Dear Anxiety, Let’s Break Up: Conquer Worry & FearSýnishorn

Communication System

[The stories and names of patients in the book from which this plan stems, have been altered to protect their identities. These stories are intended to serve as reflections and applications to help those who struggle with anxiety.]

I truly look forward to seeing many of my patients in the office.  When I see Ben’s name on my schedule for the day, I smile. Ben grapples with depression and anxiety as a result of his heart disease, which will require a transplant at some point, or the disease will take his life. He’s lived with his sister and mother for some time now because his depression, anxiety, and heart disease have kept him from holding down a job and earning his own paycheck. It’s a chaotic household because his sister and mother also struggle with their own mental health issues. Thankfully, Ben is a Jesus follower and, like many of my clients who are Jesus followers, once asked me this question: Is it a sin to be anxious?

Since I am not only an expert on the biological basis of anxiety and the stress response but also a Jesus follower, my answer to this common question is nuanced. The bottom line is no, I do not believe that anxiety is a sin; it is an emotion or feeling. Is joy a sin? Is grief a sin? Is surprise a sin? You’ve probably never even questioned whether these emotions are sinful because emotions and feelings are not inherently bad. Emotions are part of God’s design for us, and they’re tools that help us communicate to ourselves and others how we feel about an idea, an event, or a person. Then based on those feelings, an action or response is provoked. Emotions, like anxiety, are meant to prompt us to act. Anxiety is, therefore, a communicator.

The problem with anxiety as a communicator is that anxiety sometimes hears, receives, or interprets the message incorrectly. And if we act impulsively on our emotions or leave them unchecked, they have the potential to lead us to make sinful decisions. Therein lies the nuance of my initial answer. While it is difficult to learn how to navigate the space between feeling an emotion and acting on an emotion, it’s our job as humans to closely examine our feelings and fact-check them for truth. As Jesus followers, it’s our job to go one step further and cross-reference our emotions with God’s truth.

Anxiety may warn us that we are in danger, but God assures us that we are safe. Anxiety may claim that we are unloved, but God promises that we are his treasure. Anxiety may paint our future bleak and hopeless, but God says, “I am your hope.” He will dismantle every lie in his quest for our soul.

Anxiety, like all emotions, is a communicator that is, at times, unreliable. It’s up to us to fact-check our anxiety.

Reflect

Recall a time when anxiety communicated a message of fear to me. Did I fact-check this fear, or did I act on this fear? What was the outcome? Next time my anxiety comes calling, how can I react differently?

Prayer Time

Dear God, thank you for building and composing within me an internal communication system of emotions. Help me recognize when my emotions are lying to me. Help me call out to you for wisdom and clarification instead of believing and acting on the lies of anxiety. I know that your way is best. Amen.