Welcome to "Tuesday Mornings," a source of encouragement for Christians everywhere.

 

Americans tend to be worriers. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 40 million Americans over the age of 18 are affected by anxiety disorders. If that is true, about one-fifth of American adults suffers from at least one type of anxiety disorder. It has become one of the most common types of mental illness in the free world today.

 

Professional counselors tend to believe that worry, reduced to its simplest form, is an unhealthy and destructive mental habit. They say that we were not born with the worry habit, but that we acquired it. They also say that because we can change our habits, we can cast worry from our mind. It is our decision to make.

 

The late Norman Vincent Peale was perhaps America's most prolific writer on the subject of positive thinking. He said about worry, "Since aggressive, direct action is essential in the elimination process, there is just one proper time to begin an effective attack on worry, and that is now. So let us start breaking your worry habit at once."

 

King Solomon must have agreed, He wrote, "So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body." (Ecclesiastes 11:10)

 

This week's "Tuesday Mornings" is entitled, "Anxiety." Read on whenever you are ready, and then start by asking God to help you eliminate the power of worry in your life.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Encourager

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ANXIETY

Tom Barnard

 

o you ever get anxious standing before an audience to speak, teach, sing, or play an instrument? Only those who do stand-up stuff really know how bad it can be. Especially in those settings where the platform lights are so bright that you can’t see anything but blackness after the first row or two of people in the audience. Eye contact? Some say to fake it. It’s the only way we can convince an audience that we are really speaking to them.

 

I used to play the violin for various performances in school, church, weddings, etc. I hated the feeling of lack of confidence so much that when I broke my shoulder in a fall down a flight of stairs at our home in Massachusetts, I never picked up the violin again—except to move the case from one closet to another. I had a great excuse to avoid excessive anxiety. So I declined to perform. But most of us don’t have a choice. People know what we can do. It’s hard to turn them down, unless we have an “I-fell-down-the-stairs-and-broke-something” excuse.

 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders affect approximately 40 million American adults 18 years of age and older each year. That represents about 20 percent of the adult population—one in five Americans.  Anxiety disorders tend to fall into six basic categories, including panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, social phobias, specific phobias, and generalized anxiety disorders.

 

Unlike the relatively mild or brief periods of anxiety we experience that are caused by upcoming stressful events, anxiety disorders can last six months or more and often require professional treatment. Professionals take these disorders seriously, and mental health researchers (many funded by pharmaceutical companies) actively seek solutions to these major health issues.

 

But what about simple anxiety? Recently, I sent a one-question survey to a group of about 200 Christian friends. I asked this question: “What are the greatest causes of worry among older Christian adults?” The responses were not surprising. The top four were: Finances…Health…Family…Future. I also invited those who responded to list passages of scripture that helped them deal with these forms of worry. Here are some of the scriptures recommended by those who responded:

 

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:5)

“He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:11)

“He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber…The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life…both now and forever more.” (Psalm 121:3-8)

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he; I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” (Isaiah 46:4)

“Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:25, 26)

“Be anxious for nothing, but in every way by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6)

 

With so many promises from God’s Word available to us, is there any reason for us to be disheartened or defeated when we face worrisome times? God wants us to claim these scriptures and trust Him to answer.