Monday, October 3, 2022
Making Sense of Anxiety – Mixed Emotions
October 3, 2022/in Bible Study, Week 4
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This week, author and speaker Barb Roose taught us that God knows and cares about our deepest anxieties. He is with us during each one of our trials, no matter how scary they may seem. Anxiety has been prevalent throughout human history. As we learned, over 300 verses in the Bible speak on anxiety, and today, 20% of Americans suffer from clinical anxiety.
God wired our brains intricately to experience a wide range of emotions, including anxiety. Anxiety is our automatic physical response to fear and threats. It is helpful when we face imminent danger that threatens our survival, but it can become a problem when it overtakes our lives and gains control of us.
Uncontrolled anxiety has the potential to affect us physically, mentally, and spiritually. It activates our autonomic threat-detection system, causing physical symptoms, and clouds our thinking and decision-making skills. Furthermore, anxiety can affect our relationship with God.
Modern Christian culture can lead us to believe that our struggles with anxiety occur because we do not “trust God enough” or “believe God enough,” as Barb explained. It can lead us to question God and doubt that he truly is with us in our battles and cares about our worldly worries. However, that could not be farther from the truth: God understands our anxiety. The Bible verses on anxiety are there because God understands us; he doesn’t want to condemn us.
On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus experienced immense anxiety while he was in the Garden of Gethsemane—likely more than most of us will experience in our lifetime. When faced with a horrific death, Jesus asked the Father for a way out of the situation.
Matthew 26:39
He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
We can take comfort knowing that God himself has experienced pain and anxiety and knows what we’re going through. Although he didn’t want to suffer, Jesus completely surrendered to God and trusted his will. We can follow Jesus’ example by relinquishing our control to God and not allowing worry to consume our lives.
Barb explained that your response to anxiety depends on how you center God in the story. God does not intend for us to live in fear; however, we live in a fallen world where we will experience anxiety. But we do not have to live there—we do not have to let our anxiety rule our lives. We can give it to God, knowing that his will is better than ours, even when it’s not immediately obvious.
Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Questions:
In which areas of your life are you most anxious? What are the consequences of not surrendering your anxieties to God?
Next Steps:
This week, write down your daily anxieties on a sheet of paper. At the end of the week, pray over the list and surrender it to God. Join a Group this semester where you can share your anxieties with a lifegiving group of Jesus followers who will support you on your journey of surrendering to God.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing me to come to you with all of my anxieties. You understand and empathize with my fears, but you are much bigger than any anxiety that I will ever face. Help me to remember that everything is in your control and help me to pray that your will be done, not mine. Thank you for walking through life with me and guiding me through my anxieties. In Jesus’ name, amen.