The Miracel Question and Anxiety

Timism of the day: THE MIRACLE QUESTION

Suppose you were to finish out your day as is typical, you lay your weary head on the pillow tonight, finally fall to sleep, and somewhere in the middle of the night, when you are fast asleep, a miracle happens and all the problems that you brought to bed with you are miraculously solved, like the snap of a finger, VAMOOSE, Gone…just like that.

Now here’s the clincher, since the miracle happened overnight nobody knows about it, not even you. When you wake up the next morning, how are you going to start discovering that a miracle had indeed taken place? What would you notice? What and who would be in your life, and what and who would be out of your life?

This is an interesting question as many of us are not as aware as we may think, as to what, and to whom our problems are, and where they come from, more interestingly, as to whether these problems are actually real or imagined. Given this scenario, which I call the “Miracle Question”, you may be surprised where you would wake up, and to whom is in or out of your life etc... Hard to imagine isn’t it? You see, the question is actually kind of scary, as we may wake up with missing family members and perhaps may even wake up all alone somewhere, at least that’s what we think about at first right? But given further consideration, we may see the contrary.

I pose this question because if this were to actually happen I think many of use would find that little, or nothing had changed at all of significance in our lives, as most problems are in our head. Let’s take for example depression. Those of us who are depressed are likely preoccupied with the past. Depression is typically a preoccupation with things in our past that we wish we could change, but can’t, thus frustration, anger, anger turned inwards, and then depression. Depression, I believe, is focusing on the problems of the past and bringing them into the here and now. When you focus on something that you can’t control, it’s no wonder you don’t like the way you feel. The internal and irrational self-talk is, “If I could only have…then”.

Let’s take the same scenario and bring into it the mind of one who has anxiety. Those of us who choose to worry “anxiet”, or think we have anxiety are anxious, phobic, and have anxiety and/or panic attacks. This is a preoccupation with things of the future. Our modus operandi being, “What if this happens…” Thus, we preoccupy ourselves with things that could happen, typically envisioning the worst possible scenarios of course, and justifying this by leading ourselves to believe that this is in fact preparation.

“One can never be too prepared!” we say, or “Someone’s got to worry about it”. We carry our anxiety around like a badge of courage acting as if we are the only ones that care about detail and obsess ourselves with things we cannot control and imagine things that in all likelihood are highly unlikely to ever happen. None-the-less, we wear ourselves, and those around us, out doing it, with a sense of entitlement.

Those of use who are seemingly not as concerned as you are led to believe we should feel guilty for our lax in judgment and forethought. I commonly refer to anxiety as a cloud of fears without names. Anxieties is indeed fear based and if you were to take and pluck each fear out of that cloud and take a look at it and ask yourself if it is rational or not you will find that 90% or more is irrational and highly unlikely to happen. The few that you do find are rational, problem solve, do what you can do about them and let God deal with what you can’t control. This exercise alone can literally extinguish anxiety with most people if you would just take the time to do it. Anxiety is also quite often a preoccupation with what others think, which is another thing we cannot control.

The thing about anxiety is that there is a far cry from irrationally thinking about the future and preparing for it as compared to awfulizing and catastrophizing about it. You see, what you choose to focus on becomes magnified. If you focus on the future, in particular, the worst scenarios of the future, and you speak it and see it, your “IT” becomes a preoccupation with something you can’t control, something not real and you wonder why you are so afraid, and tired, and frustrated, and probably on or wondering if you need medication to calm down, to sleep etc…etc…

With respect to the above mentioned Miracle Question, I am certain that given the mindset that many of us have, we would wake up with much the same problems, because the problem is in our head, in what we choose to think about. Now you may not be aware of your problem with anxiety, so I have included a list of warning signs to anxiety. Go over them quickly. Check the ones that apply, if any, and see if this is a problem that you may have.

Warning Signs for Anxiety:

· A feeling of being keyed up or on edge

· Avoidance of certain situations because you’re afraid of being negatively evaluated or judged by other people

· Chest pain or discomfort

· Choking, or a constricting/strangling feeling in the throat

· Difficulty concentrating – you mind goes blank – can’t stay on task – don’t finish things

· Dizziness or unsteady feeling

· Fear and/or avoidance of certain people/places/things

· Fear of dying

· Fear of going crazy or doing something out of control

· Feelings of being watched

· Feeling s of being detached or out of touch with your body

· Flushes or chills

· Frequent urination and/or irritable bowel syndrome

· Heart palpitations

· Hot flashes or sweating

· Irritability

· Jumpiness or being easily startled

· Lump in throat

· Muscle tension

· Nausea

· Numbness or tingling

· Panic attacks that seem to come out of the blue

· Perform ritualistic actions (washing hands, checking, counting, wringing hands, needling, having to always have a particular item to handle, organizing etc)…to relieve anxiety.

· Recurring intrusive thoughts (violence, catastrophes, contamination)

· Recurring nightmares, night sweats, recurring night terrors

· Restlessness

· Shortness of breath or smothering

· Situations you avoid because you are afraid or panicking

· Trembling or feeling shaky

· Trembling or shaking etc...

Franklin D. Roosevelt who assumed the Presidency in 1932 at the depth of the Great Depression, at the time of his inaugeration, there were 13,000,000 unemployed, and almost every bank was closed. It was during his term that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and global war was plagueing the future peace of the world. Roosevent is noted for saying to the American people, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!”

As profound as that statement may be, anxiety, AKA “Worry”, is actually fear of fear itself. Thus, it is my belief that the thing that someone who worries has a problem with is fearing fear. This preoccupation with fear is nothing new as Jesus himself devoted more time on this topic than any other topic in the new testament, thus let me leave you today with 4 Reasons Not to Worry with some scripture to back it up for those of you who are inclined that way.

What Does the Bible Say About Worry?

If you’re anything like me, I've spent an awful lot of time in my life worrying. I've worried about grades in school, job interviews, approaching deadlines and shrinking budgets. I've worried about bills and expenses, rising gas prices, insurance costs and endless taxes. I've even worried about having my home in perfect condition for "company," and within seconds of their arrival, the house is turned upside down and no one even notices.

I've worried about first impressions, political correctness, identity theft and contagious infections, and as to whether I was going to make it to heaven or not, to name a few. In spite of all the worrying, I'm still alive and well, and all my bills are paid, well mostly. Over the span of my lifetime, worrying accounts for hours and hours of invaluable time, literally chunks of my life that I'll never get back. So, I have decided that I'd like to spend my time more wisely and more enjoyably, because, if not anything else, to worry is to sin. It’s a lack of faith and spending time worrying could be spent on prayer for example, or doing good works, and is simply not productive. If you're not convinced yet to give up your worrying, here are four biblical reasons not to worry.

WORRYING ACCOMPLISHES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING:

I don't know about you, but I don't have any time to waste these days. And worrying is a waste of very precious time. Worrying won't help you solve a problem or bring about a solution, so why waste your time and energy on it?

Matthew 6:27-29 “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.”

WORRYING IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU:

Worrying is destructive to us in many ways. It becomes a mental burden that can even cause us to grow mentally and physically sick to the point that if you’re not careful, you can worry yourself into the mental hospital, or have about the same immune deficiency as someone who has HIV for example.

Proverbs 12:25 “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.”

WORRYING IS THE OPPOSITE OF TRUSTING GOD:

The energy that we spend worrying can be put to much better use in prayer. Here's a little formula to remember: Worry replaced by Prayer equals Trust.

Matthew 6:30 “And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”
Philippians 4:6-7 “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
WORRYING PUTS YOUR FOCUS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION:

When we keep our eyes focused on God, we remember his love for us and we realize we truly have nothing to worry about. God has a wonderful plan for our lives, and part of that plan includes taking care of us. Even in the difficult times, when it seems like God doesn't care, we can put our trust in the Lord and focus on His kingdom. God promises that He will take care of our every need.

Matthew 6:25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing?”

Matthew 6:31-33 “So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
1 Peter 5:7 “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” So, given the above mentioned Miracle Question with respect to anxiety and worry as today’s focal point, if this miracle happened to you tonight, do you think your life would be any different? Would you notice? Or, would you worry it right back to where it had been before?

Just sayin. Take it. Test it. Teach it. tim