By Chris WittsMonday 21 Aug 2023Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
For several years, a woman had been having trouble getting to sleep at night because she feared burglars, and one night her husband heard a noise in the house. He went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he found a burglar. Good evening, he said. I’m pleased to see you come upstairs and meet my wife. She’s been waiting 10 years to meet you. Perhaps that’s not such a funny story.
But anxiety is a very real part of many people’s lives and can be quite difficult to live with. Are you an anxious person? Anxiety affects everyone. At some stage, we get stressed, and in spite of our technological advances that make our life easier, we don’t seem to be free from the stress factor. Stress and anxiety can really move in a direction that can be quite scary. We may not even know that we’re experiencing anxiety. I’ve read that a third of everyone will suffer from some kind of anxiety disorder.
So what is anxiety, anyway?
It’s probably best defined as unbearable stress. It’s considered unbearable because in time it’ll do damage. It’s much more intensified than worry and often has physical side effects.
Anxiety carries worry to an unhealthy degree. It may be rational based on circumstances, or it can be irrational. And there is a sense of fear, uneasiness of the mind, worry and tension. And in its extreme, it can lead to depression or drug abuse and, if it’s not treated, can cause damage. When you look at your world around you, it’s easy to find reasons to be anxious. Death, for example, is a fact of life. No matter how pleasant our lives are.
Some very big bad news is waiting. At the end. Each of us will die. Everyone we love will die. So death is the source of very intense anxiety for pretty, well, everyone. And this anxiety can fuel our fears not only about our death but also about our health and the health of those that we love and relationships. Unfortunately, relationships don’t always last. They can be a huge source of anxiety, and now we do value relationships, but they change and sometimes break apart.
A spouse dies, fails or the Children leave home and friends drift away or even turn on us and so we fear the loneliness and the loss, the hurt and even the betrayal that comes with broken relationships. And we might say also, we don’t have enough money. Many people worry about money so we can’t escape this anxiety. It touches every part of our lives.
Money worries are tied to security, identity status, and each can be affected by how much money we have or don’t have. And back in the early days of the automobile, a guy was driving his bottle T for when it suddenly stopped. He got out, cranked it, but it wouldn’t start. And just then a limousine pulled up behind him and a well-dressed man got out and offered to help. He opened the bonnet, tinkered around for a few minutes. Now, he said, Let’s see if it’ll go. The driver tried and you guessed it. It fired up. The engine worked perfectly. The motorist was very grateful, and the stranger said, Oh, that’s all right. You see, I’m Henry Ford. I invented and built these vehicles. I know what to do when something goes wrong.
It’s a good story because it reminds us of what the Bible says that God is not unmindful of the human condition because the Psalmist in Psalm 103 Verse 14 says he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust, so that means that God understands us better than anyone else. We’re in his hands. We can trust him with our feelings of anxiety. And sometimes your world can feel out of control. You might be even afraid that something bad’s going to happen, and you’re trying to control your world to keep that bad thing from happening.
I like what Chuck Swindle has said. Stop reading only the grim sections of the newspaper. Watch less television and start reading more books that bring a smile instead of a frown. Locate a few people who will help you laugh more at life and find Christian friends who see life through the eyes of Jesus, which is in itself more encouraging, have fun together and affirm one another.
Let’s Pray
Our Heavenly Father. It is an anxious, time, anxious world that we live in, but that doesn’t mean Lord that we always have to be depressed and downcast. Our eyes can be on you, for you have said I am the way, the truth and the life help that to become a life changing experience for me that in spite of anxiety I can trust in you today. Amen.