anxiety

Randomness at 9:30 pm on a Wednesday

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I think more and more about heaven lately. Not because I necessarily want my life here to end any time soon. I just think my ideas of heaven seem more and more inviting the more I understand better what’s waiting for me there. Tonight in my Bible study, we talked about how we will instantly recognize those we have loved and lost just as Peter, James, and John recognized Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.

I sometimes wonder what age we’ll be. I’ve always heard that we’ll all be 33 because that’s when most people are in their prime plus that’s when Jesus made His ultimate sacrifice for us. I’ve also read that we’ll somehow both be young and old at the same time, maybe with youthful faces but with eyes that highlight years of wisdom.

I only know that as life here gets more chaotic by the minute, heaven sounds more glorious. Also, I could do without allergies and sinus issues due to the up and down weather we’ve been having lately. It’s spring one day, then back to winter, then back to spring, then back to winter, etc.

I know for absolute certain that there will be zero anxiety and stress in heaven. There will be nothing that will make us anxious or cause us to worry. After all, the Prince of Peace will be in our midst, never to leave us or forsake us. Plus, no more taxes or bills to pay or 45 minute commutes to work.

I don’t know if there will be food, but I imagine it will be all of the flavor with none of the fat and cholesterol. Or maybe fat and cholesterol will suddenly be good for you and not turn to fat or make you fat. Whatever’s there, it will be better than anything I can currently imagine down here.

They Overcame

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“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even in the face of death” (Revelation 12:11, TLV).

Tonight I attended something called What a God: A Night of Testimony & Thanksgiving at Brentwood Baptist Church. Basically, it was a night of worship interspersed with testimonies of people who experienced the healing of God in their lives and a time of prayer for those dealing with serious illnesses.

It was a beautiful reminder of the goodness of God. Time and time again, we saw how the Lord was faithful to do what He promised. Time after time, we saw how the miracles came because people were bold enough to ask in prayer. I don’t believe that God heals everyone every time on this side of heaven, but I do believe that we often don’t receive from the Lord because we do not ask.

There’s something powerful about someone’s testimony that points people to Jesus. You can argue points of doctrine and theology all day long, but it’s hard to dispute eyewitness accounts. Add that to some powerful songs of thanksgiving, and it was a good night.

I still say that the best antidote for worry is worship. The cure for anxiety is adoration. Once you take your eyes off of yourself and put them on Jesus, everything that seems so pressing and urgent falls back into place. Of course, I know that certain kinds of extreme anxiety have physical causes and it is no sin to take medication or have counseling at times.

Every time we gather for worship, we remember that we are singing not for a potential victory but from a promised victory. We declare that the battle is the Lord’s and He has already overcome. The enemy is already a defeated foe. We are already more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

I’m thankful to Travis Cottrell and all the worship team at Brentwood Baptist Church for putting on a night like this where God was the main attraction. It could very easily have been another concert with an audience of multitudes, but it was instead a worship night with an audience of one. And boy, did He show up.



Blessed Are the Single-Hearted

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“Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is” (Amy Carmichael).

“Purity of heart is to will one thing” (Søren Kierkegaard).

If we could only learn to keep our eyes on Jesus and not on our circumstances, we’d have more peace. As it is, we’re too often like Peter, who started off staring at Jesus as he walked out to Him on the waves but was too easily distracted by the storm. We’re too easily swayed by everything around us and the anxiety within us to look at Jesus for very long.

But He’s where the joy is, as I’ve heard a lot lately. Jesus is where the peace is. To be still and calm while the world is chaotic and raging around you can only be a gift of the Holy Spirit in you. That’s clarity in stillness.

I read recently that if you take a container full of muddy water and shake it, you won’t be able to see anything, but only when it is still does it become settled does it become clear. I think as we can remain calm and still before the Lord, so everything becomes clear for us as well as we can hear God’s voice without all the distractions from within and without.

Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening. Help us to be still and know that You are God over our circumstances. Only You can speak peace to the storms within and without. Only You can still the fear inside Your children. Grant us rest and peace, O Lord. Amen.

Don’t Be Anxious About Tomorrow

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“Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths” (C. H. Spurgeon).

“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matthew 6:33-34, The Message).

The key is a shift in focus. Instead of dwelling on what you lack, dwell on the abundance of God’s resources. Instead of worrying about what may or may not happen tomorrow, focus on what’s in front of you today and remember that the same God who is present with you today is already present in the tomorrow that you’re so worried about.

So far, I’ve found the best way to keep my heart and mind focused on God is to recall as many attributes of God as I can call to mind. It’s also helpful to let worship music permeate your mind as you bring to mind the many promises of God in the old hymns and the newer worship songs.

I love the quote that says that the cure for anxiety is adoration. That’s worship. That involves singing but it also involves every aspect of your day-to-day living. Make it all an offering to God. Let your whole life be a praise to the Almighty. Take every anxious thought captive and make it obedient to Christ, trading it for His perfect peace.

Lord, so many of us are anxious. It’s our default setting. We don’t mean to be, but we often worry without even trying to or meaning to. Lord, we bring our anxious thoughts to You and ask for Your peace in return. Bless us this night with Your presence and keep us in the center of Your will. Amen.

God and the Next Breath

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“Lord, I come to you with empty hands. If all I have today is You and the next breath, that will be enough.”

A friend taught me that prayer a long time ago, and I was reminded of it today seeing it in my Facebook memories. I think that prayer of gratitude and dependence is the perfect antidote to this culture of pervasive entitlement and greed.

Really, all I bring to God is a pair of empty hands. I bring nothing. Anything in me or from me that’s any good at all was first a gift from God to me. All that I have that wasn’t given to me by God is God Himself, and even that is a gift.

If all I have in the next 24 hours is God and nothing else but the next breath, that’s enough. If I have all the riches in the world and all the knowledge in the world and not God, I have nothing. I seem to recall a Bible verse about gaining the whole world and losing your soul in the process being futile.

Basically, every moment from here to eternity is a gift. I didn’t earn the next breath. I don’t deserve the next breath. God’s grace is what sustains me and keeps me going.

I think if I lived like I believed that, there’d be a lot less anxiety and a lot more adoration. There’d be a lot less worry and a lot more worship. There’d be a lot less talk about the weather and sports and politics and more of me sharing the goodness of God out of the overflow of a heart made full by gratitude.

Lord, I really do come to You with empty hands. If all I get from You today is You and the next breath, that’s enough. I’m good. In fact, I’m more than good. I’m blessed. Amen.

Implicit Trust

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“If a man will resign himself in implicit trust to the Lord Jesus, he will find that He leads the wayfaring soul into the green pastures and beside the still waters, so that even when he goes hrough the dark valley of the shadow of some staggering episode, he will fear no evil. Nothing in life or death, time or eternity, can stagger a soul from the certainty of the Way, for one moment” (Oswald Chambers, Run Today’s Race).

That’s what I want — implicit trust in Jesus, no matter what. Lately, I find that my faith comes and goes like the ocean tides advancing and retreating, rising and ebbing. One moment, I am calm and collected and the next I am inwardly freaking out. Too often, my faith is too tied in to my emotions.

But the true saint of God has a steady faith. Or at least he or she is moving toward one. The hindrance to the necessary resignation of the soul to the ways of the Lord is the illusion of control that we cling to. The more I think I somehow can help God out or speed up His timeline, the more inclined I am to fret and worry.

I still love Corrie ten Boom’s imagery of staying on the train that’s going through a dark tunnel. Of course, you don’t leap off the train in the middle of the tunnel. You sit still and trust the engineer. But in the midst of life’s dark passages, it’s easy to want to go AWOL on God. But what’s the alternative? Lostness and the dark?

Lord, grow my faith. Help me to take my tiny mustard seed faith and put it in Your hands so that I can rest in Your promises and plans for me. Help me to know with my whole being that You are still working all things together for my good. Amen.

Follow Where He Places Us

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“God engineers our circumstances as He did those of His Son; all we have to do is to follow where He places us. The majority of us are busy trying to place ourselves” (Oswald Chambers, The Love of God).

I love the scene in The Chosen Season 4 where Gaius is having a conversation with Matthew. In response to Gaius asking Matthew about all the different things he needs to be concerned about, Matthew basically says that he has only one thing to do today — follow Jesus. The rest will take care of itself.

That sounds a lot like Matthew 6:33. If we seek God’s Kingdom first, the rest will take care of itself. I think the western mind thinks of a Kingdom as a territory or a castle or something physical, but to the Jewish mind, they would see it not as a place but as the action of ruling. By God’s Kingdom, we are seeking the active reign of God in our lives and in the world around us.

In my own life, I sometimes try to place myself where I think it will do me the most good. God is saying to focus on seeking Him, and He will place me where He wants me to go. 10 times out of 10, that place is way better than the place I would have picked. Actually, make that 100 out of 100. You get the point. There is never a scenario where I choose better than God. None.

There’s a lot less stress in following Jesus rather than trying to figure it all out. Anxiety comes from trying to put out a million mental fires with everything going on in your life. You can run yourself ragged almost literally trying to work out every possible outcome to every situation you’re in. It’s exhausting.

But following God means resting in what God has promised to His people. Not resting as in taking a nap (and I do like me some naps), but rest as a sort of calm that know that even in the midst of the ranging storm we have a Lord who walks on water.

My goal today is to follow Jesus. Period. My goal is to seek first God’s Kingdom. Period. The rest will take care of itself. The end.

Good Words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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“Do not worry! Earthly goods deceive the human heart into believing that they give it security and freedom from worry. But in truth, they are what cause anxiety. The heart which clings to goods receives with them the choking burden of worry. Worry collects treasures, and treasures produce more worries. We desire to secure our lives with earthly goods; we want our worrying to make us worry-free, but the truth is the opposite. The chains which bind us to earthly goods, the clutches which hold the goods tight, are themselves worries.

Abuse of earthly goods consists of using them as a security for the next day. Worry is always directed toward tomorrow. But the goods are intended only for today in the strictest sense. It is our securing things for tomorrow which makes us so insecure today. It is enough that each day should have its own troubles. Only those who put tomorrow completely into God’s hand and receive fully today what they need for their lives are really secure. Receiving daily liberates me from tomorrow” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

That reminds me of something Jesus taught His disciples to pray. It was something about God giving us each day our daily bread. Something like that.

Of course, I jest a bit. We are told to ask daily for daily bread. Just like the manna in the desert for the children of God, we can’t stockpile or horde our daily bread. We only get enough for today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.

Worry doubts tomorrow’s provision. Worry doubts the heart of God. Worry forgets about all the days up to this one where God provided. But faith trusts not in the daily bread but in the Bread of Life.

Lord, give me today exactly what I need for today. Help me to trust you in the present and leave tomorrow’s troubles until tomorrow. Help me remember that you are already there and have already made provisions for me there. Amen.

The Tick of God’s timing

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I know I’ve said it before, but the voice of fear and anxiety says that everything has to happen right away or it won’t happen at all. Sometimes, anxiety sounds like maybe you’ve already missed it and blown your chance. Or maybe something like God won’t really keep His promises after all.

But as the old song says, the voice of truth tells me a different story. If you can breathe deep and take a moment, you might remember all those times when God came through at the exact perfect time. You might recall how His provision wasn’t a moment too soon or a moment too late.

But sometimes fear speaks so loudly, it’s hard to hear the still small voice over all the shouting. Over all the earthquakes and whirlwinds and fires that try to imitate God’s voice. But there is a Prince of Peace that can tell those winds and waves to be still. There is one whose perfect love still casts out all fear.

The more we live surrendered, the more we get in sync with God’s rhythms and learn His ways and learn to trust His timing. The less we are to give in to anxiety and fear over each new circumstance and setback.

“I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned or his children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25, HCSB).

That’s a promise. God won’t forsake the ones He declared righteous by the work of Christ on the cross. When He sees you, He doesn’t see a past littered with failure and mistakes. He sees the perfect blood of His Son shed for you and covering you.

You can trust in God’s timing because you can trust in God’s heart for you. Neither will ever let you down. Both are faithful and true.

Of All My Posts, This Is One of Them

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Not every blog post will be a winner. Sometimes, there’s just nothing to write about. Or in my case, the ol’ noggin has shut down for the night. So you get a post like this.

I do think it’s important to fill at least part of your day with something that brings you joy. While it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in the world, it should become your whole day. Make time in your day for listening to music or going for a walk or simple sitting in silence and meditating on the goodness of God.

Also, you should periodically treat yourself to foods that you really like. And by periodically, I don’t mean periodically through the day, but every week or so. You don’t want to become diabetic (or pre-diabetic like me). As with most everything else, moderation is key.

It always helps to keep the big picture in mind. Sometimes, I get caught up in the minutae and forget that what I’m worrying over and obsessing about is finite and temporary. There’s no need to waste energy over something that you probably won’t remember a year from now.

It’s also helpful to keep a mindset of prayer throughout the day. That doesn’t mean you’re constantly in prayer, but as God prompts you through various events or people or memories, keep the conversation with God open.

And at the end of the day, it’s always nice to have a furry friend to come home to. In my case, it’s a very lovable tortoiseshell feline named Peanut, but you should have a dog or cat or hamster or something that will always be glad to see you when you walk through your front door.

Oh, and be sure to cultivate a grateful spirit. That goes a long way toward making your day better when you focus on the good and not the bad.