Into the Deep: Going Beyond AnxietySample

Fear of Uncertainty

It is possible that you have come to this devotional series hoping for a way to tame or address your anxiety. However, this series is less focused on the management of the experience of anxiety, and more on the root emotion of anxiety: overwhelming fear. Even though fear is normally present in each of us to help us live safely in a world where not everything is out for our good, fear can also dominate and paralyze.

As a psychologist, I can attest to the power of having a good counsellor to help address anxiety by way of working through fear. If fear is the deep end of anxiety, it helps to have someone to give us swimming lessons.

It's worth wondering why anxiety has become the top mental health issue in our world. Has our constant connectivity led to an expansion of our ability to imagine what could possibly go wrong? Has the erosion of trust in our institutions fed our instinct for self-reliance, leading to the fear that not only will there not be enough, but that we ourselves may not be enough?

I listen a great deal to how people grapple with the fears of their lives. Will I get the job I want with the income that I need? Will I meet someone whom I can love and who will love me? Will my loved ones be safe and happy? Most seem to shove uncertainty aside and carry on because to dwell on it during the day feels too draining. And so, we tend to march forward with the tasks set before us, whether that be school or work or caring for others, hoping that the various torches we juggle will not fall and burn us. And yet, the shadow remains: what if?

The object of counselling is to work through the “what if.” We spend most of our lives trying very hard to eliminate as much of it as possible. Yet if we let it, uncertainty can be a place where we grow into greater trust of the God who says, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Inevitably, we will come to the end of our material and psychological resources. We are, after all, limited creatures. But when we come to our ends, we often experience an invitation into greater peace. Not because we’re assured that everything will go our way, but because Jesus himself says, on his own life, that what assails us now has ended and is ending. In its place, Jesus’ kingdom slowly flowers. And with it, a time where not everything will go our way at last, but at last, everything shall go God’s way.

1. John 16:25-33 speaks not only of the peace Jesus promises us, but also of God’s love for us. Why do you think these two topics are addressed together?
2. Have you ever been surprised at how well you have handled uncertainty and the stress that comes with it? What helped you cope?