Skip to main content

Anxiety

             Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (Psalm 139:23)

 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  (Philippians 4:6)

 

One of the meta-thoughts (thoughts about thoughts) I’ve been considering over the past week is the idea that a condition is not the same as a feeling. Put another way, my feelings may not be my condition, or may not reflect my condition. One can feel “in love” without loving or being a loving person. One can be afraid while recognizing that there really isn’t anything to be afraid of.

When I was in Toastmasters, one of the things I learned was that there’s little physiological difference between anxiety and excitement, but we associate bad things with anxiety, and good things with excitement. And, we associate bad things with our situation when we’re focused on the situation, and good things about our situation when we’re focused on God.

Viktor Frankl’s experiences in German concentration camps taught us something more about our experiences. Reactions are not responses. Reactions are automatic and reflexive, often involving feelings, images, and ideas over which we have no control. Responses return us to thinking individuals with free will.

The problem with reactions is that we’re frequently trapped by them, and while they generate lots of energy, they don’t go anywhere. I notice this when I feel overwhelmed and anxious. I spend a lot of time and energy on the situation. Eventually, I calm down enough to pick something and act, but how much more I could get done if I’d shorten the screaming time and get started doing sooner.

Let’s consider the process.

Something Happens

Reaction – emotion of some sort

Response – brain reconnects

Action

(I had to laugh as I made the list. My previous dog, Honey, had issues. If you didn’t let her know you were there or didn’t get her attention before trying to do something to her, you could watch the process. She would freak out and attack, and after a little while, you could see her brain reconnect: “Oh, it’s you.”)

So, the keys are to focus on God as early in the process as possible and to shorten the reaction phase – making it more of a time of prayerfully observing and questioning. What is the real problem? Why is it a problem? What does God suggest you do about it? The sooner you think and pray, the better.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more