Finding Peace in a World of High Anxiety

The film “High Anxiety,” Mel Brooks’ comedic spoof of Alfred Hitchcock-style suspense mysteries, was released in 1977. Without going into what the film was about, it occurs to me that high anxiety might be a good way of describing many people today, nearly 50 years later.

 

Ever feel like you're approaching a waterfall,
about to go over the edge?

Every day it seems we encounter more and more reasons for feeling anxious and nervous about our everyday lives and society in general. According to one online source, high anxiety can result from the complex interaction of many factors, some of genetic, environmental, and
psychological origin. Stressful life events and many kinds of trauma also can trigger high levels of anxiety. 

 

As I’ve mentioned before, just a daily dose of broadcast news is sufficient to put our teeth on edge. Frankly, I think that’s the newscasters’ goal. You know the mantra, “If it bleeds, it leads”?

 

Anxiety is something I’ve dealt with a lot over the course of my life. Sometimes I couldn’t even trace the source of my anxious state of mind; some days I still wake up with troubling thoughts coursing through my mind. It might involve family matters, finances, making difficult decisions regarding the future, or a variety of other things.

 

When those moments arise, I’ve concluded I have two choices: I can continue to dwell on them, fretting and worrying about things that for the most part I can’t control. Or I can pray, entrusting my concerns to the Lord, since He’s fully capable of handling them. He doesn’t need my help.

 

Several Bible verses serve as reminders of the benefits of letting go of my anxieties and allowing God to deal with them instead. One of my favorites is 1 Peter 5:7, which says we’re to “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” When circumstances seem overwhelming, this enables me to pray, ‘Here You are, Lord. I’ll let You wrestle with this. Thank you.”

 

Another powerful passage is found in the fourth chapter of Philippians. After being admonished to “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” we’re given this assurance: “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 4:4,6-7).

 

Rejoicing – and giving thanks. Those are two activities that seem foreign to many of us when we’re struggling with trials and challenges that have reduced us to bundles of nerves. But they’re important, because doing so means acknowledging our trust in the Lord and His sovereign control of even the most difficult times in our lives.

 

I just finished reading The Hiding Place, written by Corrie ten Boom. It’s about her experiences in Nazi concentration camps after she and her family had harbored Jewish fugitives in their home in the Netherlands during World War II. Even though the events she describes occurred more than 80 years ago, they still seem unbelievable. How could humans be so inhumane?

 

At one point Corrie and her sister, Betsie, were assigned to a huge dormitory jammed with women who also had been arrested and sentenced to grueling labor and horrific living conditions. On top of everything, they discovered their beds – if they could be called that – were infested with fleas.

 

How could things get worse? Corrie wondered. However, her sister encouraged her to be thankful even for the fleas. Corrie found this incomprehensible – until they discovered that the dormitory was the only place they were free from the hateful watch of the Nazi guards. The reason? Because the guards didn’t want to be anywhere near the fleas.

 

The Psalms are replete with declarations about how we can find peace with the Lord even in the most difficult, anxiety-causing circumstances. One I often call to mind is Psalm 55:22, “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.” That is not a ‘hope-so’ statement but one of confident assurance, the earnest expectation that the Lord will always do as He has promised.

 

I could cite many more examples, but here’s one that King David, during one of the many times of fierce opposition that he faced during his reign, wrote: “I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

 

Whether I wake up in the morning with anxious thoughts filling my mind, or something distressing happens during the day, I try to remind myself to rest in promises like these. Even in the troubling 21^st century, we can choose either to endure high anxiety, or to trust in the Lord and cast our fears and concerns upon Him.

What’s Your Vision for the Near and Distant Future?

How’s your vision? I’m not referring to the kind that’s evaluated by an optometrist or an eye chart. What I’m referring to is the vision you have for the coming days – in your marriage, your family, your career, your finances, even for your spiritual life. 

Someone might respond, “No one knows what the future holds.” We often hear that and it’s true. But it’s also true that, as an adage reminds us, if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.

 

“Where are we going?” “How are we going to get there?” “How will we know when we’ve arrived?” For many companies, these questions are answered by their mission statement. This statement expresses why the company exists, what it does, whom it serves, and how it functions.

 

But some companies take it one step further, adopting a vision statement. It describes the future that the organization and its employees envision and hope to achieve. I’ve had the privilege of writing books about three companies like this. Their leaders are very much aware of the day-to-day, but also have an eye toward the future in terms of growth and impact on the people they serve.

 

Vision is important not only for businesses, but also for individuals and families. I know of some people who have formulated a personal mission or purpose statement. This helps in answering questions like, “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” and “What am I to do?” But creating a vision does even more. It helps in defining things like who you would like to become, what you would like to see happening in your family’s future, and the kind of legacy you would like to leave.

 

King Solomon, considered by some the wisest man who ever lived, made this observation: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is one who keeps the law” (Proverbs 29:18). Another translation is even more sobering: “Where there is no vision, the people perish….” Yet another version says, “…the people run wild.”

 

The “vision” Solomon referred to is prophetic vision, a revelation of God and what He expects of His people. Surveying the landscape of contemporary society, it seems clear that in many respects there’s no vision. As a consequence, people are perishing, both literally and figuratively. Watching the evening news, it’s also evident that some are “running wild.”

 

We might say the entire Word of God is about the Lord’s vision for His creation. In Genesis 1:27, we read, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He creation him; male and female He created them.” Then in the next verse it says, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number….’” Another translation says the command was to “be fruitful and multiply.”

 

The context makes clear that God’s intent wasn’t for mankind just to populate the earth. He wanted more men, women and children “in His own image.” That means people that would accurately represent His character, attributes and values.

 

Getting back to the question of whether you have considered developing a vision for yourself and your family – where do you see yourself and them a year from now, or five years from now?What would you like to see – in both the near and not-so-near future?

 

Having a personal vision doesn’t have to be complicated. But it could help you answer questions such as those listed earlier in this post: Where are we going? How are we going to get there? How will we know when we’ve arrived?

 

Becoming a godly individual, what the apostle Paul described as a “faithful man” in 2 Timothy 2:2, doesn’t happen automatically. It takes intentionality and determination. There’s no simple, five-step formula for making this happen. But it does help to have a plan. 

 

We can set reasonable goals – what would we like to accomplish, and how to go about doing it. And we should have a vision for what we would like to see the Lord do in our lives, so that one day we can experience the fulfillment of Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

 

It’s true that we don’t know what the future holds, but as followers of Christ we know the One who holds the future. As Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch author and World War II concentration camp survivor wrote, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

 

Jesus taught His followers, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). That’s having a vision for the future.

 

The life we experience on earth, in the light of eternity, is what the Scriptures term “just a vapor.” But eternity, as a grade-school youngster observed, is “a really long time.” What’s your vision for the impact your life can have for eternity?

Concentrating on the Knowns, Not Overwhelmed by the Unknowns

When confronting any crisis, whether a pandemic, a foreboding weather forecast, financial challenges, a difficult career decision, or just the fickle nature of the future, we hate having to deal with the unknown.

Years ago, Donald Rumsfeld, while serving as Secretary of Defense during the Gulf War, spoke about that in describing the uncertainties of warfare. He said there are “known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns.” 

Just a few months ago we were eagerly looking ahead to 2020, expecting many wonderful surprises. Well, it brought surprises, but a lot of them weren’t what we anticipated. At the dawn of the new year, our “known knowns” were easy: Such as where we went to work, income we could count on, the place where we worshipped, and plans we were making for the months ahead. 

The unknowns in our lives were more problematic, of course. Our “known unknowns” included things like whether the economy would continue to thrive, if we would receive that promotion or pay raise we were hoping for, what new people would come into our lives, or how our favorite teams would fare during the upcoming season.

Then a thing called the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic came out of nowhere toward the end of January, becoming the greatest “unknown unknown” we had ever encountered. Who knew it was coming, or even imagined it? In its wake, many of the things we thought we knew went by the wayside. 

Lots of people had their work dramatically change; others had their jobs disappear in an instant, even if only temporarily. Money many folks counted on suddenly wasn’t there. We no longer worried about whether our favorite teams would be successful; it became a matter of if they would play at all. And our homes became our “places of worship.” It seems “unknown unknowns” can have that effect on us.

Commenting on this, Philip DeCourcy, pastor of Kindred Church in Anaheim Hills, Calif., acknowledged life’s unknowns have always been at best unsettling, at worst tragic. They can overwhelm us, dump us into states of fear and despair, or immobilize us like a deer staring into headlights. For that reason, he said, we’re wise to focus instead on the “known knowns,” those things that can serve as a refuge in the midst of a storm.

These, for those who know Jesus Christ and believe what we read in the Scriptures, can provide comfort beyond measure. Because if we were to count them, we would find hundreds upon hundreds of “known knowns” in the Bible. Truths both timeless and unchanging.

Where to start? Here’s an obvious one: “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We don’t have to worry about whether our relationship with Him will change, or if His love for us will fade. Similarly, in Revelation 4:8 we read about the angels declaring, “’Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was and is and is to come.” He is eternal, has always been and always will be.

In times of distress, we might want to cry out, “Lord, where are you?” But the Bible says that should not trouble us. Just before His ascension to heaven, Jesus told His followers, “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). God made a similar promise in the Old Testament, assuring His chosen people of Israel, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). 

Does COVID-19 or its economic impact still keep you awake at night? Or maybe a problem totally unrelated to the pandemic? The Scriptures give us many promises of God’s presence, provision and protection, but one of the most familiar is Philippians 4:6-7, “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.” When we present our concerns to Him through prayer, the Lord promises to give us peace and assurance that He is working through our circumstances.

You get the idea: We can wallow in the wilderness of unknowns, both the ones we’re aware of and those we don’t know about yet. Or we can concentrate on the things we know for sure, especially the unwavering truths God gives us in His Word.

I like how the late author Corrie ten Boom expressed it. In her book, The Hiding Place, she tells about the horrors of World War II, and how she and her family provided refuge for many Jews in the Netherlands, sheltering them from the Nazis and the Holocaust. Corrie’s faith in Christ sustained her during that time, causing her to later write, “Never be afraid to commit an unknown future to a known God.” 

Who Me, Worry?

Flashback from my teenage years: In the heyday of the satirical MAD magazine, its mascot and cover boy, Alfred E. Neuman, was known by the famous tagline, “What, me worry?” The iconic, gap-toothed fellow certainly didn’t appear smart enough to worry, even if there was something worth worrying about.

For many of us, however, this isn’t true. In fact, a friend once told me, “I can’t think of anything I should be worrying about. That worries me.” These days there’s no shortage of worrisome matters competing for our concern, ranging from global terrorism to natural disasters to the how our favorite football team will fare in the fall to the everyday uncertainties of life.

Recently, after yet another senseless shooting in a Louisiana motion picture theater, a news commentator asked two eyewitnesses if they had ever thought about going to see a movie and being confronted by someone bringing a gun and opening fire. “What a dumb question,” I thought. Do we sit in our homes, worrying about whether an airplane will fall on top of them? That happens once in a while, you know. Do I drive down the road, fretting that a sinkhole will suddenly open up, swallowing my car and me? That occasionally occurs, too. If we agonized about every potential calamity we might encounter, we’d never go or do anything.

Sure there are things we should be concerned about and when appropriate, take precautions. Like not leaving a toddler sitting on a kitchen counter unattended. Or trying to drive defensively, in case the operator of the approaching car does something stupid. Or striving to live within our income, even setting aside some money if possible, in case of unexpected expenses.

But imagine how much mental and emotional energy unnecessary that worry costs us. In one of her books, the late Corrie ten Boom, who experienced more than her share of hardship and grief, wrote, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

It also has the effect of inviting gloom into an otherwise bright, carefree day. Some unknown sage put it this way: “Worry pulls tomorrow's cloud over today's sunshine.”

I’ve not been a stranger to worry over the years. In difficult times, if you can’t think of anything to do, worrying at least feels like you’re doing something. Adapting MAD magazine’s mantra, I’ve sometimes admitted, “What me, worry? Uh…yeah!” But as ten Boom and Mr./Ms. Anonymous have noted, all that worry really accomplishes is to pull a potential shadow from the future and use it to enshroud the present.

So if we’re not to worry, what should we do? Many admonitions from the Scriptures are helpful, but three immediately come to mind. One is Philippians 4:6-7, which says, “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.”

The second is 1 Peter 5:7, which simply states, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” And the third is Isaiah 41:10, which pictures us in the midst of turmoil: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Reading these passages, we’re tempted to respond, “That’s easier said than done.” True, but our response reveals what we believe about God. Walking with God always comes down to obedience, putting faith into action. As Oswald Chambers writes, “Even at the risk of being thought of as fanatical, you must obey what God tells you.”

So when tempted to repeat the immortal words of Alfred E. Neuman and ask ourselves, “What, me worry?” as people of faith our answer should be, “No, I’m trusting God instead.”