Anxiety Is Real!

1 Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

These are anxious days – months – year or even an entire decade. The elections for 2024 are a coming – strap yourself down and enjoy the ride! There is a deep split in our denomination with members – churches and even conferences leaving the UMC as fast as they can or are allowed. Schools are on summer break – but – there still seems to be some issues from the pandemic and some liberal lessons are taking front and center stage. I could name some more things – but you get the point – we are in anxious times.

Anxiety is tough to face. Anxiety is defined online as – a feeling of worry – nervousness – or unease – typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Anxiety can overwhelm us. It can cause disorders – and emotional and medical issues. It can immobilize us and take us down if we allow it to do so.

Anxiety can manifest itself in many ways. WebMD defines anxiety this way: Everyone feels anxious now and then. It’s a normal emotion. For example – you may feel nervous when faced with a problem at work – before taking a test – or before making an important decision. Anxiety disorders are different – though. They are a group of mental illnesses – and the distress they cause can keep you from carrying on with your life normally. For people who have one – worry and fear are constant and overwhelming – and can be disabling. But with treatment – many people can manage those feelings and get back to a fulfilling life.

Guard Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Recently – I was scanning the different news stations – trying to find some information about the most recent results from the Iowa caucuses. I came across several stations that were giving completely different reports on the caucuses results – at least it seemed so to me. Some said this first election was very important – some saying it had no bearing on the election this fall or even for this party’s eventual candidate. Some were calling the results a historic win for the candidate that won – by a landslide – greater than ever – and some were not even reporting on it or allowing the winning candidate to be aired as he gave his victory speech. Some were calling it the beginning of this candidate’s rise to the office of President – while the others were saying his election would be the end of democracy and our nation. I got the feeling – that if I didn’t believe their truth – I was wrong and ignorant. There were no reports of the facts and allowing me to interpret them for myself. I thought of this proverb – urging me to guard my heart.

Apparently – these were not news stations – but rather programs with an agenda – a predetermined worldview of what they were going to report. If the news didn’t fit the narrative they desired – they would form it to that narrative. Gone are the days of Walter Cronkite or Paul Harvey – people who would tell us the news or a straight forward account of the events of the day. We need to guard our hearts these days – not only from the devil who tries to tempt us – but from those who would try to give us their insights and expect us to fall in line with them. Some seem to want Lemmings or mindless bots. Lemmings by-the-way – are real animals that seem to follow the crowd. They were also part of an early computer game – following the leader off a cliff – seemingly without any effort to divert from the leader’s plan or direction – think the followers of Jim Jones drinking cool-aid. Sisters and brothers – guard your heart.