HOW TO LESSEN ANXIETY

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Can you imagine the kind of spiritual strength the Apostle Paul must have had to handle all the anxious moments he endured? When we read of his travels it may be easier to believe that he was a super Christian. You know, like Superman, impervious to all the slings and arrows

thrown at him. But no where in the Bible is he described that way… only that he was a true believer. Wandering and preaching his message - a message sometimes so rejected he was thrown into jail - and yet always trusting in the Lord. Keeping on when most people would have said, "I gave it a good try but enough already."

But loyal Jesus-people do that...find that special spiritual strength and don't become most people.

One of the great anxieties of today is what I call THE ANXIETY OF STUFF. You know, the acquiring of more than we can afford so we can worry about not being able to pay for what we should have known better than to buy in the first place.

A staggering statistic explains why this anxiety is rife in America today. The average American spends 10 percent more than they earn in pursuit of the good life. A staggering statistic!

I love the way one person defined this kind of anxiety - a gap between one's demands and one's resources. We have become too impatient to wait till we can really afford something so we actually choose the problems this “gap” causes.

Robert Kanigel describes it this way, “The right to choose is as American as apple pie (or pumpkin pie or Boston cream pie or pecan pie).”

There used to be such a thing as delayed satisfaction. As a little boy growing up during the depression, I waited through 4 Christmases to get a flying toy I so badly wanted. Don’t misunderstand me, I would have much preferred it that first Christmas, but in those days in my family if you couldn't afford it, you didn't get it. It was that simple. And it was just as good 4 years later as it would have been without the waiting.

I doubt that would happen today. The average 21st century parental response is, my child wants it – I MUST get it for him or her. NOW!

And of course the kids agree with this wholeheartedly – only perpetuating the Anxiety of Stuff.

“For every thing there is a season,” says the writer of Ecclesiastes.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to break down, and a time to build up.

(Ecc. 3:2-7 rearranged)

And perhaps that is a good place to begin when we are overwhelmed with the anxiety of loss...

be it personal loss or financial loss or the loss of health...or... Get on with it, with whatever is left. Study the speed of the season in which we find ourselves and adjust to that speed. Find a rhythm that works and adapt to that rhythm.

I've done that with my accidents and illnesses, slowed down and adapted and not fussed about it when I couldn't speed up as soon as I wanted. Affirmed that God is in charge and that my time is overlaid with the timelessness of eternity.

So cool it. You know anxiety has not so much to do with what is happening to us as our response to what is happening to us.

It is our choice as to whether we apply the anxiety multiplication table or develop inner spiritual strengths that stabilize our emotions.

Develop inner spiritual strengths? Are you asking, How do I do that? By prayer and Bible reading? Of course, but another very practical way to lower your anxiety level is to think less of yourself and more of others.

Being selfish and self-centered can only make you more anxious; but if you give more than you want to get, help more than you want to be helped, you will be so over-whelmed with others you will have little time or energy left to be so anxious about yourself.

This is over simplification, I know, but it has worked for others, so try it.