Tag Archives: Anxiety

#23 and 24

26 Tuesday Mar 2019

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#23 The Sermon on the Mount by Sinclair Ferguson, 1987

This classic has sat on our bookshelf at home for decades – and if I picked it up previously, there is no indication of it. I’m glad I waited until this season in my life to read it, so that I could blog about it. It’s a great work with a lot packed into about 200 pages. I highly recommend it because while Matthew 5-7 could arguably be some of the greatest chapters in the Bible, I also think it can be some of the most difficult to interpret.

I enjoyed Sinclair’s teaching on the beatitudes–blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the peacemakers, the meek, and persecuted. I struggle to remember why it is that we are blessed if we are poor in spirit. And, I also have a hard time with blessed are those who mourn. So, Sinclair’s explanation on these two passages was especially helpful. He says that to be poor in spirit is to be emptied of our own sin-impoverished soul apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit–to be emptied of “self-confidence, self-importance and self-righteousness. I need to memorize that!

The mourning Jesus is referring to is grieving over our own sin. I need to be grieved over my sins. Not the sins I committed decades ago. I trust I’ve moved on–repentantly–but to mourn the sin I committed a couple minutes ago. That is when we are comforted with the forgiving love of the Father.

My favorite part of the book, however, was toward the end when he devotes a whole chapter on Anxiety. (Chapter 12, Anxiety States Cured).

Here’s a quote from that section:

Jesus’ teaching is not a form of ‘power of positive thinking.’ The problem with anxious people is not merely that they think negatively about life. It is much more radical than that. Anxious people think untheologically about life! Their mistake is not that they have low self-images; it is that in all their thoughts there is no room for God. It is only when their focus upon the Lord is restored that they can finally experience the conquest of anxiety.

Anxiety–along with depression–is a way of life for many in this present age. And often we try and fix the problem with drugs. Legal and illegal. But is that fixing the problem or just numbing the soul so we’re not bothered by the entrenched sin within? I think we’re just numbing ourselves. And, I promise, I’m not saying this is an easy fix for many who battle with anxiety. But, I also think that the problem continues because we are not waging war against this battle with the right tools. If this is a struggle for you, I especially recommend this chapter.

I wrote about anxiety over four years ago. If you want to read more of my take on the subject (based largely on a few excellent books), you may find it here.

#24 Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne, 1996.

I bought this book during the years I was enjoying a summer week at Brookstone Camp. Some of my favorite weeks–ever. Blogged about that too four years ago. Oh the joy that floods my soul when I think about those weeks. Sheer fun. Bringing the love of Jesus to children who are eager, filled with wonder, and easy to love. That’s how I remember them.

This book is eye-opening to the ways and thinking of people living in poverty in America. It sounds very tragic and entrenched. There are a couple of key factors in making it out of this life style. They involve emotional, mental and spiritual resources. I prefer to think of it this way:

  1. Great mentors. (emotional resources)
  2. Excellent education. (mental resources)
  3. The people of God sharing the love of God. (spiritual resources)

Brookstone School does all three of these things well. Is it any wonder it’s my favorite place in Charlotte, North Carolina?

#40 Anxiety

30 Friday Oct 2015

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Three days from now I will finish a Philippians study with a few fabulous women at seminary. I’ve known most of them for only three short months, yet in that time they have become forever friends—friends I plan to spend eternity with—an eternity that hopefully involves downhill snow skiing—at least occasionally.

The topic for Monday night is twofold: anxiety and contentment. I taught it this summer to an older group of lovely women at my church. In that group I was the youngest—in this group I am the oldest. I am having a little anxiety of my own trying to decide how to teach on the very same subject that I taught on three months ago. Because, our anxiety and contentment issues are surely different when we are in our twenties, than when we are in our nineties. (Yes, I had two ninety-something year old women in Bible study this summer, who I also hope to snow ski with in eternity).

I plan to start our evening by asking: What brings you anxiety? I’m curious to see what they say. For when I asked this question to the older group, they gave answers such as: the health of my husband, my children don’t know Jesus, friends or family members out of work, and living with chronic pain. These are all legitimate, anxiety-producing issues. If I’m to be honest with myself and God, I have worried over these same issues in various seasons of my own life.   And, yes, there is some tinge of anxiety every time I lead or teach a group of women.

But all anxieties are not created equal. Some are debilitating and some are just annoying and evaporate quickly. Like this “chronic pain” issue—that one stays with me. But after I teach—whether I think I’ve done my Savior justice or totally floundered in my words—my anxiety is over.

My husband thinks I have no anxiety—ever. He wishes I had just a little—the kind needed to keep yourself safe from danger—or a wife who cares just a little about what others may think of her housekeeping abilities.

But for many, anxiety is a very serious issue.  And because I have little to no anxiety, perhaps I’m not the one that can speak to this subject. Or, I could flip that around, and say because I have little to no anxiety, I am the perfect person to bear witness to anxiety-free living. Personally, however, I attribute my anxiety levels to being a gift from God. And I am certain that the minute I was to take credit for a lack of anxiety, I would become a very anxious-ridden soul.

Expert or not, here’s what I think perpetuates an anxious heart:

We think too much of ourselves, and too little of God.

So, if I may elaborate …

One, we navel gaze … in other words, we worry too much about what others think of us and how we come across to those we think are thinking about us.  (My husband loves to remind his clients–and me as well–that people really aren’t thinking about you nearly as much as you think they are.)

And two, we think we know what’s best for our lives.  We think we have life figured out and know what we want. Yet we often want the wrong things, and when we don’t get what we think we want, we pout or become mad at God or others. So, when we rely on others to make us happy instead of relying on God and his infinite wisdom for our lives, what we get is an anxious heart.

I think our biggest problem is that we still haven’t discovered how incredible, mighty, lavish and holy our great God is.

We know what our wretched self is capable of—yet we care little about trying to fix the serious flaws that render us ineffective and unproductive toward lasting change. And we know way too little about how mind-blowing God can be in our lives IF we would  surrender EVERYTHING into his powerful hands. He is in the details. He does know that we hurt. He does know that our children are still very far from him. BUT the fabulous truth is that he not only knows, he also cares and he is also near. He has never left you or forsaken you, not for a minute. But sadly, we stay ignorant of this knowledge, and continue to run our own agendas, inviting God into the mix when things aren’t going our way.

I think Calvin was right to start his Institutes with “knowing ourselves and knowing God.” For when we are honest about who we are—with a repentant heart—and seek—with that repentant heart—to know God as he reveals himself to us—in His Word, through Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit—in the smallest details of our everyday lives—I do believe we will get smaller, He will get bigger, and our anxieties will diminish.

It’s just my opinion. I could be wrong. But it surely wouldn’t hurt to try.

p.s. I greatly appreciated the wisdom from two books on these topics:  Tim Lane, Worry Free Living, and Bill Barcley, The Secret of Contentment.  I read them this summer in preparation for Philippians chapter four, and I thoroughly enjoyed them both.  I whole-heartedly agree with their godly perspective on the topics of anxiety and contentment.