Anxiety Disorder

We must constantly make the effort to surrender to God and obey him. Our society is always wondering why people do bad things. Is it nature or is it nurture? We know the answer. By nature we are rebels against God and we live with a pack of rebels. Both our nature and our nurture give us the propensity to do evil. Even if we increase the size and boldness of the warning label we still mutiny against God.

While this is true of all sin, one common sin that we all struggle with is anxiety. Many believers are disorderly because they live lives of anxiety. They have an anxiety disorder. The solution is to be a believer. Do not profess faith, exercise it!

We are looking at Hebrews on Sunday mornings. It is a LARGE and BOLD warning label. “Believers” were drifting away from the faith to their own harm. The first preventative measure for drifting is to see Jesus. Who is he, what has he done, what is he doing? Hebrews 1: 6-9 is a great example of the evidence that the author utilizes. The evidence is so strong it utterly spikes any opposing thought! Why would I stay with Jesus? Think about this:

But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

Now, can you find something better; someone better? NO! You say Amen? OK, then why do we worry? Jesus Christ, the chosen messiah, is the God-King forever. He is a righteous King, and he is covered with the oil of gladness. God is “over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:6) Does “all” include you and everything in your life? Since the answer is yes, our spiritual practice should be to rejoice in the Lord always. We profess faith, but do we exercise it? Trust him. Philippians 4: 4-9 is the prescription which we need for our anxiety disorder. Because he is LORD of all, the sovereign sustainer of everything, we are commanded to rejoice, be reasonable, not be anxious about anything and be people of thankful prayer. He is God forever, he has a rule of righteousness, and we are his people.

You can have the peace of God and the God of peace by faithful obedience. No matter what is happening, no matter how overwhelming our problems he is Lord of ALL! His peace, shalom, passes all understanding.

Unchecked worry, grumpiness, angry arguments and accusations all grow out of a heart that has not submitted to the Sovereign of all. Are you a believer? Can you confess Jesus as Lord?