Wise words can heal a heavy heart. This past week I preached on overcoming anxiety. Anxiety may be defined as uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger. This is one of the most common disorders in the U.S., affecting over 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18% of U.S. population).

Anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion a year, almost one-third of the country’s $148 billion total mental health bill, according to “The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders,” (The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60(7), July 1999).  The good news is that you can overcome anxiety in your life. You may wonder how can I overcome anxiety in my life?  You can overcome anxiety by heeding the wisdom of God’s word.  One of the wisest men who ever lived, King Solomon, penned these words 3,000 years ago:

Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. Proverbs 12:25

We see that there are a number or reasons for anxiety:

1. Anxiety may be caused by physiological reasons.

One of the first places to start with are physiological reasons. When you feel troubled, your body releases a stress hormone called cortisol. Along with managing the fight or flight response, cortisol has many other important jobs. One of the biggest ones is controlling our blood sugar. When our blood sugar lowers, cortisol raises it back to normal range. This is why we can feel edgy or upset when we miss a meal.

If low-blood sugar makes you feel anxious and sugary foods raise our blood sugar it would seem that they would help anxiety – so we load up on empty carbs. In fact the exact opposite is true.  Because sugary foods raise our blood sugar so fast, they cause it to drop more than missing a meal would.  When we eat sugar, our blood sugar is apt to drop off badly for several days afterwards.  A physiological problem needs a physiological solution.

2. Anxiety may be caused by external reasons.

When you experience a new and potentially dangerous situation outside of your comfort zone it’s normal to experience anxiety.

As you can see below,  as you develop competency your level of anxiety decreases:

3. Anxiety may be caused by psychological reasons.

Psychologist Martin Seligman’s and his colleagues discovered the concept of learned helplessness which is a mental state in which an individual becomes unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with negative stimuli, even if they are escapable because they lose hope that the situation can change.  We become consumed with negative self-talk:  generalization, irrational thinking, emotional – catastrophizing, and self-pity.

This may manifest itself in a variety of fears; a major is fear about your needs. Food and clothing represent our basic needs in life. If God can handle the big stuff then He can handle the little stuff. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His listeners,

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Matthew 6:25

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34

We are to pray and let God take care of the worry – we must learn how to turn our cares into prayers. It’s been said, “Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.”

Another common fear is that of man. You start interpreting situations personally and becoming overly concerned what other people think of you.  We end up buying things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.  It is only the fear of God that can that can deliver us from the fear of man.

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25

Many people have anxiety over a fear of failure or the unknown. You may have failed but that doesn’t make you a failure.  Mark Twain said, “I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”  As a Christian you must remember that you are never alone but God is always with you.  Be encouraged by these words of Jesus,

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:26-27

Finally, you may be feeling anxious because of sin in your life. The Psalmist realized,

For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin. (Psalm 38:8)

Just as a physiological problem needs a physiological solution, so a spiritual problem needs a spiritual solution.

So how do I overcome anxiety in my life?  It starts with prayer,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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)

The hymn writer said it well, “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!  Corrie ten Boom wisely observed, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

Our prayer involves giving our anxiety over to Jesus,

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Is there any anxiety weighing you down?  The picture at the beginning of this post are anxieties that people placed on a cross as a physical manifestation of “casting all their anxiety upon Jesus.”  Don’t allow anxiety to burden you – give it to Jesus,  He’ll in turn give you His peace.

 

Associate Pastor – Discipleship. The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

Follow me on twitter: rickhiggins5