[5 Conversations With Christ] Anxiety and Worryনমুনা

A Common Human Experience 

There’s a lot to worry about in our nation and in the world. The pandemic is a global thing. Even conversations about it create worry. There are some people who think it is a hoax; other folks know it is real and say, “I’m never leaving my house.” Anxiety is so easily found these days! 

Anxiety is more than just a storm; it’s a drizzle in all of our lives. It’s more than a thunderstorm; it’s more like a fog we walk through. It’s like a buzz in your heart. Adam Mason, the head of our Julianna Poor Memorial Counseling Center here at First Baptist Church of Houston, defines it like this: “Anxiety is one of the most common experiences of humanity. It is a state of psychological arousal associated with restlessness and insecure thoughts. It has a twin sister of depression who joins her brother when the insecure thoughts turn to hopelessness.” 

The Greek word translated as anxiety in Luke 12:29 means to be torn apart, of doubtful mind, to be held in suspense; it is a picture of a ship being tossed in a storm. The English word worry comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word that means to strangle. So, worry strangles us; it gets us antsy. It is something psychological, yes, but it’s also spiritual, biological, and circumstantial—it’s all those things. 

How do we battle anxiety? There's a lot to worry about. In this passage, Jesus had just been speaking before a crowd of many thousands. But this word was especially for his disciples, for those who believe in him. He said, “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.” He asked them, “Can any of you add a cubit to his height by worrying? If then you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?”

Author Corrie ten Boom said it like this: “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.”