The Anatomy of Anxiety

Part 23: Christ’s Peace Plan

Note: For previous posts in this blog mini-series, visit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22.

Life Focus: Does worry, doubt, or fear get the best of you sometimes? Do you wonder where anxiety comes from and how to defeat it in your life and the lives of those you love? Then we need a biblical anatomy of anxiety. We need God’s prescription for victory over anxiety.

Five Peace-Producing Principles

In one verse (Philippians 4:6), in the context of one chapter, in the context of one book, in the context of the Gospel, Paul has taught us five peace-producing principles:

1. Guard My Relationship to God My Guard

2. Engage in Worship Prayer Focused on God’s Character

3. Open My Palms to God

4. See God As a Rewarder, Not a Hoarder

5. Faithfully Trust My Faithful Father

But just what is the nature of this peace?

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

Three False Peace Plans

1. God’s Peace Is Not Irrational

Peace doesn’t ignore the reality of the situation around us. It’s not Pollyanna Christianity pretending life is wonderful. It’s not living in denial of problems, suffering, troubles, and stresses.

2. God’s Peace Is Not Circumstantial

There’s no promise that the anxiety-prompting events will magically disappear. In fact, Jesus makes the opposite promise. “In me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

3. God’s Peace Is Not Predominantly Emotional

We don’t eliminate emotions. We manage emotions. We bring spirituality and rationality to our emotionality.

Recall our “anatomy of anxiety.” Emotions are God-given. The core emotion underlying negative anxiety is our God-given emotional gift of vigilance—an emotional response to threat.

An external threat prompts an internal reaction. We can respond in an ungodly way: stuck vigilance leading to self-trust, self-protection, and fight or flight behavior. We can respond in a godly way: wise vigil based upon faith in God and protection of others.

Christ’s Peace Plan: Core Rest Despite External Stress and Internal Distress

1. Christ’s Peace Is Rational: Reason Redeemed by Faith

Paul says God’s peace transcends all understanding. It’s not irrational. It’s super-rational. It’s reason redeemed by faith!

Peace brings rationality and spirituality to our emotionality. Our vigil detector screams, “Incoming missile! Take cover!” Or, if you’re a Star Trek fan, “Red alert! Red alert! Shields up! Evasive maneuvers!”

Our emotions scream, “Take control! Trust self! Protect self!”

However, our rational spirituality says, “Shh. Quiet. Calm down. Look at this real threat with spiritual eyes. What has God promised in Christ? He has overcome the world. He has won the fight, so you don’t have to fight in self-trust. He has won the final victory, so you don’t have to flee in self-protection.”

That’s why Paul says God’s peace guards our hearts and minds. “Heart” in the Bible is a comprehensive term with a focus on our rational, volitional, moral control center. “Mind” is thoughts, mental reflections, images, and beliefs.

God’s peace helps us to reinterpret life based upon God’s perspective. God’s peace helps us to see life through the lens of God’s promises based upon God’s character.

2. Christ’s Peace Is Supernatural: Whole, Healthy, and Holy in Christ

“Peace” means wholeness, unity, integration, rest. When we’re anxious, we feel the opposite. We say, “I’m coming unglued. I’m falling apart. My life is disintegrating!” Or, if we’re a Star Trek fan, “The shields are breakin’ up Capt’n Kirk. I can’t hold ‘em together much longer like this!”

God’s shalom is core rest despite external stress and internal distress.

Core rest: I am supernaturally at rest—whole, healthy, and holy. External stress: Even when real threats attack me. Internal Stress: Even when my emotional sentinel is clanging “Red alert!”

It’s supernatural because it is God’s guarding peace. Paul says God’s peace shall guard—garrison. God’s peace is the sentinel that mounts a guard over our hearts and minds. God’s powerful sentry of peace garrisons my heart and guards my mind—protecting my thought life. God’s peace stays on sentry duty continuously, without interruption, so I can relax my stuck vigilance. I can rest.

Peace is supernatural because it is in Christ. “It will guard your hearts and minds in Christ.”

In Christ, God demonstrates once and for all that nothing can separate us from our Sentinel. We have the peace of God because we have the promise in Christ of peace with God.

Since my ultimate fear of separation from the God of the universe is calmed in Christ, then I can face all other real, but smaller, fears through Christ who promises that He is my Sentinel who has overcome all the world’s threats.

Making It Real

1. Am I looking at life threats with spiritual eyes? Am I looking at life’s stresses through the lens of God’s protective promises based upon God’s faithful character?

2. Am I experiencing core rest despite external stress and internal distress? Is my daily peace based upon my understanding of my eternal peace with God in Christ?

The Rest of the Story

We’ve been looking at the foundation of peace—spiritual peace. There’s still more. In the coming days we’ll ask, “What additional biblical principles can we apply to our lives to find God’s peace?”

The Anatomy of Anxiety

Part 22: Reject Shrinking Thinking!

Note: For previous posts in this blog mini-series, visit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21.

Life Focus: Does worry, doubt, or fear get the best of you sometimes? Do you wonder where anxiety comes from and how to defeat it in your life and the lives of those you love? Then we need a biblical anatomy of anxiety. We need God’s prescription for victory over anxiety.

Conquering Anxiety

In our last post, we began exploring spiritual principles from Philippians 4:6-7 for conquering anxiety by guarding our relationship to God our guard. In context, we explored one word—“prayer.”

Instead of allowing ourselves to be habitually and perpetually stuck in the abyss of worry about everything, we’re to be in a spirit of continuous worshipful prayer focused on God’s faithful, fatherly character.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Open Your Palms to God

We have much more to learn from Paul. We’re to approach God our fatherly Guide with “petitions” or “supplication.” When worry strikes, we’re to ask God urgently, specifically, and vulnerably to handle what we’re worrying about.

Picture two open palms surrendering the worried circumstances to God.

“Father, I’m fearful and anxious worried about _______. I surrender. I can’t handle _______ on my own. I give you ________. I trust that You never slumber or sleep. Right now I cast all my care upon you because you care for me.”

See God As a Rewarder, Not a Hoarder

We’re to pray and petition our faithful Father with thanksgiving. The Greek is eucharistias from which we glean our word Eucharist. It means gratefulness, gratitude.

When life stinks, our perspective shrinks.

When worry assaults, all looks negative, dark, hopeless.

Don’t stand there stuck in the muck of stinkin’ thinkin’ and shrinking thinking! Courageously choose thankfulness because you believe God is a Rewarder, not a Hoarder (see Hebrews 11:6).

This is not the “prosperity, health-and-wealth gospel.” This is the good news that in Christ, God is for us and not against us. God wills to reward us with peace even when life stinks.

“Father, I’ve allowed anxiety to shrink my thinking. No more! By faith I believe that You are a Rewarder, not a Hoarder. As the Eucharist reminds me of Christ’s gift for me even when I was yet a sinner, so by thanksgiving I choose to remember that You are for me and not against me. I choose thankfulness in my situation.”

Faithfully Trust Your Faithful Father

Believe it or not, everything that Paul’s said so far has been an introduction.

“Stop choosing the losing path of perpetual stuck worry. Instead, by worshipful prayer that focuses upon your faithful Father and by urgent, specific, vulnerable, trusting petitions, with grateful thanksgiving that remembers that in Christ, God is for you and not against you because He is a Rewarder, not a Hoarder . . .”

In this spirit, present your requests to God.

Request pictures a personal, humble, submissive, trusting asking.

Remember the musical Oliver. The poor orphan boy, Oliver, breaks the rules of the orphanage by daring to ask, “Please, Sir, may I have some more?”

When anxiety attacks, attack back with humble asking.

“Father, I’m overwhelmed. I see no way out. I feel like I’m starved of resources. My bowl of soup is empty, my gas dank is on E, my resources are depleted. Rather than trusting in me, I’m clinging to You. I’m feeble. You’re Almighty. I refuse to rely upon myself. I choose to rely upon You—the God Who raises the dead. Raise me up with Christ, please Lord.”

Making It Real

1. As you conquer anxiety, where are your palms? Clenched as fists fighting against God and others? Drooping at your sides, hopeless? Or, raised humbly and hopefully toward God?

2. As you conquer anxiety, how’s your thinking? Is it shrinking thinking? Or, are you choosing courageous trust?

3. As you conquer anxiety, what are you doing with your empty bowl of soup? Frantically worried about your next meal? Or faithfully trusting your faithful Father?

The Rest of the Story

Paul tells us what occurs when we conquer anxiety spiritually. “The peace of God that passes all understanding guards our hearts and minds.”

It’s not an irrational peace; it’s a super-rational peace. It’s not the absence of feelings; it’s the presence of bringing rationality to our emotionality. We’ll learn how in our upcoming posts.

The Anatomy of Anxiety

Part 21: Guarding My Relationship to God My Guard

Note: For previous posts in this blog mini-series, visit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20.

Purpose: Does worry, doubt, or fear get the best of you sometimes? Do you wonder where anxiety comes from and how to defeat it in your life and the lives of those you love? Then we need a biblical anatomy of anxiety. We need God’s prescription for victory over anxiety.

Spiritual Victory Over Anxiety

We’ve learned from Romans 8:14-17 and 1 Peter 5:7-11 four principles for conquering anxiety:

1. Acknowledge My False Enslavement to Fear

2. Accept My Grace Connection to My Father

3. Renew My Image of God

4. Live According to My New Identity in Christ

Today, from Philippians 4:6-7 we learn a fifth spiritual principle:

Guard My Relationship to God My Guard

Unfortunately some people, in attempting to “help” the person struggling with anxiety, simply quote the first part of Philippians 4:6 and exhort behavioral conformity. “Stop being anxious!”

Not only does such an admonition fail to speak in love, it fails to speak the truth in context.

The Apostle Paul didn’t pull this fraction of a verse out of thin air; he spoke it in the context of all of Philippians—a relational context, a theological context, a context about ongoing joy in Christ through connection with Christians and with Christ.

We’ll explore that larger context in future posts. For now, we’ll examine the subsequent context.

Paul provides the “instead.” Instead of living with crippling anxiety, put on healing hope. “Live like this, not like that.” Consider the elements necessary to guard our relationship with God our Guard.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Prayer

Paul chooses a word for prayer which highlights worshipful prayer focusing on God’s character. In anxiety, we choose a crippling focus on our circumstances. In worshipful prayer, we choose a healing focus on God’s character.

This God-focus is reminiscent of Isaiah 26:3.

“Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.”

“Mind” is the Hebrew word for our imagination. It is our ability to picture our world, to take snap-shot images that summarize our beliefs.

Isaiah repeats “shalom” twice to communicate perfect peace, complete wholeness. We will experience shalom shalom when our imagination is focus faithfully on our faithful heavenly Father.

When we are feeling anxious, God speaks to us and says:

“I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you by my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:9-10).

When we anxiously fear spiritual separation anxiety, we must focus on our image of God Who is our faithful Father Who promises to forever love us in Christ.

We don’t have to live anxious, guarded lives. We don’t have to guard ourselves self-protectively. We don’t have to live self-centered, self-focused lives with stuck vigilance always scanning the horizon fearfully.

We can live unguarded lives because God is our Guard. We can protect others because we know God is our Guard and Protector. We can live other-centered, God-focused lives when we focus on God our faithful Guard.

Making It Real

1. As you fight anxiety, where is your mind focused? Are you choosing a crippling focus on your circumstances, or are you choosing a prayerful focus on God’s character?

2. As you battle worry, focus your imagination on God your Guard Who is your forever faithful Father.

3. As you face and fight fear, do you believe by faith that God Who is faithful has chosen you, will never reject you, will strengthen and help you, and will uphold you?

4. As you strive to be a warrior, not a worrier, are you living an unguarded life because you trust God to be your Guard?

The Rest of the Story

I hope you’re thinking, “Wait a second, Bob! You only looked at one word (‘prayer’) after Paul said ‘Be anxious for nothing.’ You said you were going to explore the rest of the context. I want to hear about supplication, thanksgiving request, peace that passes understanding, hearts and minds guarded in Christ.”

Good catch. And we will look at each of those concepts.

But just think…one little word “prayer” explored in context says volumes about spiritual victory over anxiety. God’s Word is sufficient! Sufficient when studied biblically and applied personally for all things that pertain to life and godliness—including victory over anxiety.

So…return for our next post to enjoy and apply more of Philippians 4:6-7, in context, to your life context.