A man went to a psychologist and said, “Doctor, sometimes I feel like a Tepee and at other times I feel like a Wigwam.” The doctor thought about it for a moment and then he said, “I better treat you for anxiety. You’re two tents!”
Anxiety and stress are no joke, however. As Charlie Brown once put it, ‘even my anxieties have anxieties!’
There is always something to worry about, and with the current situation in Ukraine and the past two years worrying about Covid-19, anxiety and stress are at an extremely high level. Dave reminded us on Sunday morning, however, that Jesus’s response to this was ‘do not worry.‘ (see Matt 6:25-34) We may feel this was unreasonable of Him, but in fact, He reminds us all that there is more to life than the material and that God is our Father who cares for us and looks after us.
If we are going to conquer worry, we must come to the realisation that God loves us and that He will take care of us but so many people are simply not convinced of this fact. Many of them are Christians. But if you really believe that God is in charge, and that He loves you and will meet your needs, then you can relax in faith. If for some reason you do not believe that God will take care of you, then you will be unable to relax. You will feel that it is up to you to take care of all your needs, physical, emotional, and even spiritual.
Jesus calls us to seek God’s kingdom first and to live one day at a time. If we do this, then we find we have strength (and grace) for each day and can live without the crippling burden of worry. We are ultimately faced with a simple choice: will we trust God or not? We can choose to borrow trouble from tomorrow and live life as if God is not there, or we can trust Him and seek Him with all our hearts. If we will do this (see Prov 3:5-6), we will find an alternative to anxiety and stress and will be able to praise God in all circumstances, as Habakkuk did (Hab 3:17-18).