So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
It was a number of years ago, in a former job, where I discovered a life-changing insight. My boss had received some learning materials that my company wanted everyone to complete. He didn't want to lead the course because he felt that it would be better for an 'ordinary worker' to do it. Plus, to be honest, he thought it was a waste of time. Or so he said. So he asked me to do it.
The course was on personal resiliency - our ability to deal with problems and stresses. The thing is, I felt like I was not exactly the most resilient person in the world. You see, the ratings from my managers each year went up and down like a yo-yo. One year I'd be brilliant, the next year I'd be awful. He'd seen it and wanted to correct it.
The problem was that a few years into my career there I'd made a mistake. It didn't have huge ramifications. I didn't cost the company any money and no-one died, but there was some reputational damage. A senior manager called it 'career-limiting'. So I was afraid of making any more mistakes.
When you work in that way, then you can easily fulfil your fears because you are anxious. And that's what happened to me. One mistake would lead to another and then another. My inner voice became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then somehow I would break the cycle and do something amazing, before messing up again.
It was that course that gave me the insight which turned me around. The whole premise of the course was that we are not doomed to react a certain way when situations happen - that we can choose our reaction. I blew it off at first. I mean, who do they think we are: superheroes or something? It was just psychological mumbo-jumbo. American therapy-speak. Utter nonsense, right?
But when I looked into it from a Biblical point of view, I realised that it was perfectly true. How? The words "Do not worry" come from Jesus' mouth nine times in the Gospels - four of them in Matthew 6 alone. "Do not be afraid" occurs twelve times. "Do not be alarmed" three times. There is even this verse in Paul's letter to the Philippians:
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 NIVUK
Does Jesus ever tell us to do something He knows we can't do? Does He ever tell us to do anything He did not equip us to do? Would He give us a command and then use it to entrap us because it was way beyond our capabilities?
No, no and no! So if He tells us not to worry, be afraid or alarmed, then it must be possible to not be worried, afraid or alarmed, right? Could I really just turn this off? Was my anxiety really nothing more than a switch?
Anxiety is even in the Bible. Some of the greatest Bible characters suffered from it. King David, one of the most powerful leaders in Jewish history, admits to it (Psalms 139:23-24; Psalms 94:17-19). Elijah, who stood on the Mount of Transfiguration beside Moses and Jesus, clearly suffered from it too, given his extreme reaction to Jezebel's threat (1 Kings 19:1-4). And these are two of the major characters of the Old Testament! If they had trouble with it, what about me?
And yet... and yet the fact that Jesus said nine times not to worry, and used a phrase that can also be translated as "Do not be anxious", and the fact that Paul tells the Philippians not to be anxious seems to agree with what that resiliency training package was telling me.
Anxiety is a choice. We choose to be anxious. We might not be aware of it. We might not be conscious of it. But when we become anxious, we are choosing to react that way.
Being anxious is never a positive reaction to anything. Being anxious never solves anything. Being anxious is actually a clear statement that you don't trust God to get you out of the situation you are in. And you can trust me on that. I spent years being anxious.
But I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad. No, I'm telling you this because if we choose to be anxious, then we can also choose not to be. The switch works in both directions. The choice is very much ours.
Now, I'm aware that there are people whose brains are wired differently, who would find control over their anxiety difficult or impossible. However, these people are a minority. I believe that most of us have the capacity to re-train our brains and choose not to be anxious.
It takes effort. It isn't easy. But it can be done. I'm a prime example. After that course, and the realisation that came with it, I had two straight years of mostly anxiety-free, top class performance at work, even while being made redundant. This revelation helped me while I looked for a new job - three times. It's also helping me now as I've been furloughed during the Coronavirus outbreak. It can help you too. But before we go any further, we must accept this basic truth. For most of us, anxiety is not inevitable. It might be our default setting, but it can be changed, and we'll discuss that in my next post: ANXIETY IS A CHOICE.
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