Anxiety: The Plague of These Times
In 2017, a New York Times article entitled “Prozac Nation Is Now the United States of Xanax” highlighted how rapidly and resoundingly our society has descended into a state of despair and despondency, where the most prevalent mental and emotional health diagnosis is anxiety disorder. Author Alex Williams wrote, "anxiety is starting to seem like a sociological condition ...: a shared cultural experience that ... metastasizes through social media."
Luke 21:25-26 warned us of an anxiety epidemic that would overtake the world before Christ's return: “nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.”
Current World Health Organization statistics tell us that roughly 359 million individuals suffer from anxiety and depression. In the United States, nearly 1 in every 5 of us experiences the effects of anxiety. Whether it be global violence, the rise of aggression and intolerance in society, economic insecurity, the breakdown of family values, political upheaval or the everyday pressures of navigating life in an unbalanced world, we all live with some degree of anxiety and apprehension. Thus, the genius of the counsel found in Philippians 4:6: “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
The devil knows that nothing discredits and disgraces God’s character and reputation more than inflicting the human heart with anxiety, worry, depleting care and dread. When the heart is enslaved in a constant condition of frenetic frenzy, it cannot gravitate toward the goodness of God. In Proverbs 4:23, we find these words: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Far too often, our lives are governed and ruled by apprehension and misgivings. We become paralyzed to the degree that we are unable to function at a high level and even bring dishonor to the God Whom we represent.
On September 16, 2004, news outlets reported that a gentleman in England held on for dear life for four hours to a mysterious cylinder, waiting for either rescue or an immediate death. After digging up what appeared to be an unexploded WWI bomb, David Page held on to it, afraid that letting go would detonate the device. While holding the bomb, the terrified 40-year-old from Norfolk called an emergency operator on his mobile phone. He even used the call to issue his last words for his family. Later, Page recalled: “The woman police operator kept saying it would be okay, but I kept saying to her, with all due respect, you’re not the one holding the bomb!” First responders rushed to the workyard in eastern England, and army bomb disposal experts finally arrived. But the drama came to an abrupt end when the “bomb” was identified. It was part of the hydraulic suspension system from a Citroen, a popular European car. There are times we find ourselves frozen with irrational fear. We know that the One who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world, but we forget the strength of our Protector while clutching our fear. Let go. It’s not a bomb, and you’re going to be okay!
I believe there's no greater disaster in our spiritual and emotional life than to be constantly and continually immersed in anxiety and distress. God has purposely placed enormous gains and losses in the lives of even the most gifted. There is purpose in the pain. When we are able to soar beyond our scars and find higher ground, our lives become so much more meaningful and substantive.
Author David A. Seamands, in his book Healing For Damaged Emotions, observes: “There are emotional scars of ancient, painful hurts … as when a little boy rushed downstairs one Christmas dawn and discovered a dirty old rock, put there to punish him for some trivial boyhood naughtiness. That scar has eaten away at him, causing all kinds of interpersonal difficulties. What are some of these damaged emotions? One of the most common is a deep sense of unworthiness, a continuous feeling of anxiety, inadequacy and inferiority, an inner nagging that says, ‘I’m no good. I’ll never amount to anything. No one could ever possibly love me. Everything I do is wrong.’ What happens to this kind of person when he becomes a Christian? Part of his mind believes in God’s love, accepts God’s forgiveness and feels at peace for a while. Then, all of a sudden, everything within him rises up to cry out, ‘It’s a lie! Don’t believe it! Don’t pray! … No one really cares. There’s no one to relieve your anxiety. How could God possibly love you and forgive someone like you? You’re too bad!’”
Finding God in the midst of a troubled world seems difficult to endure, but thanks be to God for Christ Jesus, Who feels our woes, who is compassionate and who walks by our side through the doom and gloom, showing us the way!
By Carlos J. Craig
Southwestern Union President
