an anxiety treatment towards prevention and cure

Do not be anxious about anything, 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 understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7; NRSVue

If anyone gets to know me, or if you’ve been around this blog, it won’t be too long until you’ll find out that anxiety has been a major issue I’ve had to deal with in my life. Someone could say, “Well, you’re anxious due to issues, real concerns.” And yes, that’s right. I have in recent years coped with anxiety better, maybe much better than sometimes in the past. If one can find a healthy coping mechanism so to speak, that might give one a window or the space needed to learn to deal with anxiety in ways helpful to them, that seems to me all very well and good.

There are actually many places in Scripture to draw help from when thinking about, anticipating, or experiencing anxiety. The psalms are chalk full of expressions of anxiety mixed with expressions of faith, even if a faith expressed in cries of desperation. Also the stories in the Bible, and don’t ever leave the Old Testament behind. In light of God as revealed in Jesus, we’re not going to take a good number of the Old Testament stories as correlated one to one, totally prescriptive for us today. My “sling and stone” will always be metaphorical, never for an actual flesh and blood enemy.

If there’s one spot I land on or return to again and again when dealing with anxiety, it’s Paul’s words here in Philippians. It is good, even important to read everything in context. Clicking the link above will put one into the section of Scripture, these words on anxiety are found. And better yet, read the entire book of Philippians, a relatively short read. We need less “precious promise” books and more reading of Scripture. Often the promises are taken out of context and more or less misapplied. I am not against such books myself. All I’m saying is that nothing replaces reading and studying and meditating on Scripture as a whole.

Now to Paul’s instruction for us. It seems odd, really impossible to not be anxious about anything. That depends precisely on what is meant, but we do well to do exactly as told here. When we’re considering anything which we know might take us down the path of anxiety, we pray to God with thanksgiving, letting God know all of our concerns, asking God for good answers as best we understand that. Then comes the promise that we’ll be living in God’s peace. Remember, that peace does not depend on circumstances. If it did, none of us would ever have it.

One last thought. We can read and consider this passage from a position of privilege, never encountering the dangers and ills that daily beset billions on our planet. That doesn’t mean this passage doesn’t apply to us, but it does mean that we will do well to take steps even towards what might well make us anxious, step out of our comfort zones, enter somehow into the suffering and world of others. Any number of ways to do that, through giving what resources we have, our time, ourselves, in ways that are healthy for us, but also self-sacrificial in love, the love of God in Jesus.

All the while stepping towards and being immersed in God’s peace in Jesus.

making progress

While I was still young, before I went on my travels,
I sought wisdom openly in my prayer.
Before the temple I asked for her,
and I will search for her until the end.

From the first blossom to the ripening grape,
my heart delighted in her;
my foot walked on the straight path;
from my youth I followed her steps.

I inclined my ear a little and received her,
and I found for myself much instruction.
I made progress in her;
to him who gives wisdom I will give glory.

Sirach 51:13-17; NRSVue

I’m personally not a fan of self-help or self-improvement programs or books, even though there surely can be good gained from such. While I don’t doubt that I also firmly believe that as followers of Christ we need to be thoroughly grounded in the biblical text, God’s Word. And I include this passage from the Deuterocanonical, Apocryphal book, Sirach as an encouragement from God to look for improvement in specific areas of life in which we’re lacking or not doing well.

You can fill in the blank for yourself. But for me, since getting on a normal schedule again, I’ve come to see that I’m indeed a morning person, bright eyed (for me) and open and more or less ready for a new day. But by the time evening rolls around into the night, I’ve not only lost that edge, but am susceptible to thoughts and practices which are not helpful. For me, this resides completely in the area of cares and concerns which morph into anxiety. The good thing about that is that I can hit the pillow, my head under the covers, and usually soon fall asleep to awake later into a new day in which the slate feels more or less clean.

We all have weaknesses, some of which we have to live with. Propensities can go along with weaknesses, which we might indeed have to guard against. Formulas in a one size that fits all are most often not helpful. But when I know that something sets me off in a way that is not helpful to myself and my life of faith, then I do well to avoid it. And when one finds something helpful, it is good to put that into practice. Something of the wisdom in the poem written in Sirach.

I have long appreciated the idea of a kind of monastic existence and there are married orders. I love the idea of getting up early to chant psalms, sing songs, read Scripture. In our newish hymnal, Voices Together, there are both morning and evening prayers as in offices with two hymns/songs to be read/sung each time, which I greatly appreciate and do day after day. That is of course helpful, and actually morphs into my daily existence as far as the list of prayers are concerned. But some sort of practice like that to help keep one grounded is surely commendable.

I think a part of wisdom for me in my own problem is to accept that I am a certain way in the morning and not the same into the night. Perhaps that might mean learning a different routine. For me, this never would mean dispensing of evening prayer, even if I go through it with yawns and some struggle and maybe even more or less hasten through it. But it might mean any number of things, and definitely an openness to learning wisdom in the process as in handling it better so that my experience of faith is still present at night. One of the things we have to guard against is the idea that our faith is only as good as our experience. I consider all the Psalms faith-filled, and they definitely can be dark in experience (Psalm 88, etc.). So even when we are struggling, we shouldn’t feel like all is lost and that our faith is null and void.

But I would like to see some progress in my navigating of my day. Hopefully I’ll be learning wisdom along the way from Scripture for life. Not so much prescriptions for this or that ill or trouble, but much more like a better grounding in the will of God, in what God is doing and how I’m to be involved in that along with others. Wisdom for all of life present for us, God desiring to teach and help us in our lives.

praying for each other, for someone in particular

Pray also for me, so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Ephesians 6:19-20; NRSVue

I remember years ago a dynamic Mennonite evangelist who came to our church for a series of meetings, telling us that he refused to go to someplace or another for something like evangelistic/discipling missions because he didn’t believe he would have the prayer backing he needed. That might be telling on the people who should have supported him in prayer, but it’s also telling in the esteem and emphasis he put on prayer. And didn’t Paul do the same here? And not only here (Romans 15:30-33; 2 Corinthians 1:10-11; Philippians 1:19-20; Colossians 4:2-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2; Philemon 1:22).

This should be both a great encouragement to us as well as a great warning. What has the possibility and power, we would well say even certainty of doing much good if not done means not only that the good is not done, but much loss along with all that goes with that in its place. Not good. And yet we fail to pray as we ought to.

My go-to book, James does warn us that we lack because we fail to ask God and that when we do ask God, we still might not receive because we pray with the wrong motives (James 4:2b-3). Searching and important questions. Are we by grace completely given over to God, I mean committed to that even while in our incompleteness we struggle? Our one goal and passion in life, perhaps we should say our absolute highest goal and passion beside which all others fade in comparison is to know Christ and that Christ would be known and that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. If that is our aspiration, even in the midst of our experience of lostness and struggling, then we can be sure that God will answer our prayers.

Yes, we need to take this seriously in our personal, individual lives, but all the more so together. Prayer together seems to have even greater power before God (Matthew 18:19-20), though we can never forget that James points out that a prayer of one committed human is powerful and effective (James 5:16-18). Even praying for ourselves is a good thing (see the Psalms, etc.), but God wants us to be active for each other. In God’s economy God wants me to help you and you to help me.

Yes, consistently mentioning each other in prayer, but with special focus at times on a person or persons when the need or request is great.

when you don’t want to get out bed in the morning

Listen to my words, O LORD;
attend to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch.

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will not sojourn with you.
The boastful will not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
You destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house;
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in awe of you.
Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.

For there is no truth in their mouths;
their hearts are destruction;
their throats are open graves;
they flatter with their tongues.
Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of their many transgressions, cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover them with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5; NRSVue

There are mornings when it’s hard to get out of bed. That’s not saying much for some of us, but for others like myself, that’s saying something. But when there are so many cares and concerns, when life seems overwhelming, when life seems futile, yes- it can be easy to repeatedly put on snooze and at last shut the alarm off.

Psalm 5 encourages us to cry out to God. Tell God what we’re struggling with, what our fears are, and some imaginative maybe even outrageous expression of hope to God expressed in a request or aspiration.

God takes life seriously, all of it. But in this veil of tears, so much of it makes no sense. Or it can make all too much sense. We can be caught in a continual tension with little or no resolution. The God who is love at the core of God’s being is also sovereign and on the move, unless we don’t take all of Scripture seriously. God not only doesn’t condone evil; God won’t tolerate it. But this requires on our part, faith in God and in God’s justice that of course comes from God’s out and out love.

At the same time, yes- we can hold two seemingly contradictory thoughts in mind, we need to remember that God in Christ has shown God’s self to be completely committed to the restoration and reconciliation of all things, of all. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). But in Christ we forgive our enemies, even in their lowest acts, while we long for God’s justice and final salvation.

When I look at Psalm 5 again, I think that’s really all we need as we finally get up and get out of bed to have to face another day.

what grounds us?

The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth
and their words to the end of the world.

In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens
and its circuit to the end of them,
and nothing is hid from its heat.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can detect one’s own errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless
and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19; NRSVue

I don’t know the lingo and concepts all that well, but it is said that there’s a grounding that humans have with earth. And the more we are involved in close proximity with earth, for example in gardening, the better for us. We are after all like the earth, dust, and to dust we will return. The poetry of Psalm 19 points us to creation, to our earthliness. I think we would do much better if we would discard much of our toys, and simply enjoy the wonder and simplicity of nature, of creation.

Along with that, for me as a Christ-follower, dare I say a Christian even though that name is being sullied and has been sullied over the centuries, but I am a hopeful Christ-follower and Christian in the true sense of what that means, but for the likes of us, Scripture as the law or direction, the Word of God holds a unique place as well. I find grounding in that, in being in God’s Word, all of it. I don’t read it as a flat book, because indeed it’s not, but it’s as living and active as the God it points us to, a living document no less, for this day and age, for every time and culture.

For myself, Scripture, prayer, our hymnbook, and more and more the wondrous simplicity and delight of nature not only captivates me, but also grounds me. I would add music to that list, in my case classical music (Mozart first on that list, lately). Music itself, a wonderful gift from God which I find, if the right music, seems also to ground or at least help settle me. All of this just as this wonderful psalm song of old tells us.

back to the basics

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me
to devour my flesh—
my adversaries and foes—
they shall stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
yet I will be confident.

One thing I asked of the LORD;
this I seek:
to live in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, do I seek.
Do not hide your face from me.

Do not turn your servant away in anger,
you who have been my help.
Do not cast me off; do not forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
If my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will take me up.

Teach me your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they are breathing out violence.

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!

Psalm 27; NRSVue

While I endeavor to remain in the basics every day, I do have a tendency to drift to the place where I think I need to emphasize them again. For me the basics are Scripture reading, prayer and from that seeking and waiting on God and just seeking to be open to whatever God is wanting to teach me. Again, while I want to do that every day, it seems like there are times when I especially need to emphasize it again. I will add one more thing, which is not so much a daily thing as weekly for us: to remain in the communion of the saints which we receive through the church we’re a part of. Yes, in a sense that’s daily too, because we can contact each other and in a true sense that’s an every moment reality by the Spirit. But also there’s no replacement for the regular gathering.

Psalm 27 above, Scripture, points us to basics, to God as our light and salvation, to drawing near to God, to seeking God’s face, to waiting on God for God’s good answer and help. Some might say, or at least some that I know that we already are a temple of the living God both together and individually, that God is already nearer to us than the breath we breathe so that we really don’t have to seek God in any real sense or wait on God. God is already present. And they say that’s a new covenant truth, the covenant which in Christ we’re in which is true. But I would also add that it doesn’t mean that Psalm 27, even though it is in a first/old covenant setting has no meaning for us now. The psalms have been considered a hymnbook of the church for good reason. As Paul tells us, all of Scripture, though not written to us is somehow instructive for us.

I think we have to jog ourselves because while it may seem contradictory to some, Scripture says that we can drift away from the truth and reality of the gospel, the good news in Jesus. It needs to be personal for us every day. We know it’s for others, for the entire world, and we want to live as the light that we are in Christ individually and together for the good of others and for the good of all. We have to take care of ourselves first before we can help anyone else through prayers and good works which might well include simply listening (if you can call that a good work) done in love. For me this includes being in all of Scripture over time, and in prayer. Yes, God is near and yet because of my weakness being not yet glorified, in the body of my humiliation, I still need to draw near to God which includes confession of sin and seeking to grow into full maturity in Christ.

And to keep doing this.

full of faith

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant,
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried and was heard by the LORD
and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
O fear the LORD, you his holy ones,
for those who fear him have no want.
The young lions suffer want and hunger,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Psalm 34:1-10

The superscription for this psalm is “Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” Such titles may have been added later, although much of scripture including psalms certainly is not without being edited or whatever in how they were put together. That in no way diminishes their value for us today, this psalm no exception, indeed a classic. And if that title carries any weight at all even if just something of an interpretation added, it suggests to us that no matter what we’re going through and our imperfections, indeed mistakes in doing so, God can help us so that we can be full of faith.

Life ebbs and flows. There are those times when I have to say with the father of old, “I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” And then times when it seems easy to believe, though frankly that seems to be in the minority for me. But one thing I’m rather convinced of: God wishes and wants us to be people who are full of faith.

Such faith is never dependent on circumstances, though the good times can help it. Through the normal humdrum of life, the more difficult, and even the quite challenging and rather threatening days, God wants to help us to this kind of faith. A faith which is not free from struggle and doubt, but reaches out, grasps and holds on to God, to the promise of God in scripture and in its fullness in Christ.

the psalms: where we live

To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.

How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah
But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.

When you are disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.

There are many who say, “O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!”
You have put gladness in my heart
more than when their grain and wine abound.

I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.

Psalm 4

Part of the reason I think the psalms are so valuable is they talk a lot about experience. And that after all is where we live. We have our highs and lows, where we usually live, and oftentimes they’re punctuated with doubts and fears, being troubled. Then there are those times of peace and rest, sometimes even a sense of a kind of exaltation and joy. Well-being. But we sooner than later normally fall back into our default mode, which is whatever that might be. Hopefully with an increasing intentional drawing near to God as we go on, but sometimes mired in the depths.

But that is in large part why the psalms are so valuable and invaluable to us. We do well to read a psalm or two daily. And it is good from time to time to go meditatively through all the psalms. A part of God’s help for us as we live in the limitations and difficulties of this present existence and life.

In and through Jesus.

God hears our sincere even uninspired prayer

Of David.

To you, O Lord, I call;
my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Hear the voice of my supplication,
as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.^[a]

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors,
while mischief is in their hearts.
Repay them according to their work,
and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more.

Blessed be the Lord,
for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.

The Lord is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
O save your people, and bless your heritage;
be their shepherd, and carry them forever.

Psalm 28

There are times when prayer seems so empty. Maybe I should say there are those special, relatively unusual times, when it seems inspired, as if some wind was blowing in one’s heart, giving special love to pray, as well as insight. Contrast that to the times when the soul feels like it’s in a desert. That God is far off, the soul dry. And where hope is gone, no sense of the divine. Fortunately that is not the usual either, but there are times and seasons when we can seem stuck in that.

What we need to get rid of is the idea or notion that when we feel empty our prayers don’t matter. Sincere prayers do matter to God, and we might even say especially when they come with difficulty and no sense of God’s help. I’m not sure we can measure prayer that way. Yes we’re to pray in the Spirit at all times (Ephesians 6), but no, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t require effort on our part. And as humans we experience many emotions and conditions which can make prayer difficult. But when we open up the psalms we should be encouraged since so many of them come from a troubled heart.

Something to remember and be encouraged by. In and through Jesus.

the Lord as “my” Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd…

Psalm 23:1a

It was pointed out to us in seminary, rightfully so I think, that spirituality in the Bible is communal, or meant to be lived in community. Yes, and we lose so much when we don’t understand this, or take it seriously. We are so steeped in an individualistic mindset in our western culture, that we see most everything in terms of individuals, rather than of each individual as part of the whole. And God though One is also revealed as Three, so that while there’s only one God and God is One, in that Oneness somehow, God is also Three: Source, Word, and Spirit, one way of putting it; or Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So that God is also in God’s Self, communal. So when we read a Scripture like Psalm 23, one might say that we’re considering one important aspect of our existence: the reality that we are an individual, and that God deals with us as such. The Lord takes seriously each one of us as individuals. And this most classic of all the psalms one might say, probably most loved and memorized brings this out clearly.

I was sharing this psalm with our grandson this week, and later meditated on it for myself. Yes, the Bible repeatedly likens us humans to sheep. We’re so easily lost, flustered, and then upset. Bleating, often injured, and again lost, again and again. This is the reality we live in. I personally am amazed at my own experience, how a kind of deep settled peace can be so rudely interrupted by what sets me back into an unhappy state, where I no longer feel at home, but long for home as something like the idyllic state which is touched on in this psalm. But we have to read the entire psalm. And happily remember too, who it was attributed to: To David, himself a shepherd as a boy, who became shepherd of God’s people Israel, and who certainly did not live an unblemished life.

If we read the entire psalm, we see that the Lord has us covered. That the Lord as our shepherd, yes “my shepherd” is present with us through everything, through the mess and the hardest times, as well as the good times. Through all of our days, right to the very end. What if we really believed that? What difference would that make?

It doesn’t mean that life becomes easier, that circumstances change, that all is well and good. It does mean that through the better and worse, even through the most troubled and troubling times, the Lord is with us as the shepherd each one of us needs.

I want to dwell on this psalm for a time myself, let it soak in. So that hopefully I can begin to much better appreciate the faithfulness of the Lord as my shepherd whatever circumstances and experience I’m going through. In and through Jesus.

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;^[a]
he restores my soul.^[b]
He leads me in right paths^[c]
for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,^[d]
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely^[e] goodness and mercy^[f] shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.^[g]

Psalm 23