Anxiety – TGN

Help For The Downhearted

Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 05:30:50 +0000

It’s another year. Not even a month has passed, yet I’m already quaking under the weight of the responsibility of what lies ahead. The forecast is looking bleak again. I read my Bible on New Year’s Day, and promised to begin a reading plan. This will be the year when I finally read through the entire Bible for the first time! But alas, I didn’t read it yesterday, nor the day before that. In fact, I haven’t even begun a Bible plan yet. I really want to but I’ve missed quite a few days already and my enthusiasm is dying down. I fear this year might just be like the last and I’m feeling the depression coming on. Maybe I’ll join in my Church’s 21 days fast which was announced last week. I am not very good at fasting, but my Pastor said I have to fast and pray if I want God to bless me. So, help me God, that’s what I’ll do.

(The musings of Christian A are ended).

I promised myself I wasn’t going back, yet here am I; I’ve done it again! I really thought I was strong enough to do it on my own. After all the prophecies I received at the start of the New Year, nothing seems to have changed. My addictions are stronger now than ever before. I really thought I had broken free of my lust, I really thought I was free. Just the other Lord’s day I responded when the man of God made an altar call to sow a seed into our righteousness this year. I am really discouraged right now I feel like giving up. What’s the point of trying when I always come back to square one? It’s not even past the first quarter of the year, and already I feel defeated. Will I ever be able to live a life that pleases God?

(The musings of Christian B are ended).

Biblical Help

Christian A and B are feeling frustrated and at their wits end. Their efforts at making good their resolve to live for God in the New Year have failed them and left them discouraged and dejected. Thus, failing in their resolve, they have lost all will and desire to persevere any longer.

Do their stories sound familiar? Is January quite not what you had hoped it would be? The writer of the 43rd Psalm has some practical help for you.

This is what we read in the last verse of that Psalm:

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

(Psalm 43:5, 42:5, 11).

Most commentators think that David wrote this Psalm and the one that precedes it when he was betrayed by his son Absalom and he fled into the parts beyond the Jordan, or when Saul pursued him and he sought refuge in a strange land, among the heathen. In the verse above, he finds himself awfully distressed by his present circumstances. He feels downhearted and dejected. His soul is in turmoil; it feels like he has reached a cul-de-sac and his frustration is evident. Yet the Psalmist does something that holds a great lesson for every child of God who feels like giving up.

Preach to Yourself

Instead of allowing his disquieted soul to talk to him, David rather talks to his soul, and realigns his perspective of things. Instead of focusing on his emotions and present circumstances, he redirects his focus on God. The word of God should take pre-eminence over all other voices that compete for our attention if we are to live victorious lives as Christians. When David realigned his perspective, he realised that his dejection and state of misery was unwarranted, as he preaches to his soul to hope in God.

Hope in God

Christian A and B are downcast because they feel they have failed themselves and God. They had goals for the New Year that they have not met, habits that they told themselves they can deal with, yet have failed to master, and therefore they feel like giving up. Like David, Christian A and B need to focus on God and not on their own efforts.

Your Worth is Not Based on Your Own Works

Our worth as Christians is not in our works, it is in the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary.

Jesus paid it all on the cross, and purchased our freedom from sin and the wrath of God against our sins. Each time God looks at us, He sees the finished work of Christ based on which we are declared righteous. Our righteousness is not the product of our works—not before we got saved, and not once after we are saved. Christ is our righteousness (1Cor. 1:30).

Fasting and praying are great spiritual disciplines; yet in and of themselves they are not what guarantees our victory over sin. Christ’s finished work is what does. Fasting does not commend us to God; it simply puts us in a place where God can work on us as we humble our hearts and open up to the means of His grace in our lives.

Giving is a great act of worship; however, we can never purchase God’s grace with money, nor His gifts and favour with any seed of offering we can ever give.

Instead of focusing on your own human efforts, take strength in God’s grace. As Paul admonishes, “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power (not yours)” (Eph. 6:10, emphasis added).

Your Sins Do Not Make God Love You Any Less

Christian, your sins are not good enough reason for dejection and misery—Christ has borne them on the cross of Calvary, and His blood continuously cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:7b). Confess your sins to God and move forward in the assurance of His forgiveness (1John 1:9, 2:1).

There is therefore now no condemnation for all those who are in Christ Jesus. Nothing can separate us from His love; neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation—including ourselves, our sins and failings—will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:1, 35-39).

You Shall Yet Praise Him, Your Salvation

Here is the crust of the whole matter: God is your salvation! Christian, do you really trust in God as your soul’s salvation? Then trust Him completely for the working out of every detail of your walk with Him. Trust Him each moment of the day; cast your cares upon Him and you will find that you have nothing to fear.

David said, “for I shall again praise him”. This is a statement of faith and hope in the salvation of God from every enemy that threatens our joy in Him. Though in this life we are fraught with temptation and trials and Satan threatens to undo us, yet God will grant us the grace to persevere and overcome. And soon, when he returns or calls us home, we shall see His face forever and praise for all of eternity He who is our salvation and our God!

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A Cure For Worry

Enoch Anti — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 08:01:34 +0000

Matthew 6:25-34

All too soon, 2018 has come and gone and we have entered a new year. I trust the past year had its own successes. Undoubtedly, I am sure the year also included its own failures. That said, a new year is here with us and in Paul’s words, let us enter the New Year “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:12).

The New Year presents us with many opportunities to amend and improve on areas of our lives where there were failures and forge ahead with confidence. As humans, it is very likely our past experiences, especially where they are not positive experiences may influence our moving forward and if not checked, may slum us into a state of worry, anxiety and in extreme cases hopelessness. To address this, we turn to a very popular sermon delivered by our Lord himself: the Sermon on the Mount. It is so called because the sermon was delivered on a mountain:

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him (Matthew 6:1).

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him Matthew 8:1)

The Sermon on the Mount begins from Matthew 5:2 and ends at Matthew 7: 29. It is considered Jesus’ longest speech in all of the New Testament; stretching about 109 verses. If you use a red letter edition Bible, you will appreciate how long the sermon was. And in this sermon, we see some of Jesus’ most popular words recorded. Our focus for this article will be on Chapter 6 especially from verses 25-31. A bird’s eye view of the Chapter presents us with these divisions:

1) Rebuke of Ostentatious Living: A life of Pretence (vv. 1-13)
2) Forgiveness (vv.14-15)
3) Attitude Towards Money (19-24)
4) Worrying (25-34).

As indicated, the focus of this article will be on verses 25-34 from which we will glean four lessons.

Worrying Is Disobedience

Worrying first and foremost is disobedience to God’s commands. The Bible clearly commands against worry and anxiety. Jesus in His sermon on the mount issued some imperatives against worrying. Continuously we hear him saying “Do not be anxious” (vv. 25; 31; 34). These are not suggestions or pieces of advice Jesus was giving with an option for us to heed to or not. “Do not” is a command and Jesus commands us not to worry. “Don’t!” If Christ says “don’t” and you do, it is simply disobedience. And the things that cause us worry often are the very basic necessities of life: food, clothing and shelter.

This may sound too simplistic but for those of us in the developing world, these indeed are our major headaches. Of course there are other issues to worry about, but the crust of Jesus’ discourse is that your life is more important than these. It is an argument from the greater to the lesser: “If I have given you your life, why can’t I take care of you in these basic necessities” Christ seems to be saying. In this New Year one of the ways you can deal with worry is to look at it as disobedience to the commands of Christ and stop it.

Worrying Is Unbelief

Look at the little phrase in verse 30: “O you of little faith”. This is a rebuke of unbelief. God has promised to take care of us and to worry is to not believe He is able to do what he has promised he will do. To worry is to take matters into our own hands rather than leave them in the capable hands of God. When you worry, you live your life like an unbeliever without hope: “For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” (v.32). God knows your needs and he has promised to take care of us. There are many places in Scripture we are warned to not worry.

Paul says:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

This is very instructive. Whatever will cause you worry and anxiety, Paul says bring it to God. Talk about it with God. And after you have done all that “…the peace of God will guard your hearts” (v. 7). You see where the battle of worry and anxiety takes place? In your heart and mind; and God has promised to calm the storm of worry and anxiety if you will bring your worries to Him in prayer; “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1Peter 5:7).

Your Life is More Precious Than Birds and Flowers

In verses 26-29, Jesus contrasts the worth of human life to that of animals and plants. Though we are all creations of God, human beings are created in the very image of God. And especially as believers, God’s care is upon us. In fact, he calls us beloved in Christ. If God cares for birds and flowers; how much more you who is created in his image?
One of the things that fascinates me about birds is how they perch on electrical wires but are not electrocuted. Did God foresee a time in human civilisation when there will be live electrical wires on which birds will perch? Hence he gave them cells and tissues appropriate for that? He surely knew. And he structured birds with a system to handle that. This is about his divine Providence:

God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy (Westminster Confession of Faith 5.1).

God knows everything. He knows what we need. He has promised to take care of us and we should learn to trust in him. He has promised never to leave or forsake us.

Worrying Changes Nothing

Worrying will not change anything. Worrying will not heal a sickness. Worrying will not put money in our pockets. Worrying does no good to anyone: “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (v.27KJV). In fact worry may rather worsen our lives. It has been proven that worrying has negative medical effects.

Worrying can have a negative effect on your health, making you tired, stressed, speed up the ageing process and sometimes more prone to depression….When you worry, your body responds to your anxiety the same way it would react to physical danger…. Your heart rate increases, your breathing becomes heavier and you may sweat more…. over a prolonged period of time, raised levels of these chemicals can start to have a toxic effect on the glands, nervous system and the heart, eventually leading to heart attacks, increased risk of stroke and stomach ulcers….You may also become more prone to infections. It is widely accepted that stress and anxiety can lower your immune system, making you more susceptible to picking up colds or more serious illnesses… Worry may also make you absent minded or neglectful of your health…. Excessive worry could even lead into depression.¹

We have a Father who cares: a Father who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Whatever we may experience or go through in this New Year, we can be confident of God’s provision.

Notes:

1. Rosalind Ryan, “What Worrying Does To Your Health”, accessed 18th December, 2018, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-97853/What-worrying-does-health.html

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