OVERCOMING ANXIETY PART 1: IS WORRY STRANGLING YOU?

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

Philippians 4:6-7

Our age has aptly been called the “Age of Anxiety”. How important, then, that we listen to the Apostle Paul’s inspired words to the Philippians: do not be anxious about anything. These words are challenging in the extreme. No anxiety? About anything? When was the last time you spent an entire day or even a few hours without experiencing anxiety?

These words are not intended to impose an impossible burden on us, but rather to spare us a great deal of unnecessary suffering.

Few emotions are more destructive than anxiety. The Greek word translated ‘anxious’ in our English Bible means to be pulled in different directions – not a pleasant experience! And our English word, worry, literally means to seize by throat and strangle. That’s a vivid picture of how anxiety works. It chokes the life out of us -- physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Not only is anxiety destructive, it’s also fruitless. Our worrying and fretting accomplishes nothing. As Jesus observed, Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:27)

The vast majority of things we worry about never come to pass or are about things we are powerless to change. It has been estimated, in fact, that only about 8% of our worries have any actual foundation in reality. Most of our anxiety, then, is as fruitless as paying interest on a debt that in all probability will never come due.

Maybe it’s time to get serious about this whole business of anxiety. Our lives will be dramatically improved if we do. So stay tuned ... there’s more to come.