Proverbs 12:25 (NIV)
Anxiety weighs down the heart,
but a kind word cheers it up.
What is anxiety?
Almost everyone knows what anxiety feels like, and many of us could identify what we are anxious about, but few could actually tell us what anxiety is.
- Anxiety originates from the broken state of a person's inner life and world which, left untreated, leads to disordered affections and ambitions.
- Anxiety, a condition we all have to a greater or lesser degree, comes from a perennial and sometimes pervasive sense of insecurity at the core of one's being.
- Anxiety is so challenging because it isolates us from its antidote, which can only be found in healthy relationships with other people.
- Anxiety's obvious manifestation is withdrawal from relationships. Its less obvious expression can be seen when people unhealthily enmesh themselves with others, also known as codependence.
Because we are all broken people, we all struggle with anxiety to a greater or lesser degree. Though not intended by God, anxiety has become a normal way of existing in the world. In the opening chapters of Genesis (1-3), anxiety does not arrive on the scene until deception, mistrust, and disobedience appear.
Anxiety weighs down the heart,
but a kind word cheers it up.
There are a plethora of unhealthy ways we try to cover over our anxiety. People typically (and often unknowingly) self-medicate their anxiety through strategies of accumulation, achievement, anger, avoidance, abdication, and addiction. Anxiety typically goes in one of two directions: aggression or apathy – both of which commonly present themselves through some dimension of depression.
There is a far more helpful and enduring way of dealing with anxiety. Listen to these words from Paul:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)
Note, this is not a simple trite prescription that says to just pray about it. This is about a complete reorientation and renovation of one's innermost self.
The peace of God transcends.
It actually breaks through the hard shell of anxiety and creates an alternative environment in our inner world. The environment is called the peace of God. This is not a "Keep calm and carry on," kind of peace, but a supernatural peace, an unexplainable peace. This peace guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Ironically, until our hearts and our minds are under the guard and watch-care of the peace of God, we are forced to guard them ourselves, which is where so much anxiety comes from in the first place.
Anxiety weighs down the heart,
but a kind word cheers it up.
This is a long-game strategy. It takes time and a very intentional Holy Spirit empowered soul work. And it is impossible to work through it alone. That's why we always need others in our lives. And at the same time, our words build up and alleviate the anxiety of others in our circle.
Anxiety weighs down the heart,
but a kind word cheers it up.
PRAYER
Our Father, because you are peace, your presence brings peace. Jesus gave us his peace, and the Holy Spirit carries peace to and fro all day long. I am anxious. Open up a new way in my soul that I might begin to lay down my anxiety and become a carrier of peace. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
PROMPTS
- Where does anxiety come from?
I'm not asking what is causing anxiety in any given moment, but where it comes from. - What would it look like if I began dealing with the root causes of anxiety in my life rather than trying to escape the symptoms of it?
- How might we help one another to deal with our anxiety and not serve to escalate it?
Comments