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Episode 8: Overcoming Anxiety
102 Plays5 years ago
Today’s Key Idea: Our emotions are great windows into our hearts.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Dan Allendar’s book: The Healing Path
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose of Root Like Faith
00:00:08
Speaker
Hi, we are Patrick and Ruth Schwenk and we are so thrilled you are listening in with us here at Root Like Faith. It is our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's word, transformed by the love of Jesus, and moved by his mission in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Understanding and Addressing Anxiety
00:00:26
Speaker
Nothing is more important.
00:00:28
Speaker
We can't wait to share today's episode with you around the topic of anxiety. We're talking about how our emotions are windows into our hearts and how they can reveal what is really going on inside of us. And most importantly, what can we do to help this? So let's get going. We have so many good things to talk about.
00:00:53
Speaker
Well, today we are talking about a topic that honestly, every single time I brought this topic up over the years on blogs or social media, it resonates with thousands and thousands. So some of our most popular content has to do with this real life struggle that so many of us find ourselves in the middle of. That is anxiety. So today we're going to talk more about the spiritual side of anxiety. Next week we'll get into the physical causes of anxiety.
00:01:23
Speaker
The funny thing for me with anxiety is I wouldn't say that I'm somebody who struggles with anxiety on a regular basis, but I can tend to live in my head sometimes and overthink things. And that's when I notice anxiety creeping in for me. And if I really let it simmer and seep in, it can get ahold of me and it becomes like, I don't know, like a snowball effect.
Personal Experiences with Anxiety
00:01:50
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's where you and I are so different because I think you're right. I would not say that you are somebody that struggles with anxiety on a regular basis where I am. I'm always thinking about the what ifs and it's been a lifelong struggle for me. I mean, I can remember way back and I don't remember how old I was, but probably under the age of 10 and I lived in a neighborhood with
00:02:11
Speaker
you know, lots of friends. And I remember being down at a friend's house and I would hear a siren go off, you know, an ambulance or a fire truck. And my immediate reaction to that was to think something was wrong, in particular, something was wrong with my mom or my dad. And so for whatever reason, you know, I can think back to those early years and anxiety was present in my own life. And I would begin praying or I would run home to just make sure everything's okay. And certainly as I think about, you know, just my life since then,
00:02:39
Speaker
that has been far more of a struggle for me than I would say it has been for you. Yeah, I'm always like, honey, it's OK. It's going to be fine, although it's not. I don't know what I would do without you. And it's not always fine. And I do realize that I tend to see the bright side of things and not worry as much. But I think, honestly, even if you're somebody who would say that you don't struggle with anxiety as much, we all struggle with it at certain times. And sometimes there's things that we really
00:03:09
Speaker
you know, we should be worried about, I guess. Like I think about over the, this is several years ago now, when we were having our kids, I had five miscarriages in the span of 10 years. And for me, the anxiety that would grip me every single time I was pregnant, I mean, I feel like that was warranted. And I would have this ongoing battle of trusting God in the midst of real fear.
00:03:37
Speaker
And I feel like, like I said, that is fear that, you know, was warranted. I had gone through so much. So I don't think when we talk about anxiety, it's not necessarily something, oh, don't worry. It's going to be fine. It's not. It could be something that's real that you really should be worried about. But it's how we handle that. Yeah. I think just really quickly, I think it's
00:04:00
Speaker
important. I mean, even in the Bible, I mean, there's a difference between concern and worry and or concern and anxiety. And so there's certainly lots of things in life that, you know, we ought to be concerned about or cautious about, but worry is sort of just that ongoing kind of obsessive, you know, concern about something that may or may not happen. But you're right, there's just so much in life.
00:04:23
Speaker
that is worthy of us being concerned about, and to a certain degree, it's hard not to become anxious at times. I mean, it's one of the most reiterated commands in the Bible. Do not be afraid, do not worry. I mean, we live in a pretty scary world. Right, and there must be a reason the Bible keeps telling us, do not
Anxiety in Society and Technology's Role
00:04:41
Speaker
fear.
00:04:41
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Well, here's some interesting statistics on anxiety, which I don't think they're necessarily surprising, but it is interesting to hear about them. So according to recent research, anxiety disorders are now the most common mental illness in America. Anxiety is 800% more prevalent than all forms of cancer.
00:05:04
Speaker
And also, a 2017 study of US college students found that nearly half of all university students report anxiety. And like I said, that's not surprising to me. I guess we might wonder, what is causing all of this anxiety? And I think we can definitely see, like when I hear the statistic about college students,
00:05:30
Speaker
I think immediately that is such a stressful time in a young adult's life. And then I put it into the perspective of as adults, as we get older, wow, I mean, it's not like the stress just goes away. If anything, it gets even more intense. And so I can see that probably stress is a huge cause of anxiety. I think you're right. I mean, I think stress is probably the number one cause for anxiety. So you think about the average college student or even
00:05:57
Speaker
you know, high school students, I mean, you know, education and the workplace has become so competitive. And so there's just a lot of stress around that particular season and trying to get into the college that you want or think you need to get into and then trying to excel there. And then, you know, just in the workplace, I mean, life is stressful. And so that's a huge, I think, source of anxiety. And then I think some things that are unique just about the culture that we're living in,
00:06:22
Speaker
today that weren't true for maybe my parents or your parents 20 years ago. And that's just the rise of new technology, social media, all of the messages that we're exposed to and just the steady flow of content that we sometimes expose ourselves to by
00:06:40
Speaker
you know, scrolling the IG and looking at Instagram, Facebook, and you know, all of that does create, you know, restlessness and anxiety. And so I think those things contribute as well. And we just live such busy lives. Yeah. And when you were talking about college students, I thought in
00:06:57
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behind that is the parent that's trying to help their child. Well, trying to help their child through that season of life and how stressful that is for the parent. And then I immediately think of young moms in the season they find themselves in just overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities that come from that. So I think, you know, really there's not a season of our life where we don't have some form of stress that can cause anxiety.
00:07:27
Speaker
So you talked about concern versus anxiety. I think we should talk about that a little bit more because I think, like you said, there is a difference there. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, one of the things I think of immediately is just, you know, you get in your car and what do you do? You buckle up. Well, that's true.
00:07:47
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necessarily obsessing over getting hit or in an accident. Well, no, no, no. For me, it's because I'm following the rules. I'm a rule follower. So that is the law. You are. That's good. I have to buckle up. But I think that's not a perfect example, obviously, but it is maybe one helpful way of thinking about the difference where you get in your car and you buckle up because there's concern there. You want to be cautious and you realize that there are certain risks in driving a car.
00:08:13
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And yet you don't then drive your car around obsessing over the what-ifs at every turn. And so I think there are things that we ought to be more encouraged in the Bible to be concerned about. That in and of itself is not a bad thing. It's when that concern really takes over.
00:08:30
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and begins to kind of consume us and paralyze us. And so I think what we're commanded to avoid is that part of it is that obsessive controlling sort of just ongoing, you know, concern over the what ifs about tomorrow or the next month or the next year that really rob us of life and joy and freedom. Again, it's
00:08:52
Speaker
God wants to give us life. He wants us to enjoy this abundant life that looks like trust in Him. And so worry just steals us. It robs us of that kind of life that God wants to give us. Yeah. And like I was saying earlier, for me, it's like that snowball effect. And that's what I think when you're saying that, it gets more intense and
00:09:16
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Well, it kind of reminds me, actually, this is obviously kind of a funny example, but when I wake up in the middle of the night and it's like everything is so magnified, you know what I mean? And it's not reality. And you're like, oh my word, I didn't put the chicken from the freezer into the fridge for dinner tomorrow. You know, and it's like the sky is, you know, the world's ending, the sky is falling. You wake up at 7 a.m. and wonder what was the big deal?
00:09:43
Speaker
So, you know, obviously there's those things that we obsess about. But I think that, you know, in general, like I said, it's that snowball effect in my mind. And if I don't, you know, try to deal with it and put my heart and my mind at rest immediately, it gets worse and worse.
Biblical Perspective on Anxiety
00:10:02
Speaker
Yeah, one of the things, I think our listeners probably know this already, but Matthew 6 is such an important passage. When we're thinking about worry or wrestling with anxiety, it's been one of those passages I feel like I've come back to over and over again over the last two years going through cancer treatment. It's just been such a good reminder.
00:10:20
Speaker
I think in Matthew 6, one of the important things I think to remember is that when Jesus in that passage is talking about not worrying or not being anxious, just the tone. When you read that, he's not beating the disciples up for worrying. I think that's just a really important perspective for us to have is that we need to be
00:10:43
Speaker
I mean, careful with ourselves. Don't beat yourself up because you're worrying. And remember that God doesn't beat us up for worrying. That I think in Matthew 6, you see the Good Shepherd encouraging and reminding us not to worry. He's not rebuking us there. And so I think Matthew 6 is such an important passage where Jesus says, do not worry about your life.
00:11:08
Speaker
And he kind of goes on to say that you're of great worth or value. And so there's this picture here in Matthew 6 where Jesus is tender, he's encouraging, and he's reminding us of our worth or value in God's eyes. And I think that's a basis for us understanding why we don't need to worry. We belong to God, we're in his kingdom. And even if everything else falls apart, we belong to him and nothing can steal us out of God's hands or take us out of his kingdom.
00:11:38
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. So is it really possible for us not to worry or be anxious? I mean, will this be a lifelong struggle? How do we get over this?
00:11:49
Speaker
I think it's possible to worry less. I feel like that my own life is somebody who's struggled with anxiety. Most of my life, I feel like I worry less today than I did six months ago or two years ago, and yet it's not like I don't have less to worry about. I still have a cancer that I'm taking medication for to keep in remission. So I think that it's definitely possible to worry less, to wrestle less with that as time goes on. But I think, yeah, it's what we were talking about before.
00:12:17
Speaker
I mean, we live in a fallen world and there's lots of things, there's lots of possibilities that could go wrong. And so I think on a certain level, it's something we're always going to struggle with, but we can struggle less with it as time goes on, as God continues to change us and grow us.
00:12:33
Speaker
Yeah. Well, so this is, so like I said, we, today we're talking about the spiritual side of anxiety. Next week we'll get into the physical causes of anxiety. Uh, so on the spiritual side, it's interesting Pat, you and I have talked about this so much.
00:12:52
Speaker
about what anxiety really reveals about us. And I think that that's where we're talking about, you know, the spiritual side of anxiety.
Emotional Insights and Spiritual Connection
00:13:02
Speaker
And I love, I've heard you say so often, and I can't remember, you'll, you can mention what book you got this from, but that our emotions are like windows into our soul, basically, or into our heart. And I just, I love that. I think that's such a beautiful picture.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yeah, Dan Allender, who wrote a book years ago called The Cry of the Soul, along with Tremper Longman, I think he uses that language in that book. And just the idea of paying attention to your emotions and how you see that in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament.
00:13:40
Speaker
and how our emotions can be windows into our soul. They can be windows into our heart. And they reveal, you know, Allender talks about in that book, how our emotions reveal whether we're moving toward God or away from God. And so, you know, we don't want to like just surrender to our emotions and bow to them and go, boy, just I feel this way. And so therefore this is the way it is. And we don't want to like just ignore our emotions, which can be the other extreme. You know, we want to enter into them
00:14:08
Speaker
and explore what they might be saying about our relationship with God, that they're a window into what's really going on in our heart. Yeah, and like I was saying earlier, I can think about that season in my life when I, over the course of 10 years where I had those five miscarriages,
00:14:25
Speaker
And I would say there was intense anxiety throughout those 10 years. And it was anxiety from something that was real and happening to me. But it did reveal what I believed about God. It revealed that I wasn't really trusting Him. And even when I trusted Him,
00:14:47
Speaker
It didn't always work out like I'd hoped, obviously. And so I think that's where the real struggle came, is that I was trying to believe that God would come through, and that wasn't his plan some of the times. And it didn't make sense. There was never any answer. And so I think that's where I guess we surrender to God and trust that he knows better than we do.
00:15:16
Speaker
I think part of what we ought to be doing, Psalm 42 verse 11 is a great example of this, where the psalmist says, why are you so downcast? Oh, my soul, why are you so downcast? Why are you so disturbed within me? And really what the psalmist is doing is what Allender is talking about in his book. He's questioning his own heart. He's looking at his emotions.
00:15:37
Speaker
as a way of really encountering God, because again, we're changed when we're in the presence of God and when we're allowing His truth and His love to transform us from the inside out. And so as we take those emotions and explore them, and we do what the psalmist is talking about, where we're questioning our heart, it's drawing us toward God and not away from God.
00:15:58
Speaker
And I think what happens then is it puts us in a much better position to go, what am I really believing about God? And are there things that I've said I believe about God that I really don't? And so I think that's the purpose there is as we look at our heart, look at our soul, question those emotions.
00:16:14
Speaker
We're really getting a glimpse of what we truly believe, not what we say we believe. Right. Yes, I think about paying attention to my heart. Again, I'm brought back to that season of my life where I was having those miscarriages and I was so focused on what I wanted that I wasn't getting.
Finding Comfort in Faith
00:16:33
Speaker
that I was missing out on what I already had and what was right in front of me. And I think anxiety can just fuel that in us. I love going along with this, paying attention to our heart. I love, you know, this comes right from the Bible where in Psalm 139, it says, search me, God, know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me
00:17:02
Speaker
and lead me in the way everlasting so right there we know I mean listen to that search me gotta know my heart test me and know my anxious thoughts I mean we're gonna have those anxious thoughts Lord help me with those yeah and what are those anxious thoughts saying about us and and what are those anxious thoughts leading us towards are they leading us
00:17:21
Speaker
you know, toward greater fear and worry, or are they leading us towards that way of everlasting? I think about, you know, the different times, you know, over the last two years we've sat in a doctor's office and waited for test results, blood work, and just to share a really practical example of what you're talking about, what you just read, you know, as I'm sitting in the doctor's office,
00:17:42
Speaker
staring at a door that's closed knowing that my specialist is going to walk in, you know, any moment. It's turning to a passage like that and going, okay, God, why do I feel anxious right now? Why does my body feel tense? Are there things that I'm not believing about you right now? That's just a really concrete example
00:18:03
Speaker
of how we can kind of look at our heart, look at our emotions, pay attention to those, and ask the question, what is this saying about what I either believe about God or don't believe about God? Do I really believe that you're in control, that no matter what he comes in and says, do I believe that you're ultimately in control?
00:18:21
Speaker
Do I really believe that you're good, that you love me, that you have my wife and my kids in mind? Do I really believe that you're faithful? And so I think as we question our emotions, as we pay attention, ask God to search us, those are great ways for the Holy Spirit to just continue transforming us from the inside out.
00:18:40
Speaker
drawing us to greater dependence, greater trust on God, to trust Him for who He really is. And so I think those are just maybe just some real practical examples. Yeah, the practical way to handle anxiety is to first look at our heart. And what is it saying that we believe about God?
00:18:58
Speaker
Well I can see, I think as we can see, anxiety reveals a much deeper issue and it's not only tied to our mental health, of course there's that whole side of it, but it's tied to our heart and what we are trusting and believing will bring us real lasting peace.
00:19:15
Speaker
So as we close, honey, I know we undoubtedly have listeners who find themselves right now in the thick of fear and worry. And my heart goes out to them because I've been in the middle of that. I would love, can you speak to the listener who is struggling with anxiety right now? And as a pastor, what would you say to them?
00:19:39
Speaker
Yeah, I guess I would share. The one verse that comes to my mind right away is Psalm 94 verse 19, and it is a verse that somebody shared with me not long after my dad passed away in 2010. And the psalmist in Psalm 94 verse 19 says, when anxiety is great within me,
00:19:59
Speaker
Your constellations brought me great joy. And I just love that verse. I immediately think from the perspective of a parent, and as we console our children, as a father consoles or comforts his child, or as a mom consoles her son or her daughter, this is what God wants to do.
00:20:18
Speaker
And so I just encourage those of us that are wrestling with anxiety right now, which is probably all of us, to be consoled, to be comforted by what God's word says. And so my hope and my prayer for those of you that are listening today and are in that season where anxiety is great within you, that you might be consoled by God's truth, you might be comforted by his love, and that his promises might bring you great peace.
00:20:45
Speaker
And so that's what the psalmist is saying. All of us go through those seasons where anxiety is great within us. And so let's take our anxiety to the right place, to the right person where we can find consolation or comfort.
00:21:00
Speaker
Put a great conversation today on anxiety. And as you know, if you've been joining us every week, each week we will walk away with a key idea. It's the main takeaway summing up what we've talked about. So today's key idea is simple but true. Our emotions are great windows into our hearts.
00:21:20
Speaker
We'll also be sure to put that key idea in the show notes as well as anything else we referenced at rootlikefaith.com backslash podcast. Friends, you can also follow us on Instagram at Patrick W. Schwank and at Ruth Schwank or on Facebook. And as if I didn't say it enough already, we are so thrilled you're joining us here at Root Like Faith and we welcome you into the family.
00:21:44
Speaker
In the next episode, we're going to continue this conversation about anxiety and talk about more of the physical causes of anxiety. So be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes so you don't miss an episode.