A Word from Bob: Welcome to 12th and final post in my blog mini-series on The Gospel Where You Live: God’s Prescription for Victory In Anxiety. I’m taking these thoughts from my booklet, Anxiety: Anatomy and Cure. You can purchase Anxiety: Anatomy and Cure at my RPM Bookstore for just $4.50 here. You can read all twelve posts online at these links:
- Part 1 at God’s Prescription for Victory In Anxiety
- Part 2 at Anxiety: Stuck Vigilance
- Part 3 at Anxiety: What Difference Does the Cross Make?
- Part 4 at Facing Anxiety Face-to-Face with Christ
- Part 5 at 5 Gospel-Centered Responses to Anxiety, Fear, & Worry
- Part 6 at It Takes a Congregation
- Part 7 at Wholeness in Christ When You’re Falling Apart
- Part 8 at The Weapons of Our Warfare When Anxiety Attacks
- Part 9 at 8 Ways to Strike Back When Anxiety Strikes
- Part 10 at God’s Victory Action Plan When Anxiety Attacks
- Part 11: Emotional Maturity 101 When Facing Anxiety
- Part 12: Anxiety and Our Physical Bodies: Jars of Clay
Embrace Physical Weakness: Physical Care
In addressing anxiety, we’ve talked about the relational (spiritual, social, self-aware), rational, volitional, and emotional anatomy of anxiety. We also recognize that we are embodied beings embedded in society. Therefore we must ponder the implications of being physical beings in a fallen body living in a fallen world.
The Bible recognizes the complex interplay between the body and soul. “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).
In Philippians, Paul does not talk directly about the possible connection between the body, the brain, and anxiety. However, in his other writings, he clearly recognizes:
- The spiritual importance of wise care for the body (1 Corinthians 6:13-20),
- The need to master the body (1 Corinthians 9:24-27),
- The validity of physical treatments for the body (1 Timothy 5:23),
- The value of physical training (1 Timothy 4:8),
- The frailty of the body (2 Corinthians 4:7),
- The impact of the fall on the body (Romans 8:19-25),
- The relationship between bodily weakness and emotional/spiritual weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
It is important to realize that every emotion involves a complex interaction between body and soul. It is dangerous to assume that all emotional struggles can be directly changed by strictly “spiritual means.” We must remain sensitive to physical factors and organic issues that affect people’s lives. It is wrong to place extra burdens on those who suffer emotionally by suggesting that all they need to do is surrender to God to make their struggles go away.
For some, spirituality includes embracing physical weakness. When we ignore the importance of the body, we misunderstand what it means to trust God. Certain emotions, including anxiety, may involve physiological components that sometimes may need to be treated with physical interventions. That should always include a healthy diet, exercise, rest, relaxation, and sleep. I also believe that at times it may include the use of medication, always in conjunction with biblical soul care.
Get Off the Merry-Go-Round: Life-Situational Care
We also must recognize the complexity of the connection between people and their social environment. We must remain sensitive to the impact of suffering and of a great variety of significant social-cultural factors (1 Peter 3:8-22). To help people comprehensively, we must seek to apply God’s Word to people’s lives amid both positive and negative social experiences.
This is the specific purpose of Philippians: helping people to apply the Gospel in the context of a culture where living for the gospel could cost you your freedom and even your life. Like Paul, we need to be sensitive to the fact that some social environments and life situations can result in people being more prone toward anxiety.
If Paul had written after WW II, he might have focused on helping people to find peace by applying the gospel to survivors of the concentration camps. Or, he might have focused on helping soldiers who witnessed the horrors of warfare to find peace by applying the gospel to their lives. Past trauma or current ongoing situational stress can be contributing factors that we must address.
At times, part of wise biblical counsel for ongoing life situational issues can be to “get off the merry-go-round.” This doesn’t mean avoiding responsibility. It does mean assessing one’s level of commitment and responsibility.
Sometimes people need to simplify, slow down, take a “Sabbath rest,” or a sabbatical. Sometimes people need to learn to say “no” to too many responsibilities. Sometimes people need to accept their limitations. Sometimes people just need to have fun.
Sometimes people need to set wise “boundaries.” Even when Jesus said to go the extra mile, He did not say to run a marathon. Sometimes people need to consider whether it is God’s will for them to change their circumstances, where possible.
Like Paul, people need to identify their priorities (Philippians 1:21) and stick to them and them alone (Philippians 3:13). Like Christ, people need to practice the historic biblical and Evangelical spiritual disciplines that reconnect us to Christ and the Body of Christ: solitude, prayer, fasting, fellowship, worship, service, and so on.
Commencement: Keep Clinging to Christ
Paul begins his letter with the words, “to all the saints in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:1). He concludes with, “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen” (Philippians 4:23).
Paul did not personally know all those who would read his letter, just as I do not know you personally. But I know this about you: if you are in Christ then you are a saint: a new creation in Christ. You are redeemed which means you can experience mood reorder. In Christ, you can move from stuck vigilance and anxiety to constructive vigilance and victory in anxiety.
I know it’s not easy. Remember, I’m a fellow struggler. I wish that for myself and for you I could pray away all feelings of anxiety. Then again, I know that my daily struggle against anxiety motivates me to keep clinging to Christ. Because of my external stresses and my internal distress, I am deeply aware that I need the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with my spirit every second.
As we “commence” and you keep clinging to Christ, remember the power of the gospel. We’ve explored just one chapter in one brief epistle in the Bible. Cling to all of God’s Word—it is sufficient to guide you in your journey toward victory in anxiety.
Applying the Gospel to Daily Life
- What physical and life-situational changes might you want to consider making in order to comprehensively address your fight against anxiety?
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Anxiety and Our Physical Bodies: Jars of Clay: http://bit.ly/Gospel4Anx12
In anxiety, as in all of life, the Bible recognizes the complex interplay between the body and soul. http://bit.ly/Gospel4Anx1
It is important to realize that every emotion involves a complex interaction between body and soul. http://bit.ly/Gospel4Anx12
What physical and life-situational changes might you want to consider making in order to comprehensively address your fight against anxiety? http://bit.ly/Gospel4Anx12
You can purchase Anxiety: Anatomy and Cure at the RPM Bookstore for just $4.50 here.
