We rejoice that he can do what we cannot.
I have long held that trusting God – truly trusting God – is one of the most difficult things for Christians to learn. We know we’re supposed to. We read the words – and they are plentiful – and we say the words, but darn it, living them out is challenging. It is not an easy thing to go right from faith to surrender, without something in between. When anxiety rears its ugly head – we can’t simply turn to trust if we haven’t previously laid the groundwork for us to believe the words we read. We can’t go from zero to 100 on demand. But when we try to change what we believe about life, the first thing we must change is our belief system. Our belief, our faith, always precedes how we act – our behavior.
When we see a professional athlete perform, it’s so easy to just assume, “Oh, that’s how good they are.” We fail to think of how they got that good. We fail to realize the hours, and hours and hours of practice. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant – all will tell you how much work it took. Tom Brady didn’t just suddenly become great. No, it took years of practice and study.
Even in our own lives – we spend a great deal of time improving our skills at whatever tools we use to relax. Whether it is golf, fishing, sewing, cooking…whatever it might be, we work at it to get better. Imagine if we spent that much time with the Lord. The great Henry Nouwen speaks of the greatest lesson of human trust he learned – from a family of trapeze artists. Imagine the trust the flyer had to have in the catcher. Can you imagine that being done without days, weeks and hours of practice building trust? Nope, me neither. So it is with us. God is our catcher. When we have faith, we need to continue spending time with the Lord, learning from him, and letting him teach us. We have to build that relationship and learn to trust.
When anxiety does strike – and it will – it is important to remember four words: but God, and with God. Joseph spent many years of forced anxiety – sold into slavery, committed into prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and forgotten by a man who promised to help him (Genesis 37-50.) His brothers, who had been the ones to sell him into slavery, returned to Egypt. When their father died, they were afraid that Joseph would take revenge. Yet, Joseph said this:
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." - Genesis 50:20
You lost your job, but God….has a better plan ahead for you. You were diagnosed with cancer, but God…had a plan for you to comfort another with cancer. Whatever your circumstances, God has a different plan than perhaps we do. We need only move forward with God—one step, one day at a time, if necessary. The following truths, when we proclaim them over our lives, fully trusting in God, have the power to calm our anxiety:
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Know that his will – his perfect will – will be accomplished. We need only trust in that. Sometimes, our pride and ego get in the way – convinced we can fix it, we can control it, we can solve it, we can make it work. But, that is not the lesson here.
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." -1Peter 5:6-7
Cast all your anxiety on him. Not some, not a piece – all. Throw it all onto his broad shoulders. Trusting God means letting go of our own control. It means letting go of our worries, our fears and our anxieties for the future and leaving them in the hands of He who actually is in control. Yet – and be honest here – how often do you “leave it to God” and then simply take control right back?
There is an old story about a man who was hiking in the mountains (of beautiful Colorado, of course.) He was admiring the spectacular beauty of God’s creation from his awesome vantage point. Unfortunately, he failed to pay close enough attention to his footing – and the ground under him gave way. The man began to slide down the side of a 200-foot cliff, but just before he was to go into freefall, he managed to grab a good-sized tree root and then held on, literally, for dear life. But…he had no way he could climb up to safety and there was no one to help him. No one, that is, except God.
The man began to pray, “Lord, please help me out of this situation. Please, Father, save me.” A voice came out of the clouds, “Do you trust me?” The man knew in his heart it was the Lord. “Oh yes, Lord, you know I trust you” the man yelled out. “Do you really, really trust me?” the voice said. The man answered again, “Oh yes, Father, I really, really trust you!” The voice boomed a third time, “Do you really, really trust me with your whole heart and your whole soul?” “Oh yes, Father, please help me! My strength is about to give out. You know I trust you.”
“Then let go.”
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13
RELATED PODCAST:
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/AaronAmat
*Editorial Note: Sometimes, even the strongest faith cannot heal anxiety and worry. Please reach out if you feel anxious, depressed, or are having suicidal thoughts. There are professionals who can help you recover a healthy mindset, and you should never feel ashamed or as if your faith is failing for needing help beyond prayer.
Greg doesn’t pretend to be a pastor, a theologian, or a Bible expert, but offers the perspective of an everyday guy on the same journey as everyone else – in pursuit of truth.
Greg can be reached by email or on Facebook @ Greg Grandchamp - Author.