Respectable Sins - Part 2

Anxiety
Uh oh, you're all thinking right now, here it comes. Anxiety is a sin...we know already!! And I just want to take this opportunity to say yeah, I know too. And I'm still anxious all the time, usually without recognizing it as sin or calling it sin. So why is anxiety a sin? I mean, we're human right? Anxiety is an emotion; we live in a fallen world, for heavens sake, there is tons to be anxious about! Anxiety is a sin because it shows a distrust of God in our hearts and a lack of willingness to accept God's providence in our lives.

I had to confront this particular sin in my life a little over a year ago. I have a skin problem with my fingers. No one really knows whats going on with it, but I have some medicated lotion I have to use like crazy. Most of the time its under control and it just seems like I have really dry hands. But sometimes its really bad and my fingers get swollen and scabby and break open...you get the picture. Its gross. There have been several times when I haven't had use of my hands because of it. Once or twice this happened on a Sunday morning and I wasn't able to write on the whiteboard in class - I had to ask one of the kids to do it for me! Many times I scratched my fingers so hard that my hands were shaking from exhaustion; often times the only relief was to hold my hands under scalding water for a few minutes. Do you get the picture I'm trying to paint? This is not a pretty thing! My dad told me that he had had a similar experience when he was my age and that it happened when he was particularly anxious about something. He asked me if there was anything I was anxious about. I said no, but I thought about it. I thought and thought and thought and realized that I was an extremely anxious person! God showed me much grace and I have been battling this anxiety and winning over the last year. We serve a gracious Lord! And now I always have a very physical reminder whenever I loose trust in God...one that I can't ignore!

Not all of you (unfortunately?) have this same reminder though. Its harder to tell when you aren't trusting God. And that is all anxiety is. If we understood God for the Almighty, All-Knowing, Loving, Faithful, Sovereign God that He truly is, then we would never ever suffer from anxiety!! We wouldn't be able to!

Remind yourselves of God's promises. Learn them, memorize them, and meditate on them. Make them your own. Learn more about who God is. Read of His character, learn His works. Never brush off anxiety as unimportant or justifiable.

I have far to go in my fight...just ask my brother! On Saturdays, he and I work the same shift and I usually ride to work with him. I do this for three reasons. One, because it is dumb for us both to drive to the same place at the same time and then leave at the same time to drive back to the same place. Two, because I enjoy his company. Three, because it gives me a regular opportunity to display a trust in my God. Those of you who know me well know that I am pretty scared of being late. Its a big fear. I have a four minute commute to work and I almost always leave 20-25 minutes before I'm scheduled to start...just in case! Matt, on the other hand, leaves in enough time to arrive 2 minutes before he is scheduled! I'm sorry to say that almost every Saturday I get extremely anxious. I start nagging him and bugging him to leave. I'm impatient and frustrated on the walk to the car. It feels like hours instead of 2 seconds for him to throw a couple notebooks off the front passengers seat into the back of the car. The whole drive there I'm urging him to drive faster. My poor brother, I'm honestly surprised he still lets me drive with him!

The point? I am daily fighting anxiety. It is a huge struggle for me and is always rearing its ugly head in areas I never expected. Look for the anxiety in your own lives. Recognize it as sin...and fight it alongside me. May we all learn to trust our God so much that nothing in this world can daunt us!