The modern world is a rat race! Our adversary Satan, uses the world’s condition to stimulate fear, doubt and uncertainty in us. It doesn’t take long for the things of the world around us to become our primary concern, pushing God’s kingdom out of our hearts and minds entirely.
Consider your own life, those of family members and close friends. They’re always busy and stressed out from trying to accomplish a thousand things each with a deadline. Gotta get this or that done, now, right now! It’s very rare to find a person who is not stricken with the disease of anxiousness. Maybe it would be good to re-read Matthew 6 to get some insights on this disease of anxiety.
Life in our world is full of many concerns stemming from the absence of certainty and control over our future. The psychological and physical effects of anxiety can be overwhelming for our minds and bodies. Are you a person who’s life is dominated with anxiety? Are you consumed with worry? Here’s a short summary of some of the controlling effects anxiety may be having on your life...
The emotional effects of anxiety may include feelings of apprehension or dread, trouble concentrating, feeling tense or jumpy, anticipating the worst, irritability, restlessness, watching (and waiting) for signs (and occurrences) of danger, and, feeling like your mind's gone blank as well as nightmares/bad dreams, obsessions about sensations, feelings of deja vu, a trapped in your mind feeling, and feeling like everything is scary.
The cognitive effects of anxiety may include thoughts about suspected dangers, such as fear of dying, being in a traffic accident, falling from a bridge and similar dreadful fears. You may... fear that the chest pains you experience from time to time are a deadly heart attack or that the shooting pains in your head are the result of a tumor or aneurysm. You feel an intense fear when you think of dying, or you may think of it more often than normal, or can’t get it out of your mind.
The behavioral effects of anxiety may include withdrawal from situations which have provoked anxiety in the past. Anxiety can also be experienced in ways which include changes in sleeping patterns, nervous habits, and increased physical responses such as extreme finger or foot tapping.
Do you experience any of those conditions? Have you ever stopped and tried to analyze your worries? Why do humans so easily succumb to worry? We can learn to manage anxiety and other worry produced emotions by understanding what the Bible says about them.
We worry because we’re slaves to our own desires and will. Worries increase when we become focused on the things of this world. We have desires, and if our desires aren’t fully met we experience frustration to all out devastation. We worry because we’re too concerned about earthy things, and not spiritual things. Jesus told people not to worry about earthly things, for they are subject to decay and can be quickly lost, but heavenly treasures are secure for eternity (Matt. 6:19; 6:25). We worry because we’re afraid God won’t work things out for our good. In other words, we have very little faith in what God has promised (Matt. 6:30). We worry because we’re not content. We’re not satisfied with God providing our needs (Matt. 6:32), He must also provide our wants. And these aren’t just our present wants, but the future ones we haven’t even thought about.The Bible teaches that we should deal with each day's problems when they occur and not be obsessed with future concerns that may never happen (Matthew 6:34).
All worries spring from the fact that we have a strong desire for something which, if not met will bring down our spirits and make us lose our joy. There are many legitimate concerns worth consideration in our lives. But if we become hyper-focused on life’s issues, then Satan turns our concerns into obsessions, to the point that we’re dwelling on whatever is on our minds to the exclusion of “the things of God”... the most important “thing” being our relationship with Him.
Worrying does nothing for our situation as Matthew 6:27 says... "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” Worry is the cause of millions of deaths – heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, etc. Our Lord does not want us to live this way, but rather with the peace of the Holy Spirit filling our hearts. It is not God’s will for us to be slaves! God saved us to be free and immersed in His Kingdom business; not to always be chasing after our own will. Matthew 11:28 says... "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."
While we can never be completely free from worry, the Bible shows us how to minimize worry and anxiety in our lives. Philippians 4:6-7 says... do not worry about anything, but with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests known to God and then the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
We can have genuine hope and security in a troubled anxiety ridden world, because the Lord upon our confession of faith and obedience to His plan for salvation has given us the Holy Spirit. God Himself is dwelling within us, working out His fruits in us over time (Galatians 5:22-23;24-25). This means that we can be delivered from this disease of anxiety and inordinate concern for our own will. We must conduct our journey in Christ, in lock-step with the power that permeates our lives... The Holy Spirit.
Matthew 6:33 says... "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." It may sound cliche, but it’s a universal truth... focus yourself toward the heavens, towards the things of God, and you will see the things of earth becoming smaller, and insignificant. The kingdom of God is like this. Etch these three”Ifs” in your mind and heart...
If we make Christ everything to us, we will find ourselves less and less concerned about the cares of this world.
If we are single minded – setting our main goal in life to become conformed to the image of Christ, and to press into the Lord, becoming one with Him, then we will find ourselves being delivered from obsession with our own will, and the cares of this world.
If we trust only in the Lord, knowing that our Lord is in full control, that He is on our side (Rom 8:31), then we can rest assured that we defeat the debilitating effects of worry and anxiety and find (don’t be discouraged when it doesn’t happen instantly) the spiritual peace we all desire.
