What if fear/anxiety points toward idols? What if anxiousness of certain things shows us something about what or who we trust?

If your checkbook and calendar can point out priorities, I believe anxious thoughts can point out idols which are those things that take priority over our relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Anxiety may be better defined, not as panic attacks, but as distracting worry. What do you wake up worrying about? What gets you up at night and won’t let you go back to sleep? What is it that you constantly find yourself talking about? What captures your attention about the future that takes you away from the present and actually doing something about it? These are anxious thoughts. And...

The prayer of examen can help us identify what has taken the place of God.

Search me and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts, point out anything in me that offends you and lead me in the path of eternal life (forever rest).[1]

Tests are from God to grow our faith.

Temptations are from the evil one to destroy our faith.

What are you facing now that may be a test? Relationship strife? Denominational issues? Career going nowhere or everywhere that you don’t want to be? Maybe instead of thinking of those as obstacles to get past, we see them as tests to get through. Opportunities to identify those things that may be taking the place of God in our life (idols) and re-orienting our lives toward God for our faith to grow.

[1] Psalm 139:23-24 (New Living Translation