Be Anxious For Nothing

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Be anxious for nothing.The Word of God says, literally, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (v6). Notice that it doesn’t say, “Be anxious for some things,” it says “nothing”. What does that mean to you…I mean, really? Is it as simple as, “Oh, I didn’t realize the Bible actually said that, so now that I know, I guess I’ll never be anxious about anything ever again”? I doubt it, although that’d be nice, wouldn’t it? No, the spiritual life is often much more involved than that - not because God designed it that way, rather because man is really good at overcomplicating things.The better question we might ask ourselves is, “Why am I ever anxious in the first place?” If it’s not as simple as realizing scripture exists that states we shouldn’t be, then where do we find the remedy? The answer is in the same place where we found the command. In fact, if we open our eyes to the whole truth, we might be immediately encouraged by Paul’s words in v8, where he essentially gives us an appropriate strategy for exiting the trappings of anxiety. He says, in a nutshell, “Stop focusing on the wrong things and start focusing on that which is good and holy in your life!” The Message Bible translates v8 as, “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”Deliverance is often but a change of perspective away.I’m not sure how many times the Holy Spirit has had me teach this to my congregation, but the principle above is profound for the humble receiver of it. In the case of anxiety, given the simple fact that God is not the author of it, rather than seeking to address the source of it, sin, head on (we are “dead to sin,”Romans 6:11), we ought to seek a remedy through a change of perspective. As the Psalmist wrote, “I am full of anxiety because of my sin” (Psalms 38:18b). In other words, anxiety is borne as a function of sin; sin being a function of arrogance. Why bother wrestling with dead things??? We certainly can’t make them come alive again, so there’s got to be a better way…and there is.Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.A person who is wholly dependent on the grace of God is void of anxiety. Jesus Christ is our perfect example. He was literally anxious for nothing (e.g., Matthew 8:23-27). Why? He had perfect perspective always. Perfect faith means perfect perspective. Granted, we sinners won’t fully understand this experience until we are in Heaven, but nonetheless, to some degree we are made capable of it, depending on the measure of faith we’ve been given in time (Romans 12:3). “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Corinthians 9:8).So, then, what is the nature of anxiety? What shall we do with it when we realize we have been overcome by it? Well, first and foremost, we must resist the temptation to blame God for it.Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.We might say that anxiety, being a function of arrogance, is something of fleshly origins (even a chemical imbalance that predisposes a person to anxiety is a result of the human body being riddled with sin - that is part of man’s curse after the Fall). Now, this may not sit well with contemporary psychologists, but I’m not a psychologist, so I’m not here to debate like one - I’m only quoting what the Supreme Psychologist, God the Holy Spirit, has inspired on the subject. And for the sake of clarity, anxiety is distinctly different than genuine concern for self or others, which is indeed fruit of godliness. The former leads to depression whereas the latter leads to blessing.Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,
But a good word makes it glad.One of the guarantees we’ve been given in scripture is that we will face adversity and challenges in life. The Bible says so. It is our response to such stress that dictates whether or not anxiety will rear its ugly head. If we respond in arrogance, through the power of the flesh, we are assured a dose of anxiety. However, if we respond in humility, through the power of the new creature, with the encouragement of the Spirit and the Word, we are assured blessings. While the flesh likes to meet our problems head on, the new creature transcends them, choosing a change of perspective, something that is able to deliver us quicker than we can say the words, “Thank you, Lord!”A change in perspective leaves the dead things to themselves and seeks to be alive.Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.In the simplest of terms, anxiety is the result of sin reigning (lording) over you. Your only defense is to humble yourself, resisting the temptation to fall into the pit that leads to compound issues such as depression and/or despair. Pray to God for the faith, courage, and strength to be delivered from the influences of spiritual death. The Lord loves a contrite heart.For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.”If you want to “see” the truth in your situation, then present your case before the throne of grace, and do not hesitate. If you seek wellness, then approach the Great Physician with the same contrite heart as had the blind beggar, Bartimaeus.Then they *came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.The only thing that ever truly heals a person is faith. God gives faith to the humble (James 4:6). May you hear Jesus’ words the next time your life is riddled with anxiety and you pray to God for deliverance…“Go, your faith has made you well” (v52).

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins