Anxiety!

Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.

Anxiety has become the condition of this generation. I am sure you have heard the younger generations say they are anxious. Or maybe you have heard yourself say it! The reality is that we are all anxious at moments in our lives.

Anxiety is something that has been a part of the human experience since the Fall. Anxiety is a normal reaction to the unknown. We get anxious when we have to face new things and experiences.

Anxiety becomes a problem only when it interferes with a person’s ability to carry out daily tasks. But anxiety for most people today is not this severe. And most of us can grow our ability to tolerate the anxiety we do have. We can exercise the anti-anxiety muscle and learn to push though it and come out the other side stronger.

It is also interesting that different people experience anxiety differently. Some people put extra bodily sensations into the category of anxiety. They might be feeling something as the result of loneliness or shyness, and the sensations that the body produces when they are lonely or shy get tossed into the anxiety bucket. They they end up labeling these other things as anxiety.

So part of what dealing with anxiety in a healthier way is to do exactly what we don’t want to do: sit with the anxiety and notice it. But this is the last thing we want to do. We want to avoid the feeling at all cost. In fact, many people learn to be anxious about being anxious. They create a whole extra layer of anxiety on top of their natural anxiety, doubling down on it.

Our Proverb today speaks about the weight anxiety places on our inner most being. I would recommend that you watch this video from the Bible Project to learn the depths of this Hebrew word we translate ‘heart’. The essence of human thought, feeling, and desire are all wrapped up in this one Hebrew word, and that part of us becomes encumbered by anxiety.

Anxiety has the ability to pull us down, to add weight to us, to muddle our thoughts. It can even paralyze a person to the point they won’t leave their house. Mental health professionals make a fortune treating anxiety, as do the pharmaceutical companies!

But what is amazing is that the heart dragged down by anxiety can be lifted up. Kindness, which happens in relationship, is one of those things that helps anxiety. When someone is willing to be with us in our weighed down moment, then we know we are not alone and the burden seems to be lifted, having shared it with another person.

Anxiety doesn’t get lifted with a “get over it” or a “it ain’t so bad.” Anxiety gets lifted when we come to realize we are not alone facing whatever we are anxious about. So often we just need to know we are not alone.

Now this is not an automatic, every time it will happen guarantee. Having someone at our side who empathizes with us, who walks with us through our moments of anxiety can make all the difference. Remember, one of our greatest fears in life is the fear of being alone.

Ever since being kicked out of the Garden we have faced the prospect of being alone. Our separation from God and the consequences of that separation put us in a prolonged state of felt need. Even with our reconciliation through the work of Jesus and our ongoing relationship with Him, we can still have gaps in our sense of connectedness. We can still feel alone.

So who do you know that could need an empathic ear today? And if you feel anxious yourself, reach out to someone and help them today. You will be surprised what helping someone else will do to your anxiety!