Anxiety - A Tangle without Light.
Finding Order in the Chaos
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2
Do not be anxious about anything, but it every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
I love twinkle lights. As I have gotten older I have felt more brave decorating my house with twinkle lights during every season of the year. But at Christmas there is a special amount of twinkle lights adorning our house both inside and out.
Have you ever pulled out your Christmas lights from the year before and wondered. What was up last year? Why didn’t we wind the lights. Instead we find a wad of lights and struggle to find the beginning from the end. Worse than that, we plug in the mass of tangled lights and find that only half of the lights work, so for the spend thrifts like me, we carefully untangle the lights take apart the three strands that had been strung together and then when we plug them in again for some strange reason none of them work. So, I end up throwing them away and adding lights to the shopping list and I can never get that hour back in my life.
I think I work so hard at the lights because I LOVE the outcome. I love the fact that once my house is decorated I can turn off the overhead lights and enjoy the soft amber ambiance. The small white twinkle lights bring a peace that I can not find anywhere else.
We live in an anxious world. Almost everyone understand what anxiety feels like. There is a sense of endless work, endless tasks, limitless possibilities and a surge of potential. The internet provides an incredible vehicle that levels the playing field and makes the world small. The internet also provides endless hours of consumption and a unquenchable thirst for stardoms and renown. Research is emerging that highlights how teens and young adults are living with anxiety at unprecedented levels. There is a conflict for all of us. The endorphin rush we get when people “like” our posts versus the anxiety of never being enough. Just writing this sentence produces anxiety in me.
It isn’t just the internet. Shutting off one thing will not quiet the crazy within. If it isn’t the internet than it is the rise of 24 hour news. Access to information from around the world has turned what use to bring communities together to help our neighbor because there was a fire or support a church family experiencing a medical emergency causes us to isolate because there are too many problems and the overwhelming knowelget of need paralyzes us.
Although life is hurling into an oblivion of sorts there is hope. And not just the hope of Jesus. Although He is the wonderful counselor and prince of peace, and I believe that, there is more. We have history to guide us and maybe even normalize the aniiety we are feeling.
We often go back into Americna History, which is good. Take a moment to think of the chaos Lincoln dealt with during the Civil War. A chaos that literally killed him. Or world history, think of the bubonic plague where people were quaretneed and separated from their families in a hope of surviving. Or the desperation of the Israelites spending 400 years as slaves in Egypt and when their freedom was suppose to come things gone worse and their work load doubled upon Pharoah’s comand. We can go back to when it all began to understand where anxiety originated.
The earliest records even backed up by science reports that there was nothing and then there was something. God spoke a word and light came out of darkness, form came out of emptiness and the rest of creation began. As each part of creation is completed God says it is good until he gets to people. He states that humans are made in His image and that they are very good. God puts structure to life giving people the responsibility to tend the garden and all that is in it. And God hangs out with his people. He meets up with them and walks with them every day. At this point in the historical account everything seems to be working. There seems to be order and peace.
Then we read about a conversation between a snake and a woman. The snake asks questions. He plants seeds of doubt. And all of this results in a forbidden fruit being eaten, the first feeling of shame, and hiding from God when he comes to take his daily walk. Peace seems far away at this point. And once God sends the people out of the garden with a new set of rules there is a strong sense of disorder. In fact now any order at all will come at a cost. People will be at odds with each other and with creation.
When we look at history through this lens we realize that chaos is now the norm. Anxiety is a way of life and it is only through the presence of God in a situation that there is hope of peace at all. I find it somewhat validating to know that battling anxiety and chaos of thought, mood, and …. Is actually normal. Its peace and tranquility that is a the rare commodity.
So, how do we find a little peace down here? It is cliche to say God but is it true. God is a God of order. The devil who is the Lord of this land is the prince of darkness and the author of chaos. So the battle looks like this. People were created for order and long for true connection and community with God and each other. But we live in this fallen world with these fallen characteristics led by the Lord of lies which fosters a topsy turvy existence.
Here are some suggestions for living in the LIGHT while dwelling in this dark space in time.
*Write down scripture and post it in places you pass by often: computer screen, car dashboard and bathroom mirror.
*Make a serenity play list - songs that bring you peace and hope.
*Pray by yourself and call a friend to pray with and make a text pray group to get friends petitioning God for you!