Tuesday, October 4, 2022

“What if” to “God, if” – Mixed Emotions

October 4, 2022/in Bible Study, Week 4

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My social anxiety probably started when my mom moved us from Dayton to Findlay. I was only four, but I remember how shocking it was to see white everywhere and start preschool and kindergarten, realizing I was different because no one else looked like me. That was when I started the game of what ifs.

It’s easy to think a little kid shouldn’t have such worries, but the move to Findlay was the conclusion of the buildup of multiple, anxiety-producing events. If adults find it so easy to latch onto the spirals of anxiety, imagine what it’s like for children.

So, it began.

What if the other kids don’t like me?

What if my parents stay apart?

What if everyone notices I’m different too?

When you doubt yourself and those around you long enough, you begin to live in what ifs, and your mind doesn’t know what to think about many things, including God. Last weekend, our guest speaker, Barb Roose, explained three what if categories that create anxiety in us:

Uncertainty: What if I’m not OK?

Security: What if I’m all alone? What if I don’t matter at all?

Responsibility: What if I fail?

We’ve all been there, whether it was in high school, at college, a job, in our marriage, etc. The problem is we tend to make the what ifs bigger while making God smaller. That’s what happens when anxiety feeds on our emotions. Jesus also experienced anxiety, but he didn’t allow it to become bigger than God, not even when he faced the cross.

Anxiety swarmed around Jesus’ mind while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, Jesus did what many of us never do. Instead of asking, “What if?” Jesus said, “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” (Matthew 26:39). In Barb’s book, Winning the Worry Battle, she said, “Switching from ‘What if’ to ‘God, if’ flips you from fear to faith.” You learn to trust God’s outcome rather than what you can never control.

Matthew 6:25-27

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

That’s worth repeating—will your worries add a single moment to your life?

What if we, instead, let go and let God?

Questions:

How does anxiety take up space in your life? When has living in fear ever made a positive difference for you?

Next Steps:

Pick up your Bible, find an accountability partner, attend a weekend service, and find a Group to lean on to curb anxiety before it starts. Start a prayer journal and highlight when “God, if” becomes more rewarding than “What if.”

Prayer:

Father, God, my fears outweigh my faith more than I realize. I pray that I continue to find comfort in your promises when doubt creeps in. Thank you for healing me when my lack of faith attempts to break my spirit. Amen.