Fear, Anxiety, and Pride

Our Pastor is preaching on the perils of pride and the blessings / promises of humility right now. At one point in his sermon this past week he talked about anxiety. To paraphrase, he said that fear was the product of a prideful heart. He quoted another man who said that the heart of pride is one that makes itself supreme, not our Almighty, Infinite God. The prideful heart sets itself and its own plans, desires, expectations as supremely important rather than God and His will, plans, and desires. So how does this relate to fear? Well it’s really simple… we all have desires and plans and expectations, but they're not always the same as God’s desires, plans, and expectations for us. When He sovereignly directs our day in a way that doesn’t coincide with the direction we wanted (planned or expected) it to go, our reaction reveals the status of our heart. Do I accept God’s direction for my life with humility like Jesus saying “but not my will Father, but Yours be done,” or do I react in fear (or anger or discontentment, etc.)? When I react in fear I am showing that my heart was really exalting itself over God’s supremacy and not submitting humbly to His plan for my day. As such, fear is really an outward expression of the heart that is filled with pride. The heart of fear (pride) says I don’t want that to happen… I’m afraid! But the heart of humility says, I desire for … (fill in the blank) to happen, but I know that God knows what is best and my ultimate desire is to submit to His Supremacy, even if that means that my momentary desires are not realized. The heart of humility will trust God to make the best decision and lead them down the best paths in their life, but the heart of pride will dig in their heels and react in fear, distrust, etc. ultimately fighting God’s direction.

I can tend to look at fear in my own heart and try to come up with a plan to fight it, but in reality I am missing the bigger problem. It’s like being in a war and arriving at the wrong battle field. The real issue isn’t my fear, but rather my pride. Will I submit my will to God and accept with humble faith that whatever He brings my way is the best thing for me and those whose lives are affected through me, or will I rebel against His will for me and engage is silent “protest” through my fear filled reaction. The better thing would be to confess to God my pride and seek to submit myself to His will, asking Him to help me trust in His promises of good for those “who love Him and are called according to His purposes.” I would profit more if I remembered the humility of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane expressing His desires to God but not making them an idol, rather seeking to do God’s will no matter how great the cost. (As such this reaction would honor God, too!) I would do well to imitate His faith which said “My food is to do the will of God.” Everything about Christ exuded humble trust in God and submission to His will.

To sum up and restate this in the most positive fashion that I can: The way to live a peace-filled, anxiety free, joyful life is to be a humble person (or at best this side of heaven: a person seeking to be humble). Living in humility or in the state of humbling ourselves under God’s mighty hand is the only way to experience freedom and joy beyond our comprehension, even in the midst of trials and unsettling events because our focus isn’t on our own plans or our own supremacy but rather on God who is both Almighty and All-powerful… and frankly amazing! We will be astounded as we see the beauty of His plan if we accept it humbly and without fear.