Suddenly those thoughts become like children running around in circles by the pool where all you want to say (and yell) is "Sit down!!" That is what I, figuratively, did this morning. I told my thoughts: "Sit down."
I envisioned each thought as a child. I placed that "child" in a lawn chair and said: "Stay!" I pointed my finger at it too. I then militantly walked down the aisle of chairs keeping an eye on all these "children". I was going to deal with them one by one.
This felt much better than the usual SPLAT that seems to land across my brain in the mornings. I feel overwhelmed, out of breath and great, I'm not even out of bed yet. I may not even have a lot to do. But, the thought of something undone looms and bothers me into anxiety until it is completed.
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you, (1 Peter 5:7)." Let's be honest here. This is a constant battle. My anxious thoughts don't want to go to the Lord for processing. They want to go to me. They beckon and bark at me until the matter is resolved. They don't want the peace of the Lord. Like children, they want attention and want it N-O-W!!!
Anxiety demands our urgent reaction. Out of control anxiety overtakes us, ultimately causing us to be impulsive and potentially irrational at times. It is almost like we have to bow down to it and just give in for the madness to stop. Like the insane child that runs around the pool without any caution so is anxiety without boundaries. It is all consuming.
I recently read Isaiah 44: 6-23 about the gods that others bowed to which were formed from logs of wood and other earthen materials. Isaiah is keen to illustrate how odd it is that people bow and worship these gods who "...know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand," (Is. 44:18 NASB). It doesn't seem like in this day and age that worshipping a block of wood is everyman's struggle. Most of our gods that obsess our minds are other people: people you might know, or people you don't like like celebrities, sports figures or politicians. Images of others and the consuming thoughts that are cultivated when viewing these images could be considered a potential god too. But what about other intangible gods? What struggles does our culture predominately face?
We are a culture that is BUSY. Insanely incredibly busy. If we aren't running, it feels like something is wrong with us. People encourage rest, but it can be very hard to give ourselves permission to do so. Being busy could be a god.
Let's look at anxiety. It could be a god too. I knew a person who'd ask: "Well, how's that working for you?" Meaning, we dwell in something that works for us until it no longer works for us, be it positive and/or be it negative. And incidentally, since breed more of the same, (positivity breeds positivity and negativity breeds negativity) wouldn't we stay in one or the other because that's what we are used to? If being negative works for us, then we are likely going to continue to do it. If we are continually anxious and it works for us, then it is likely we'll continue in that too.
Hold the phone. Anxiety doesn't work for us. Maybe the adrenaline that occurs in the rush of something is a temporary help, but it's damaging if it is a permanent one. Maybe this is why the Lord so wisely said: Give your anxious thoughts to me because I care for you. I.E. He'll take care of it.
So, what if instead of allowing anxiety to consume my every fiber do I turn it into the Lord and say "Peace be still! God you take it, deal with it. I am NOT going to worry about it." And with each reoccurrence of that anxious thought you allow it to float on by and send it to the Lord? I have been on a trek where I've seen this happen and it works EVERYTIME. I'm not kidding. I'm amazed... but I really should have just assumed that God would work it out. Why did I try to handle it myself?
Another thought. Many teachers wisely instruct us to dwell on "Who we are in Christ". Who does Christ say we are and how can we be more like Him? Today I considered: "Who am I in anxiety? What does anxiety say about me and how am I going to be more like it." Ick. I didn't really like these thoughts. Further, it shocked me that even though I'd like to say I don't give power to worry or fear, I really do. I allow it to manifest itself in me, attach and shake me till I'm nuts. Who am I in anxiety? A person running around with her head cut off, fearful and conflicted. Who am I in Christ? A person who is grounded, steady, allowing nothing to move her and at peace.
It's a big battle to cross from the side of dwelling in anxiety to the side of dwelling in Christ, but this is a battle worth fighting. It will prolong your life and lead to peace. Peace that can be best described from a phrase of the song: "It is Well with My Soul"*. "When peace like a river attendeth my way..." Dwelling in Christ, not in anxiety, is the side where the children at the pool play nicely and don't have to be barked down so they stay put. Fighting the battle of giving anxiety to the Lord is overall far greater and far more worthwhile than the battle of wrestling and focusing on the anxiety itself. Remember a god is what you make of it. "Shall I bow down to a block of wood?" (Is. 44:19).
So, who or what is that in your life? Give yourself the litmus test of finding out Who am I in this god? Ask Christ to change and forgive you from these idolatrous ways, asking Him to fill them with Himself. Release these anxious thoughts to our Lord and be refreshed in all who Christ is, because He has given us permission to do so.
You may even want to try sitting by the pool.
"Do Not Worry" Matthew 6:25-34
25 “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? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
What are your thoughts?
*"It Is Well with My Soul" Horatio G. Spafford, 1873.
© 2013 Candice Irion. All rights reserved.
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