Overcoming Depression (Part Six): Nervousness

“I worry a lot, but that’s not a sin, right?”

How would you answer that question? It was put to me by a Christian lady who had so many other struggles that her depression and worry seemed almost innocent. But is nervousness a victimless crime? Isn’t it kind of like having a stuffy nose?

As I have pointed out in other articles in this series, the feelings of depression are never sinful. They may come from something bodily like caffeine, fatigue or even serious illness (a prospect that can also dominate your thoughts if you are not careful). But we are not addressing the feelings themselves. We are addressing your response to those feelings. This woman’s worry was having a substantial impact on the others in her home. Her family was missing out on the loving care she could have given had she not spent so much time spreading her anxiety around the house.

Set aside for now the serious physical effects (digestive ailments and spikes in blood pressure to name two) that result from chronic anxiety. The bigger question—at least for a Christian—is: What impact does this have on my relationships and responsibilities?

The feeling of nervousness and distraction can look different in different people. For instance, in some people it almost seems like an attack from outside themselves. They feel agitated and cannot explain it. Still others have a specific object to their anxiety. Relationships, finances, coming events or re-playing past events dominate the thoughts.

Either way the nervous feelings sometimes associated with depression—even if they come from identifiable physical causes like caffeine or fatigue—usually keep you from the kind of neighbor loving that pleases God.

It is not difficult to find a biblical description of a symptom associated with depression that we all recognize in ourselves and others. Jesus described it this way in His clearest message about worry or anxiety:

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear for clothing?” For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34, NASB

So ask yourself some questions:

·       What do my anxious thoughts say about the way I think God cares for me?

·       Am I thinking true thoughts or are the voices of my nerves shouting louder than God’s word?

·       What is God trying to do in the midst of this?

·       What other people are being kept from service I could give them because of my anxiety?

Are you are nervous and distracted?

1.     Maybe you need to retrain your thinking (Colossians 3:2). It could be that you have actually created the problem that controls your thoughts. Write down some of the Scripture texts found in this study and review them every day. The next time these feelings begin to creep into your thoughts you will have true thoughts to call to mind.

2.     Maybe you need to find an other-focused mission to occupy your thoughts (Mark 10:45; Philippians 2:1-11). The remedy for anxiety is found in obeying the two greatest commands. Write down ten tangible ways you can exert yourself to serve others in your life (e.g., writing encouraging notes, doing extra chores to lighten the load of another, asking questions and listening to others without complaining about your life). Start at home. Get to work on it.

Ten articles in this series:

1  2  3  4  5  7  8  9  10

Responding to Tragedy and Overcoming Fear

Today the first two counseling lectures I gave dealt with responding to tragedy and overcoming fear. Those subjects are certainly timely with these men. We had a lot of interaction about the great things that have come as a result of the quake as well as a frank discussion about how many of them would prefer not to be meeting in a concrete building.

We looked at Bible characters who were controlled by fear (ten Israelite spies, King Saul). I told them that having a plan for escaping the building if the earth starts shaking again is not sinful. I even have that route figured out. Fear becomes sinful when you love safety so much that you are hindered from doing what pleases God and what benefits His people. The trouble with the bad kind of fear is that it puts self-preservation on the throne.

Without reproducing two hours of content, I’ll throw in a brief synopsis of our talk on fear:

When I live in fear I rob God of His glory. Here are some examples:

·       When I am afraid of bad weather I miss the chance to delight in the power of God displays in nature.

·       When I am afraid of what others think of me I ignore what God’s opinion is and what changes He wants to make in me.

·       When I am afraid of sickness I not only risk making myself sicker from worry, I also ignore the fact that God might want to show His power in my weakness.

·       When fear of losing my investments or other economic security consumes me, I reveal a heart that finds its security in a substitute savior.

Suggested homework:

·     Make a list of the good (God-pleasing) activities you are avoiding because you are afraid. Be thorough. The size of the list may surprise you.

·     See your fear for what it is and confess it as an attempt at preserving self instead of glorifying God. It is a serving-two-masters matter. Repentance is in order.

·     Memorize Psalm 29:9-11 (or others: Psalm 23:5; 27:1; 34:9-10, 19; Proverbs 21:1; Matthew 10:28; 2 Corinthians 1:8-10; Hebrews 13:6; 2 Peter 2:9) and call the text to mind when you feel fear taking control.

Adventure report: The meals here are very good, but certainly a cultural experience. The Haitians typically eat (those who do eat) a larger noon meal. Our lunches have included things like chicken, lots of white rice, a very explosive cole slaw (habaneros), lettuce, tomatoes and fried bananas. Today with our chicken we had some sort of little beads like tapioca, but served like rice with beans in it. For breakfast we have had spaghetti and sandwiches and lots of mangoes (love those). Supper last night was a very tasty cream of wheat/farina/grits containing stalks of anise. The breakfast/supper thing is a little turned around, but I’m the guy who sometimes orders burgers or fries at Norske Nook on Wednesday mornings.

Overcoming Fear

“It was a beautiful day on the beach, but you couldn’t be there because of embarrassing toe fungus.”

What do the advertisers of that product know about us that would motivate them to put a commercial together that way? We are afraid. We fear the opinions of others. We fear weakness. We fear vulnerability. We fear pain. We fear death.

I took a thoughtful look at today’s news headlines and advertisements and assessed how many of them play on our fear of economic loss, fear of sickness and death or fear of man. Just a scan of the big news outlets this morning produced these potential fears:

• “This is the food that heart attacks are made of.”
• “Doctor on Swine Flu: Be Alert, Get Vaccinated”
• Fashion errors can get women passed over for job promotions.
• “Durable goods orders tumbled in June”
• We have had no hurricanes yet this season, but the worst-ever hurricane season started this way.

David may have been sitting on his porch watching a storm blow in from the Mediterranean when he penned Psalm 29:

¹Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
²Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name;
Worship the LORD in holy array.
³The voice of the LORD is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The LORD is over many waters.
⁴The voice of the LORD is powerful,
The voice of the LORD is majestic.
⁵The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire.
⁸The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everything says, "Glory!"
¹⁰The LORD sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.
¹¹The LORD will give strength to His people;
The LORD will bless His people with peace.

This is personal because I am working with a child in my own home who has developed an inordinate fear of lightning (and, hence, the outdoors). My wife wisely told me not to jump all over the issue with a little person. I realize that I may be demonstrating more fear (What will people think if the pastor’s kid has panic attacks?) of what might happen if my child persists in fear than my child is showing toward lightning. Specks and planks.

I will be gentle with the child, but fear is a serious sin. It becomes life-dominating. When I live in fear I rob God of His glory. Here are some examples:

• When I am afraid of bad weather I miss the chance to delight in the power God displays in nature.
• When I am afraid of what others think of me I ignore what God’s opinion is and what changes He wants to make in me.
• When I am afraid of sickness I not only risk making myself sicker from worry, I also ignore the fact that God might want to show His power in my weakness.
• When fear of losing my investments or other economic security consumes me, I reveal a heart that finds its security in a substitute savior.

Look at the text of Psalm 29. After the description of a loud storm that tears down trees, starts fires, throws pregnant forest mothers into labor and brings floods, the heavenly (I take it as heaven’s temple) audience shouts “Glory!” What a contrast. The crowd in the presence of the King gets to see every event on earth from God’s perspective (see Revelation 19:1-4). Talk about a big-screen, multi-media adventure! How can you have two individuals looking at the same event with one paralyzed in fear and the other energized in worship? Perspective.

Our problem is that we look at the things we fear as threats to our peace when we should be looking at them as displays of the glory of God. That is why the Christmas shepherds who feared an angelic appearance and twelve panicked disciples in a storm-tossed boat could go from terror to worship. They saw the King.

When you get to the end of the psalm you see where you need to be if you are prone to fear. You need to see that “the LORD sits as King forever.” His subjects go to Him for strength and peace.

Practically speaking, there is some homework you should do if you are prone to fear’s paralysis:

1. Make a list of the good (God-pleasing) activities you are avoiding because you are afraid. Be thorough. The size of the list may surprise you.
2. See your fear for what it is and confess it as an attempt at preserving self instead of glorifying God. It is a serving-two-masters matter. Repentance is in order.
3. Memorize Psalm 29:9-11 (or others: Psalm 23:5; 27:1; 34:9-10, 19; Proverbs 21:1; Matthew 10:28; 2 Corinthians 1:8-10; Hebrews 13:6; 2 Peter 2:9) and call the text to mind when you feel fear taking control.
4. Do what someone who trusts God would do in the fearful circumstance. This is not being fake. It is practicing trust. It is the fruit of repentance. For example:

• When you least feel like being around other people (work, church, small group fellowship), step into that situation and find a way to serve them. Stop living a life that is controlled by feelings. You will find the “glory” in the storm.
• When you are troubled by that person whose presence is intimidating or whose strong personality changes the way you talk or act or dress, remind yourself whom you should be seeking to glorify.
• When the doctor says you have a deadly disease or the meteorologist says there is a devastating storm headed your way, remember the inhabitants of heaven are shouting, “Glory!” and echo heaven’s song.