I recently started using a CPAP because of severe sleep apnea. The first moments I tried on the mask were not positive. It felt like I couldn’t breathe out at all. Since I have asthma, that’s a familiar and scary feeling, so I had an anxiety attack right there in the poor respiratory therapist’s office. The good news is that we got through it, and I am using the CPAP successfully and sleeping much better than I was before.

Anxiety attacks are not a common phenomenon for me, but general anxiety is something I deal with, as many do. After all, there’s a lot in this life for me to worry about: sons, husband, daughters-in-law, grandson, friends going through various trials, getting my research program going again, going back to the classroom full-time after too many years out of it, leaving the department in someone else’s hands. I could go on at length.

I do want to be clear that I’m not only talking about baseless concerns. There are real current problems or significant transitions going on in every case I mentioned above. But God tells us not to worry, even in cases of real concern. The point of Matthew 6:25-33 isn’t that we don’t need food and clothing. God knows that our lives here on earth do require such things. However, Jesus tells us not to worry about them.

It’s easy to beat up on ourselves about worry. The reasons we’re told to avoid it are clear. It doesn’t accomplish anything. Time spent worrying about my family members changes nothing about their situation. There are things I can do to get my research on track and prepare for my courses this spring, but worrying is not one of them. In addition, worry indicates a lack of faith. If God is in charge, we don’t need to worry. We need to trust that he’s got it.

However, I have always found that kicking myself about my worrying doesn’t help a whole lot with it. It mostly makes me anxious about my worrying. The Bible gives us some help on this one. The first source comes at the end of that passage in Matthew, where Jesus tells us to seek God first. Matthew 6:33 often gets pulled out of context, and it is good advice in general, but the words come as the final part of the message on worry Jesus gives us here. If we are focused on seeking God rather than everything else, we will worry less.

There’s another passage that speaks to me on this subject with great reassurance: “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 ESV). In this passage, Paul gives us a great formula for avoiding worry: 1) We ask God about everything with urgency and thankfulness and 2) God gives us peace.

One of my challenges is that I feel that I need to get rid of these feelings of anxiety. But that’s not really my job. My job is to seek God first and to let him know about everything. Paul makes that point, and Peter tells us to cast all of our anxieties (or cares) on Jesus (1 Peter 5:9). If we do that (often many, many times), Paul tells us that God’s peace will protect our hearts and minds. We’re not going to change our feelings by berating ourselves for them, but God can and will ease our anxiety if we entrust him with all of our cares. 

Even those about worrying.

 

Photo by Anh Nguyen on Unsplash