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| Source: kristyhanly.co.uk |
About ten years ago, lightning struck my home. It was no ordinary strike. The damage was so severe that a mango tree through which the lightning passed eventually became barren. Every electrical appliance plugged in at the time was damaged. Electric bulbs flashed and blew almost instantly, while insulated wires carrying electricity into the house, even several feet away, melted.
Ever since that experience, whenever the sky becomes cloudy and rain seems imminent, my first instinct is not to rush outside for clothes on the line. I head straight for the electrical appliances connected to the wall sockets and unplug them. Somehow, every approaching storm carries with it the memory of that day and the possibility that it might happen again.
That feeling is anxiety.
Gary Collins, in Overcoming Anxiety (1973), describes anxiety as one of the most pervasive psychological experiences of modern life. Its causes are numerous. In my case, the anxiety associated with thunderstorms was learned through experience. At other times, anxiety comes simply because we have learned enough to understand what is happening around us.
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| Source: marciakatz.com |
Years ago, for example, I could listen to a newscaster or weather presenter mainly because I admired the way the English words were pronounced. I might even repeat some of them afterwards. Today, those same words carry meanings that I understand much better—and sometimes the news itself gives me something to worry about.
Perhaps that is part of the price of awareness.
We live in a world in which there is almost always something capable of making us anxious. Technology changes rapidly, and sometimes simply trying to keep up can become exhausting. Smartphones and social media now bring events from almost anywhere in the world directly into our hands within seconds. Economic uncertainty, climate change, elections, insecurity, employment, relationships, school results and countless other concerns can occupy the mind.
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| Source: anxiety-traetments.com |
Think, for instance, about the moment you were about to check an important examination result. You probably knew that the result already existed and that worrying would not change it, yet your heart still raced as you prepared to see it.
Sometimes the cause of anxiety is obvious. At other times, it is much harder to identify. A person may simply feel that something is wrong or that something terrible is about to happen without being able to explain exactly what it is. Anxiety can also be accompanied by physical reactions: the familiar “butterflies” in the stomach, difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, restlessness or changes in the way the body responds to stress. When anxiety becomes persistent or overwhelming, it can affect both physical and emotional well-being.
The important question, then, is: How do we deal with it?
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| Source: originalstrength.com |
People respond to anxiety in different ways.
Sometimes we joke about the things that frighten us. Humour can reduce tension and make a difficult situation feel a little more manageable. At other times, people cry, sleep, daydream or temporarily distract themselves from whatever is troubling them. Some turn to alcohol or other forms of escape.
These responses may reduce the feeling of anxiety for a while, but they do not necessarily solve the problem that produced it. Escaping from anxiety is not always the same as dealing with it.
Consider someone who becomes extremely nervous whenever he wants to ask a woman on a date. He could eliminate that particular anxiety by simply deciding never to date. The immediate problem would disappear, but his avoidance might eventually produce a different kind of unhappiness or anxiety altogether.
Whenever possible, therefore, it is better to identify what is making us anxious, face it honestly and ask what can reasonably be done about it.
This does not mean that every form of anxiety is useless. Psychology recognizes that some degree of anxiety or concern can be helpful. It can alert us to danger, motivate us to prepare for an examination, encourage us to meet a deadline or remind us to take a situation seriously.
Yet the Bible says:
“Be anxious for nothing...”
— Philippians 4:6
At first, that may appear to contradict the idea that some anxiety can be useful. I do not think it does.
The biblical warning is better understood as a warning against the kind of anxiety that becomes worry, fear and fretfulness—the kind that consumes us and makes us behave as though the entire burden of life rests upon our shoulders.
The apostle Paul himself was not a man without concern. He faced hunger, persecution, danger and uncertainty. He also spoke openly about his concern for the churches and for other believers. So Christianity does not call us to become indifferent people who care about nothing.
There is a difference between being concerned about something and being controlled by worry about it.
Concern can move us to act.
Worry can leave us paralysed.
Concern says, “What can I do about this?”
Worry often keeps asking, “What if everything goes wrong?”
Faith does not mean pretending that our problems do not exist. Neither does it mean refusing to prepare for danger. I still unplug my appliances when a serious storm approaches, and I think that is sensible. Trusting God does not require abandoning wisdom.
What faith changes is the belief that everything ultimately depends on us.
There comes a point after we have prepared, planned, worked, prayed and done what is within our ability when we must acknowledge that many things remain outside our control. Carrying those things endlessly in our minds will not necessarily change them.
For the Christian, that is where trust becomes important.
We face the problem where we can. We seek help where necessary. We act responsibly. But we also learn to place what we cannot control in the hands of God.
And when I think about it, what other lasting alternative do we really have?
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Note
This reflection was substantially influenced by ideas discussed in:
Collins, Gary R. (1973). Overcoming Anxiety. Santa Ana, California: Vision House Publishers. ISBN 0-87801-017-3.
The personal experiences, examples and Christian reflections expressed here are my own, while several of the general ideas concerning the nature of anxiety and ways people respond to it were developed from my reading of Collins’ work.
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