Persevering Through Anxiety: Looking at Jesus

Much has been written about anxiety, which is indicative of its prevalence. Anxiety is no respecter of persons. Young and old, rich and poor, extrovert and introvert, married and single, Christian and unbeliever — if we live long enough, all we have to do is look around and we will find something to be anxious about. Part of the reason for this is obvious: there are plenty of things that legitimately prompt anxiety. Political world affairs, the economy, job stability, our kids’ well-being, the friend who hasn’t been speaking to us recently, the car that’s making a strange noise under the hood, etc. Given how many times the Bible gives some variation of the command to not be afraid (I’ve heard it’s roughly 365 times), we can have confidence that God himself knows of our plight.

I hesitate to speak in terms of “conquering anxiety,” though I certainly hope for that to be the case in my own life and for Christians everywhere. But I believe it may be more realistic and helpful to speak in more modest terms, hence the verb in the title of this post (persevering). I do think it is realistic for something about our relationship with anxiety to change. That could be how often we get noticeably anxious (frequency); how long we feel the grip of anxiety when it springs up (duration); how severe and crippling anxiety is to our ability to function (intensity); or how quickly we cry out to God in the midst of feeling anxious. In this post, I want to offer a few thoughts and Scriptures that speak to the overall topic of our tendency to be anxious.

1. Jesus said to his disciples that he was giving them his peace (John 14:27). This peace has nothing to do with circumstantial factors (which is why Jesus says it’s a different kind of peace than the world gives). This is peace in the mind and heart. This is more than just an absence of negativity. It’s a sense of wholeness and safety (think of the Hebrew word shalom). But this peace is not experienced in the absence of any conditions. It comes as we trust our heavenly Father. But that also begs the question: how do we come to trust God? Let’s think — how do we come to trust a spouse or a friend? It’s by spending more time with them. Our friendship/intimacy grows. To say it somewhat formulaically (though it cannot be reduced to a mere formula), intimacy with God >>> trusting God >>> experiencing peace. See this excellent mini-sermon for a helpful resource on the topic of anxiety.
2. The basis of our persevering in the midst of anxiety is that God himself is our peace. He is trustworthy. We need not beat ourselves up for feeling anxious. Instead, when we feel anxious, we want to allow that to be a trigger that redirects our gaze to him. Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” Notice what that implies. When, not if. God knows we will be afraid at times. David, who penned Psalm 56, was aware of his own tendency to be afraid. He allowed the fear to serve as a reminder to get his gaze on God. Far more important than being afraid or not is who we turn to when we are afraid.
3. Thankfully, God is kind. His disposition is to care for us. If I can say it this way, caring for us is what he wakes up in the morning longing to do. When the apostle Peter encouraged Christians to cast their cares onto God, the basis is because “He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7).
4. Consider this: Have you ever pondered the reality that Jesus (apart from the night before his crucifixion) has never been anxious about anything? He has no reason to be. He’s God. He’s perfectly content, perfectly in control, perfectly aligned with the will of his Father. Each time a Peter falls beneath the waves (I’m speaking in metaphor), Jesus is not frazzled or panicking in the slightest. Instead, he reaches his hand down to rescue. Next time you or I feel the grip of anxiety tighten around us, it may be a helpful act of the imagination to look at the sure and calm face of Jesus, realize that he is not absorbing our fear, yet he simultaneously understands our fear and desires to give us his peace. It’s been said that in any interaction between two people, the more calm person can serve as an anchor of stability that “rubs off” onto the other. On a related note, look up the phenomenon of mirror neurons.
5. Lastly, take a look at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus expertly and gently helps us combat our anxieties and look to him. “Are you anxious?” Jesus asks. “Then look at the birds in the air and the flowers in the fields” (Matt. 6:25-30). He gives us practical, tangible, concrete objects to attach to our reason for hope. We can’t physically see Jesus. But we can see birds and we can see flowers. And they connect what we can see to what we can’t see. This gives stability to our faith, so that faith isn’t “just believe.” There’s a God in Heaven who cares for his world (look at birds and flowers), and he cares for us.