Solutions for Anxiety
The most common command in the Bible is “do not worry” or “do not be afraid.” Why would Jesus tell us not to worry when His own “sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” in the garden of Gethsemane (Lk. 22:44)? The truth is that Jesus knows we will worry. Nobody is immune from the anxieties of this world. However, there is comfort when the Maker of the universe reminds us to focus on Him instead of on our anxieties.
In this article, I want us to consider several categories of assessment of and instructions for dealing with anxiety. I want to help ministry leaders look for ways to help people struggling with worry and doubt. Paul’s solution for anxiety and fear in Philippians 4:4-9 will prove helpful. We’ll notice how emotions should serve as teachers. We should listen and be aware of them. Frederick Buechner was right when he said, “Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not, God is speaking to you through them.”[1]
Assessment of the Broken
Sooner or later, you are going to meet broken people in your local church. There are people with whom you worship each Sunday who are unfinished, immature, stumbling, forgetful, and tone deaf. There are regulars who come each week. You know their names and where they work. And then there are those who have come for the first time, and they may be at the very end of their road. Rosaria Butterfield explains, “[W]e may never know the treacherous journey people have taken to land in the pew next to us.”[2]
As ministry leaders, we need to understand the person in the pew and understand their problems, their life, and their struggles. Be patient with them and develop a relationship with them as soon as possible. Once a relationship is formed, they will soon reveal their anxieties. It is important to convey early on the hope we have in trusting and following God. All other ground is sinking sand. Be realistic about this change of heart occurring gradually and progressively. Christ has been working on your heart for years, and He will do the same for them.
There are some assessments we can make as ministry leaders to help people in the pew. Take note of their lifestyles: Do they have a healthy diet? Do they work excessively? Do they operate under an unreasonable schedule? These are often triggers for anxiety. See if they have a history of anxiety or fear. This could be personal or related to a family history. Finally, understand their spiritual condition. Start to understand their heart issues. What do they fear above all else? What do they worry about the most? What do they trust for protection and security above anything else? These assessments will help you effectively minister to the struggling person.
Moving from Assessment to Instruction
After making these initial assessments of a person struggling with anxiety, you can then move onto providing some instructions for improvement. First and foremost, make sure they understand the love of God. Two passages are key here:
Matthew 11:28-30: Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.[3]
1 Peter 5:6-7: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.
People struggling with anxiety need to know that Christ cares for them. They need to know He can handle the weight of their fear. C. S. Lewis, dealing with his own form of anxiety, rightly noted, “I need Christ, not something that resembles Him.”[4] Don’t offer those struggling with anxiety and fear something that merely resembles Christ. Give them the only Person who can handle the biggest problem in their life.
After helping them understand the love of God, help them develop a Biblical understanding of fear. Fear is an appropriate emotion only when it is directed towards God alone. Fear of God, in respect to His person and work, can actually promote love and faithful obedience (Mk. 4:35-41). Take for example the disciples out on the boat with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus calmed the violent wind and waves, their fear was then appropriately directed towards the Lord. They realized His power as the Son of God (Mk. 4:41).
Distinguishing between ungodly fear and appropriate fear in God is important. Some people will fail to love and fear God above all else. They will run from problems instead of solving them. This will lead only to more fear and a greater sense of threat. This level of anxiety can ultimately lead to panic attacks. How do we help such people? Understand first that you can’t overcome fear by focusing on fear. You have to shift your focus towards God.
Freedom from Anxiety
In order to move past anxiety and fear, you have to confront, with both truth and grace, fear as sin. We are told dozens of times in both the Old Testament and the New Testament not to fear anything except God. It may help to begin by making a detailed list of ungodly fears.[5] Write down all the things about which you or the person you are helping is tempted to worry. Maybe make a separate column listing all the things that you can do nothing about. These are areas only the Lord can control. Focus then on responsibilities you can fulfill in faithful obedience to the Lord.
Philippians 4:4-9 will be helpful to work through with anyone struggling with anxiety:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul’s remedy for anxiety is a deeper trust, confidence, and faith in the One who can handle our problems. Notice the way Paul works through this renewal process of focusing on the Lord. Our affections should always be on Him (Phil. 4:4). Our faith can be strengthened through prayer (Phil. 4:6). Christ can renew our minds (Phil. 4:7). Finally, Paul encourages us to “dwell on these things.” Think about them continually. Anxiety and fear will lead you to focus more on the current problem rather than these areas listed in Philippians 4. Encourage the person you are helping to focus on what they can do and think on.
Conclusion
If the statistics are true, more people in your church are struggling with anxiety and fear than you think. People to whom you minister need lots of gospel, lots of safety, and lots of time. They desperately need all three. Help them understand that God fashioned them with emotions, and do not ignore them. They will need more than well-intentioned quote-the-chapter-and-verse solutions to their pain, though certainly not less. Help them to trust, even when they don’t think they can believe it, that Jesus is with them. He has not abandoned them. He will withhold no good thing from anyone. Let the words of C. S. Lewis bring comfort to their ears:
God is not hurried along in the Time-stream of this universe any more than an author is hurried along in the imaginary time of his own novel, He has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man in the world.[6]
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[1]Frederick Buechner, A Crazy, Holy, Grace: The Healing Power of Pain and Memory (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017), 125.
[2]Rosaria Butterfield, Lecture given for the Center for Faith Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, September 9, 2013; http://multimedia.sebts.edu/?p=4486.
[3]All Scriptural quotations and references come from the Christian Standard Bible.
[4]C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), 65.
[5]I am indebted to Dr. Sam Williams for this helpful strategy. Dr. Williams is Professor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
[6]C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1952), 147.
August 21, 2018
Such good words!
September 6, 2018
I, like all who live in a house of flesh, have struggled with anxiety. Like most troubles that we face repeatedly, experience may be one of the best ways to learn how to react. When I feel any anxiety I generally think of two things. First, experience can help you see your way through and it can be yours, or that of others. Many years ago, after leaving a church ministry suddenly, I found myself with no home. I brought my young family back to live with my parents for a few days. Before we could relocate to a home of our own a fire took practially all of the belongings of my parents and my family. I called my father at work and asked him to come home. He drove up, for out of the car and while looking into the ashes said ” The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Naked I came into the world and naked I will leave”. After a while I asked “What will we do?” He said “Rebuild and go on”. I never saw a moment of anxiety in him. Seeing that has given me much comfort as to the truth of the Scriptural principle of trust/faith to produce comfort in us.
Second, I remind myself that we were designed to sleep 8 hours out of 24 (not that I do that). If we had been expected to produce in the ways some feel we should, we would need less rest by design. Use your time wisely, but remember you must work with what you have been given and that includes time and energy. These two thoughts usually helps keep things in prospective for me. Most of us have too many belongings to worry about ‘things’ and no excess time or energy to waste on anxiety.
Thanks for the article. I sometimes forget that everyone is not as perfect as I am. Now that I have anxiety and humility beaten, what is next?