The Anatomy of Anxiety
Part 20: You Are Christ’s Warrior!
Note: For previous posts in this blog mini-series, visit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.
Purpose: Does worry, doubt, or fear get the best of you sometimes? Do you wonder where anxiety comes from and how to defeat it in your life and the lives of those you love? Then we need a biblical anatomy of anxiety. We need God’s prescription for victory over anxiety.
A Spiritual Matter
Conquering fear is first and foremost a spiritual matter. The first two aspects of spiritual victory over anxiety, as we learned from Romans 8:14-17, in our last post, are:
1. Acknowledge My False Enslavement to Fear
2. Accept My Grace Connection to My Father
Today we learn from 1 Peter 5:7-11, that our next two callings to defeat anxiety are:
1. Renew My Image of God
2. Live According to My New Identity in Christ
Renew My Image of God
Peter says it both simply and profoundly.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
I will not cast my anxiety on Christ unless and until I believe by faith that He cares for me.
Let’s explore this verse together.
“Anxiety” means “consuming thoughts, distracting concerns, being drawn in many directions.” It is the “stuck vigilance” we have spoken of frequently. My mind and heart are stuck scanning and worrying and wondering…endlessly.
The Bible uses “cast” of putting a garment on someone who is cold or destitute. It has the sense of putting off and putting on, not simply a garment, but a way of life. When I feel destitute, left out in the cold, I put off my old way of stuck vigilance and consuming, distracting concerns, and I put on trust that God will never leave me out in the cold.
The Bible uses the word “cares” negatively of the false shepherd who runs away because he cares not; and of the person who cares not for the poor. It uses “cares” positively of one “to whom it matters concerning you.”
We are to cast all our cares on Christ because He cares for us. Let Christ do the scanning. Let Christ be perpetually vigilant on our behalf.
Am I convinced that I matter to Christ? This is exactly Christ’s prescription for victory over worry in Matthew 6:25-34. Since we are so valuable to God, why worry?
Am I convinced that God cares for me? That He will not run away? That He will guard me? “Will he not much more clothe you?” (Matthew 6:30).
What image of God does the worrier need? “God my Warrior!”
Live According to My New Identity in Christ
We put off the old stuck vigilance of constant self-protective worry and self-centered scanning that refuses to take a stand to tend and befriend others. We put on new healthy vigil.
Am I just making this stuff up? Nope. Consider 1 Peter 5:8-9.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”
“Watch ye!” The Greek is “gregory”—Watch like a sentinel, a sentry!
Be self-disciplined. Grab hold of your wandering, worrying mind. Talk to yourself. Talk some sense into your self. Then watch. Because Christ is your Sentry, don’t leave your guard post!
Unlike Adam in the Garden, oppose Satan—that serpent, that roaring lion. Don’t be intimidated by him. Oppose him—literally—stand up to him, against him!
How? In my own strength? Not at all.
“The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 5:10-11).
What image of self does the worrier need? “I am Christ’s warrior! Empowered by Christ. Equipped by Christ.”
Putting on that image of my identity in Christ, I will have the courage to endure suffering and the love to live for others. Again, that’s Christ’s message in Matthew 6. Quit worrying and seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Care for God’s kingdom trusting that God will take care of you.
Making It Real
1. As you battle worry, what is your image of God?
2. By faith do you believe that God cares for you and takes care of you?
3. As you battle worry, what is your image of your identity in Christ? Are you a spiritual “Gregory”?
4. What “garden” is God calling you to guard? Where do you need to take a courageous stand?
The Rest of the Story
Our spiritual victory over anxiety continues in our next post as we explore that oft-quoted and often mis-applied passage: Philippians 4:1-7. How should we really apply these spiritual truths to our victory over anxiety?
