On Anxiety 

R.A. Young 

30 August 2024  

 

I wish I could get it into my head that being anxious is a sin.  

 

Jesus forbids it just as expressly as he does divorce. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Matthew 6:25-27. Paul too warns against fear: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7. And God called Joshua to courage long ago, before he even knew fully what was the source of his hope. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.  

 

Yet it’s so hard to think of worry as a sin! A character flaw, sure, and a particularly annoying symptom of my depravity. But sin? That I should come running to Christ in repentance every time anxiety clouds my judgement and smothers my faith? Fear, a sin, an affront against God and the just and good nature of His providence?

We humans tend to comfort ourselves in the face of this sin. To be anxious, we say, is proof that we care about things. It can’t be sin, proving as it does your passion, your love for others. 

 

But no! Do you know what my sin actually proves? Weak faith and weaker trust. An inability (or worse, unwillingness) to grasp either God’s power or His love or His goodness. 

 

What then do I fear? That God isn’t strong enough, or kind enough. That He isn’t enough. 

 

And that fear? That is a sin. 

 

A friend of mine gave a presentation on 1 Peter 5:7. “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” He pointed out how visceral the term “cast” is. We’re not meant to set our anxiety cautiously on the dais of God’s throne. We’re not placing it delicately on the palm of His hand as though we might snatch it back. We’re casting it away, flinging it on Him. I still wrestle with this sinful tendency, but a few things have helped me as I struggle with it. 

 

First and foremost, of course, is prayer and reading. Scripture is dense with reminders and promises of God’s strength and faithfulness. “I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; It is I Who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the One Who helps you’” (Isaiah 41:13). 

 

I need these constant reminders of God’s power and providence. My mom sent me a meme the other day that said simply, “Worry is imagining your future without the hand of God on it.” For me at least, this has proven true. 

 

I wrote a poem about thunderstorms (which, frankly, terrify me). The last line read, “Do I forget Whose the storm is?” The answer, of course, being yes. D.A. Carson too uses the weather to reflect on God’s sovereignty. “The writer of Ecclesiastes knows of the water cycle, but biblical authors prefer to speak of God sending the rain than to say, ‘It is raining.’ God is the One Who opens and shuts, Who kills and brings to life, Who raises up and puts down kings. He calls the stars by name, and keeps track of the number of hairs on each head (a rapidly decreasing count in some cases).” Humour aside, R.C. Sproul has a sobering note to add on providence. “That I am drawing breath this morning is an act of divine mercy. God owes me nothing. I owe Him everything. If He allows a tower to fall on my head this afternoon, I cannot claim injustice.”  

 

“You see,” adds Lou Prontnicki, “though the Lord loves and guides His chosen flock, His ultimate purposes are not determined by our immediate comfort and ease. No. For the route He chose for His people was the one that would heighten the redemptive drama and bring the greatest honour and radiance to Him.” Charles Spurgeon expounds on the same theme: “Precious children of God, even though you are shaken, be comforted by the blessed fact that the Lord directs the whole process for His own glory and for your eternal profit.”  

 

Fear, then, like all other sins and struggles, is designed to eventually display God’s glory and refine our souls. As Andrew Bonar points out, “Burdens are part of a believer’s education.” 

 

We are not left alone in our fear. Mark Jones wrote, “As we come to savingly know God, we are filled with hope. For a Christian, to lack hope is to lack grace — an utter impossibility. Faith gives birth to hope;” and, “Hope looks to God.” True assurance in God’s faithfulness and goodness leaves no room for fear. 

 

And yet there is anxiety, for perfect sanctification is never achieved in this broken world. C.S. Lewis describes the patience with which anxiety must be borne: “[One] will, of course, have picked up the notion that he must submit with patience to [God’s] will. What [is meant] by this is primarily that he should accept with patience the tribulation which has actually been dealt out to him — the present anxiety and suspense. It is about this that he is to say ‘Thy will be done,’ and for the daily task of bearing this that the daily bread will be provided.” Fear looks ahead, and yet Jesus commands us, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34. As with any other form of suffering, fear must be approached patiently and prayerfully. 

 

Prayer then, and constant reminders of God’s faithfulness, are the only way to combat the sinful pattern of fear that haunts me. I pray that I will truly embrace Jesus’ words in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”