Anxiety

 

By Stephen Terry

 

Sabbath School Lesson Commentary for January 1 – 7, 2011

 

Our lesson this week speaks of anxiety and how trust in God is a panacea for anxiety.  Several verses are given to encourage us to trust, including these two.

 

"but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:33  

 

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?  But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 12:6-7   

 

These could be strong incentives not to worry, but are they strictly true? The real story is far more complicated.

 

In regards to the first verse, we have the case of Job. Did he listen to God? He was so close to God that He held him forth as an example of faithfulness. (Job 1:8) But was he harmed? Absolutely! He lost everything except his wife and his life.   Job's suffering was not only heavy on him. It lay heavy on his wife as well.  His situation brought them great anxiety.  God eventually restored all to Job and more, but Job probably spent the rest of his life worrying about what else might happen when serving such a capricious God.   God must have explained all to Job or the details would not be in the Bible, but His speech at the end of the book did not go very far to resolve anxiety. He essentially says that His ways are beyond understanding. Get used to it.  "Listen to God and live in safety and be at ease?"  That's sort of like telling some one to shut their eyes and trust you right before you "sucker punch" them.

 

Then there is the example of the sparrows that is meant to relieve our anxieties.  These same sparrows fly into windows with a sickening thud, and are later found dead on the ground with a broken neck.  Some might say that is man's fault for inventing window glass, and maybe they are right.  But still God is supposed to be looking out for them. If He is caring for the birds, how does one explain the almost five thousand red-wing blackbirds that fell dead from the sky in Beebe, Arkansas this week.  The initial investigation holds that a storm swept them from the sky. Such events do not inspire confidence in God's protection.  The reasons for not being anxious is probably deeper than the Bible verses referenced in the lesson quarterly.

 

Some clues for eliminating anxiety can be found in the final chapters of Job as well as in Habakkuk 2:20 and Romans 9:14-18. We ultimately have little control over what happens to us in this life on earth. We are simply pawns in a war between light and darkness personified in God and Satan. (See Job 1)  There is little we can do to resist these forces in their efforts to achieve supremacy in this conflict.  Pain feels the same whether it comes as a result of God's action or Satan's. As Job, we can only endure.  Job wanted to bring his case to trial, to protest the injustice of his treatment.  However, to bring someone to court, the plaintiff must have a means to compel the defendant to appear.  Since no one can compel God, the case cannot be tried.

 

In the end, the only decision to make is whether or not we trust God that all will finally be perfect. For some this is very hard to do through the pain of their present existence.  Job's end is meant as an encouragement to those who suffer now.  But there have been many through the ages who have died under great torment who never saw an end like Job's in this life.  They went boldly to their fate, resolved to endure for a hope for something better later.  The Bible tells us much about this future hope. This is why Christians speak so much about faith. This belief in a future hope sustains that faith. (Hebrews 11:1)

 

The reason for not being anxious is certainly not because the Christian has a magical protection from God. Rather we cannot compel God to relieve suffering and are powerless to remove suffering from the world.  God is not a slot machine where you put in the right prayer or incantation and all suffering vanishes allowing the sufferer to resume his or her normal activities.  Jesus words in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25-34) are more in the vein of "You cannot do anything to change things, anyway, so stop worrying about it."  We are led to the conclusion that in the end, there is little we can do so just trust God that it will all work out.  While that sounds a lot like the exasperated parent who tells the recalcitrant child "Because I said so, that's why!" As the child's trust must finally depend upon a belief in the parent's reliability, so must the Christian depend upon God. That hope and trust is the message of the entire Bible.

 

In the words of Jesus to Thomas, His doubting disciple, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." John 20:29   Or to paraphrase this in the context of suffering and anxiety: "Job, because you saw a good end, you have believed: blessed are those who have not seen that good end in this life, and yet have believed."

 

 

 

 

 

 

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