The Church has always been under attack from false teachers. From the Gnostics who believe that special knowledge is necessary to follow God, to the Arians who teach that Christ is not God, to the Pelagians who claim that man is not dead in sins, heretics have attached the truth of Scripture and attempted to lead believers astray. Surprisingly though, we forget that attacks are not always from the outside. False teachers are dangerous, but more perilous are believers who teach their own hearts heresy. We all have corrupt hearts that constantly deceive ourselves and ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit. We are often unaware that we deceive ourselves into believing heresy. Believers must be constantly on guard against the encroachment of false doctrine in their hearts. It was in this position that I found myself this week.
Daily Stress
My life, like the lives of most people, is full of stress. There are stresses at work, stresses at home, stresses at church, and stresses even while shopping for groceries. This stress become a habit, like a layer of clothing that I put on each morning before I start the activities of the day. I even noticed extra layers of stress at work over particular projects, or at church when in charge of a big event. I did not seriously question this stress, nor did I attempt to resolve it. After all, stress is part of life! Maybe if I could live alone in the woods or be a nomad in the desert, I would not feel stressed. But here in the United States of America, stress is inevitable!
However, there were been signs that all was not well–a passing comment about how stressed I was from a coworker, a concerned question from my wife asking if I was stressed out, and even a comment from my pastor that maybe I had taken on too much. These signs eventually became too noticeable to ignore, and I was forced to take a look at my thoughts and actions. And, nudged by the Holy Spirit and godly voices around me, I began to ask the vital questions. What is stress? Is it the same thing as anxiety? Am I too stressed? Is stress sinful?
What is Stress?
To answer “Is stress sinful?”, we must first ask “What is stress?”. The NIH defines stress as “a physical and emotional reaction that people experience as they encounter challenges in life” including symptoms such as elevated heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure as well as tense muscles and an increase in sweat production (NIH). Medical News Today adds that other symptoms may include “anxious thoughts; moodiness, irritability, or anger; general unhappiness; a feeling of being overwhelmed; loneliness; nausea; and dizziness” (MNT). These symptoms are not stress itself but are indicators that stress is present in an individual’s life. Both of these sources state that the difference between stress and anxiety is that stress is short-term and has an identifiable cause, but anxiety is long-term and does not always have a source. However, both are normal parts of life. Stress can turn into anxiety because we become anxious because of stress.
If we define stress as an outward or inward stimulus that awakens the mind and body to challenges, then there is nothing sinful about stress at all. On the contrary, God has promised that hardships will come (Jn 16:33, 1 Pet 4:12). However, that was not what I was feeling or what my friends and family were noticing. They were noticing a frenetic pace in my life that never slowed. They heard tension and maybe even a little fear in my voice. They saw that words and actions affected me strongly. They felt that my reactions to everyday life were not healthy. Inwardly, I felt a tension in my chest and a lump in my stomach that never quite went away. I felt like I was sitting on a live wire. I felt like my mind was constantly racing–making sure that I was not forgetting anything. I was constantly analyzing every move that I made so that I would not fail. And though I would not readily admit it, I felt fear. I feared disappointing others, I feared my thoughts and emotions, and I feared God.
Laying awake in my bed, I wondered if what I was experiencing was stress. What was this sensation, and what needed to change? In the morning, the Holy Spirit brought a passage of Scripture to my mind:
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Ps 139:1–6, 23–24).
What I needed was not my own opinion or the expertise of medical professionals (as helpful as they may be). What I needed was the All-Knowing God of the Universe to diagnose my stress. As I thought back on what I and others around me experienced and prayed for God to show me the truth, I saw that what I was fighting was not stress. It was anxiety. Although this was not the case for everyone experiencing stress, I had made excuse after excuse for my selfish and self-righteous behavior with an innocent “It’s just stress.” Under the mask of my stress leered the specter of anxiety.
What does the Bible say about Anxiety?
Now that I saw my anxiety for what it truly was, I needed to know what God said about anxiety. What I found saddened my heart:
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 (Phil 4:6-7).
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid (Jn 14:27).
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble (Matt 6:25-34).
My heart was indeed guilty. I had worried about all of these! I had worried about my home, worried about my job, worried about my church, and worried about my standing before God. I needed help. And though I knew that they could help, my first thought, guided by the Holy Spirit was not to go to a counselor or doctor; I needed the Great Physician’s help. He is the only one who can cure every disability both physical and spiritual. So, after breathing a prayer of thankfulness for God’s work in my heart and asking him to guide my thoughts and emotions, I searched the Scriptures to see what God says about fighting anxiety.
Christ’s Cure for Care
Christ knew that we would be afflicted by the trials of life. He knew that we would have worries and cares while in the world. At the same time, our Savior did not leave us in the world without a cure for our cares. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” But how can Jesus give us rest from our anxiety if he is no longer present on this earth? Christ has given us four cures for our cares.
First, Christ has given us Scripture. The Bible is replete with comforting promises that we need not fear because Christ is with us. He has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us. The Bible is God’s letter, written to us so that we would best know how to glorify him. If he does not want us to be anxious, then he will give us the comfort that we need to find our peace in him. Fighting worry on our own without running to Scripture is like navigating the desert without water–we will not survive. Here are some of my favorite Scripture passages about Christ’s comfort:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” - John 14:1-4, 27
"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Mt 6:26–34.
Second, Christ has given us supplication. The Father is not an inaccessible being, but graciously hears us when we cry out to him in prayer. In so many of the Psalms when David was anxious and afraid, the Psalmist cried out to God, laying bare his heart before the Father and pleading with him to rescue him from his distress. In the same way, we must pray honest prayers to God–begging him for the peace that only he can offer. When we pray, God has promised to hear us and to answer us. Here are some of my favorite passages about praying your cares to God:
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 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 4:4–7.
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6–7.
Third, Christ has given us support. Right after Jesus ascended into heaven, he founded the Church at Pentecost. This group of disciples banded together to support one another in their new mission of following Christ. God designed the Church to love and care for one another, and he calls on us to bear one another’s burdens. A believer cannot battle care all alone! He needs God’s chosen instrument for the advancement and proclamation of the Gospel–he needs the Church! When we are full of worry and anxiety, Christians around us can lift us up–reminding us that we have a Father who loves us so much that he sent his only Son to die for us. An ember burning alone will soon fade, but a raging fire will not soon be smothered. Here are some of my favorite verses about the importance of the support that Christ has given us in the Church:
"Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." - Proverbs 12:25.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." - Galatians 6:1–2.
Finally, Christ has given us song. God’s Word instructs believers to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:16). The primary way that this happens is through corporate worship–singing together as the covenanted assembly of local believers. However, we have also been blessed by hundreds of thousands of songs sung by believers across the globe right in our hands. God has used modern technology so that we would be able to sing to one another and be ministered to in song across generations and continents. Take advantage of the wonderful gift of music that God has given to us. There are so many hymns and spiritual songs, encouraging us to look to Christ in our hour of care!
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." - Ephesians 5:15–21.
Although reasons to worry and fret are all around us in this fallen world, God has promised to be with us and to give us the strength that we need. We must fight in the strength that he has given us through Scripture, supplication, support, and song against anxiety, worry, and care. If you find yourself overcome with anxiety, maybe even hidden under the mask of stress, run to Christ! We have a wonderful Savior who has overcome the world. Only his power can conquer our anxieties.
