Perspective on Anxiety

Timothy Keller points out that, “Anxiety is always the result of a collapsing false god.” Too often we focus on our perspective of status, seeing ourselves as rich or poor, graceful or clumsy, beautiful or ugly, athletic or unfit, respected or disliked, or whatever we allow to be assigned to us.  No matter our status, soon to follow are its fruit:  doubt, fear, pressure, anxiousness … which is anxiety. 


Anxiety is the hole of emptiness in one’s soul, dug by whatever reason we accept as the fact of our status in life.  That is what replaces God with the god of emptiness and anxiety; the evil one who takes pleasure in destroying you.  

Beth Moore adds, “The enemy of our souls is a false prophet. Don't let him taunt you with graceless dread and doom toward your future if you belong to Jesus.”

Living life in a way of truly enjoying the peace and fullness of Christ begins when you are not “anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil 4:6).   When faithfully focused on God as provider, as our all and all, we begin to follow Jesus’ teachings, that there is no need to "worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear” (Luke 12:22-23), nor is there need to “worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt 6:34).   Be confident in the one true God, He who has filled your emptiness with his Spirit, removing all that induces fear.  Don’t empty yourself of God by filling yourself with the promises of the false prophet, the wants and desires of the deceiver’s lie of satisfying peace – that’s your false god.

Owen <><