Calm: Part 3
The beloved Corrie Ten Boom authored a book about abiding in Christ, and the title is “Not Good if Detached.”
What might that “not good” look like when anxiety overwhelms us? When we are overcome with anxiety, we have quite the opposite of quietness and trust, which the Scripture says is our strength (Isaiah 30:15):
We fight—Think of Moses killing the Egyptian, Cain killing Abel, David plotting Uriah’s murder after his adultery with Uriah’s wife. This may take the form of “aggressively interrogating, judging, or wanting to fix others.”
We take flight—Think of Elijah running from Jezebel, Jonah taking the first boat away from Nineveh, Moses fleeing after committing murder. We take flight and run to unhealthy coping mechanisms like excessive food, alcohol, drugs, sleep, etc. Or blaming others, making excuses, or denying reality.
We freeze (live in survival mode)—Remember the report of the ten spies who saw themselves as grasshoppers and shut down, refusing to enter the promised land. My mind is locked onto a false view of reality.
We are “not good if detached.”
As with our spiritual ancestors, the shame of sin can also trigger the flight, fight, and freeze response which is why going through The Steps to Freedom in Christ is a fantastic first weapon of choice against anxiety. The Steps leads you through a soul cleanse of seven areas where we may have kept unhealthy secrets stuck in our hearts. The Steps deal with heart blockages so we can live out of our union with Christ in quietness and trust.
So how do we continue this life-long journey of strengthening our relational attachment to Jesus, the Vine?
Psalm 100:4 says “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”
We draw near to His presence through thanksgiving and praise. It’s like Miracle Grow for the Soul!
Pastor Matt Brooks put the importance of worship through praise and thanksgiving this way: “You pursue what you love and what you love you worship and what you worship you become.”
It’s not simply about making a list of things you’re thankful for but lingering in thanksgiving as Paul describes in Philippians 4:8-9. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything, worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Dwell on these things. Marinating in thanksgiving. Letting our hearts become tender toward the honorable, lovely, and excellent. Describing it in detail to God—what you noticed, liked, appreciated, how you physically felt.
And then you practice dwelling. In 2005, the National Science Foundation published an article regarding research about human thoughts per day. The average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80% are negative and 95% are the same repetitive thoughts as the day before. When we practice dwelling, we have God’s wonderful promise—the God of peace will be with you!
The practice of appreciating God allows us to hear the voice of God. Dr. Anderson writes in his book “Liberating Prayer:Finding Freedom by Connecting with God” about Psalm 95:7 – “Today if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Today if you would hear his voice; I remember thinking I would love to hear your voice. Maybe I wasn’t hearing His voice because I wasn’t coming before His presence with thanksgiving which is how the Psalm began. “O come, let us sing for joy into the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms.”
I remember the first time I went through The Steps to Freedom in Christ, I did it in an analytical fashion. Jesus later showed me that analysis and research had become a defense mechanism in my life because of fear and a means of trying to control how I appeared. After I strengthened my relational connection to Jesus through the practice of appreciation, I was able to discern the voice of God. The second time I went through The Steps to Freedom in Christ, the words were leaping off the page.
Especially during these days of global uncertainty, I’ve found it immensely helpful to build an appreciation file, full of appreciation memories with God (Phil 4:8). This helps me bring things to mind quickly. When I have a ready file of appreciation memories with the Lord, likewise, I can make the choice to trust in God, who is the Truth.
In Romans 8 at the end of a section laden with doctrine, Paul ends with a very relational question. “If God is for us, who is against us?” Let’s take a few minutes with this amazing truth: God is for you!
Because our spirits and bodies are connected, many times it’s beneficial to start with a quieting exercise with some deep breathing, holding the breath, and on the exhale saying a Scripture like Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” We want to “Be still,” to sink down, relax, let drop and know, “to perceive and see, to see and understand, to know by experience,” He is God!
Now let’s into writing down our appreciation memory of a time you knew God was for you. Let’s dwell in it. Describe the time you knew God was for you in detail—what you noticed, liked, appreciated, how you physically felt.
Sometime today, share your appreciation file with one or two people nearby as both writing and sharing strengthen the memory of times God was for us!
When we practice dwelling in awe and wonder of the grace of the Lord Jesus, which is fearing the Lord, we won’t be in fear of anything or anyone else or enslaved by anything else! (Psalm 130:4).