Grace for Anxiety (part 2)

Sunday we began a series to engage our anxiety. Anxiety (or feelings of uncertainty) is a normal human experience in a very abnormal world. As a faithful shepherd, Jesus tells his audience, “Fear not, little flock.” (Luke 12:32) While the statement is a command (don’t fear), it’s a gentle word to anxious people not a rebuke. When your children are fighting, you say “stop fighting,” and you mean “now.” When they wake up from a bad dream, you comfort them by saying “don’t be afraid, daddy is here.” Jesus’ command is a word of comfort, not a rebuke.

While feeling anxious is very normal, we all develop patterns of response that complicate our experience. Those responses, often learned early in life, can keep us from handling anxiety with awareness of the presence of God. For example, most of us process anxiety by worrying. We hit auto-play on our thoughts about the problem, and the moment we wake up, we start processing. Usually that processing is our attempt to find “hope” in some solution. But what happens if that solution doesn’t materialize? Hope is extinguished and worry intensifies. If the solution does materialize, it can actually cement our pattern of worry. Examining our responses can help us learn our patterns so that we can begin creating new patterns. New patterns have to be rooted in something bigger than us, which is another benefit of this investigation of understanding our desires, values, and beliefs.

Sunday we’ll consider what our responses say and how God speaks to them. See you then!