The Answer to Anxiety - Pt 2

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:12-15 ESV).

Yesterday we saw that the root of our fear is unfaithfulness. Now I can think of two kinds of responses to this truth. Let me tell you what they are and then give a biblical response before we go on to the battle against the unbelief of anxiety. One response would go like this: This is not good news! In fact, it is very discouraging to learn that what I thought was a mere struggle with an anxious disposition is in fact a far deeper struggle with whether I believe God or not. Now my response to this is to agree but then to disagree. Suppose you had been having pain in your stomach and had been struggling with medicines and diets of all kinds to no avail. And then suppose that your doctor tells you after a routine visit that you have cancer in your small intestine. Would that be good news? You say, emphatically not! And I agree. But let me ask the question another way: Are you glad that the doctor discovered the cancer while it is still treatable, and that indeed it can be very successfully treated? You say, Yes, I am very glad that the doctor found the real problem. Again I agree. So the news that you have cancer is not good news because having cancer is good. It is good news because knowing what is really wrong is good news, especially when it can be treated successfully. That’s what it’s like to learn that the real problem behind anxiety is unbelief in the promises of God. It’s not good news because the cancer of unbelief is good. It’s good because knowing what is really wrong is good, especially because unbelief can be treated so successfully by our great physician. So I want to stress that finding out the connection between our anxiety and our unbelief is in fact very good news, because it is the only way to begin the battle with the real cause of our sin and get the victory that God can give us by the therapy of his word and his Spirit. Just one of the ways to apply the “therapy” of your faith is through consistent prayer and bible reading. This deepens your understanding of the relationship you have with God. He is your Father; nothing is too great for him to handle and his commitment to your good is absolute.