subject: The Nervous Christian: Anxiety Help in Five Methods [print this page] The Nervous Christian: Anxiety Help in Five Methods
The Christian parent or engaged person may be nervous at a family wedding ceremony. Various new or potentially dangerous life experiences can bring out an anxiety response in even the best of us.
Or a Christian may have a nervous disposition, whether developed by reactions to difficult experiences or by inclination of personality or both. Or a Christian may unexpectedly become predisposed to nervousness for unknown or little understood reasons.
Various thoughts may then come to the Christian's mind, other than a desire to retreat from any circumstances that may cause an apprehensive feeling. In particular, Jesus said we should not be anxious about our food supply or clothing. Paul more generally encouraged the Christians at Philippi not to be anxious about anything.
That introduces the first of the five methods of Christian anxiety help.
I. Develop a Greater Knowledge of God
Oftentimes in the Bible, knowledge conveys intimate relationship as well as whatever is implied for the intellect. And so at an emotional moment, Paul cries out his great desire that he might "know [God] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering" (Philippians 3:10).
Or as Jesus says, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent--Jesus Christ" (HCSB John 17:3). Jesus is the exact representation of His Father and the height of the revelation of who God is.
Further, the greatest commandment is to love God with all one's heart, soul, mind and strength. Knowing God ideally is part and parcel with loving God.
At root from a spiritual vantage point, nervousness displays a Christian's deficiency in trusting and knowing and loving God. This is not to dismiss possible physical causes to anxiety or the complexity of life, and sympathy may rightly be given the anxious Christian. But the Christian who knows God according to Jesus' words and the Bible also knows that sin is ingrained into all of human behavior to one degree or another.
The Christian may develop a knowledge of how great God is and yet how deeply the Son of God identified with the human condition. The Christian may develop an intimate knowledge of the love of God in Jesus on account of the atoning death of Jesus.
Such knowledge inspires and demands greater trust, greater love for God. How can the Christian be nervous in the face of such a God who has done such great things?
Faced with imminent danger or with a long series of discouraging events is certainly a possibility for the Christian. Knowing God intimately is an encouragement in all circumstances.
II. Engage the Spiritual Enemy
Any Christian who does not face many grave difficulties is surely an exception. Yet we tend to see those difficulties in concrete terms: the sour relationship, the bank account deficit, the bodily pains and ill health, the car crash, the death of a loved one.
It is therefore a bit odd to consider (per Ephesians 6:12) that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities ..." (meaning against dark spiritual forces, against the tactics of the Devil, v. 11).
The methods of engaging is such spiritual warfare can be read in Ephesians 6, and concern matters like trusting God, knowing the Bible and praying.
That is, in the concrete and tangible trials we face, there are dark spiritual forces also at work against us, desiring us to be anxious (among other things). God has called us to fight back.
III. Breath Deeply and Slowly
The spiritual and the physical relate to each other intimately and in various ways. Many have found that simple controlled breathing serves to calm nerves. Hyperventilation tends to exacerbate a nervous condition. Breathe deeply and slowly. Practice breathing deeply and slowly, and remember to do so when tempted to feel especially nervous.
IV. Care for the Temple
Living a sedentary lifestyle can depress mood; regular bodily exercise can elevate it. Or one may feel particularly anxious going through drug withdrawal, or feel especially nervous when on too much caffeine or when exposed to some environmental toxin. The Christian's physical body is a kind of temple for the Holy Spirit. Taking care of this temple is a Christian duty. Good health has its advantages in fighting anxiety.
V. Do What Needs to Be Done
Sometimes Christians are nervous because we do not want to do what needs to be done. We fear negative consequences, such as our own reactions. But facing our responsibilities is a goal of fighting anxiety. Of course we are not talking about making unwise decisions or throwing ourselves in harms way. But sometimes--for example--we need to make decisions that will reduce our stress and give us more time to do what ought to be done.
