July 5, 2009

• Anxiety.. or a lack of faith?

  What are the first thoughts that come to mind when I mention faith? Do
  you immediately think of Abraham? Or do you recall the long list of
  faithful heroes found in the 11th chapter of Hebrews? These are the
  type of examples I thought of when faith was mentioned, and most
  assuredly, their stories have been preserved for our example and
  encouragement. But, I’ve come to see that the total realm in which I
  viewed men and women of faith was very limited. I had reserved faith
  for those circumstances that were out of the ordinary. Such as, the
  hard financial times where there was not enough money to meet the
  bills, or the death of a loved one or a sudden illness. I never once
  associated faith with my daily tasks that involved homemaking or the
  daily pressures that went along with being a wife and a mother.

  The Lord began teaching me these simple lessons of faith over 10 years
  ago when I first began a home business. At the time my children were
  still living at home. My days were already full between helping my
  husband with his business, homeschooling and trying to keep up the
  laundry, dishes and other homemaking chores. So, once my business began
  to grow it pushed me way beyond what I felt I was physically and
  emotionally able to do. There never seemed to be enough time to clean
  everything that needed to be cleaned in the house, or spend the amount
  of time the children needed in their school work let alone run the
  business. At times I was short in my response to my children and most
  of the time I felt more like a drill sergeant than their Mother. There
  was work to be done and heaven help them if they didn’t cooperate NOW.
  I didn’t know how to live peacefully under this type of enormous
  pressure. I began to have physical problems. At times when I was under
  stress my chest felt like a ton of bricks was sitting on it and I had a
  hard time breathing. It felt like I had cotton in my lungs and my
  breathing would become labored. I finally went to a heart doctor and
  they ran their myriad of tests. Their final conclusion was that I was
  suffering from ‘good old-fashioned anxiety‘. (That is what the Dr.
  called it).

  I couldn’t believe it! Anxiety? Not a very nice word to associate with
  a woman who was suppose to be a Christian. I began to search His Word
  for answers and cried out for His help to show me His ways.

  As I evaluated my thoughts during those times I began to see that I was
  anxious/fearful about finishing the goals I had set for the day. I
  looked at the mountain of work and found myself kicking into high gear
  emotionally and physically to accomplish everything that needed to be
  done. I had my expectations of how my home, children, and life should
  be and worked towards keeping that image. Behind my anxiousness was the
  final fear, ‘What if someone came to the house and it was out of
  order?’ I had people coming to my property throughout the day to buy
  books so there was always the chance they would visit my home, too. I
  had other fears, too. What if my children didn’t finish their
  textbooks? Would they end up not succeeding in life? Would others think
  I had failed at homeschooling? What if the business shop was out of
  order? What would the customers say? Would I discredit Christ? Now, I
  wasn’t consciously thinking these things each time I had a type of
  anxiety attack. It had become a conditioned response to the work
  because somewhere in the past I had acted upon those thoughts.

  I can surely relate to the story of Martha in the New Testament.

  Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain
  village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
  And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and
  heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to
  him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to
  serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and
  said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
  things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part,
  which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:38-42

  * Cumbered: 4049 perispao; to distract (with care):
  
  * Careful: 3309 merimnao; to be anxious about:
  
  * Troubled: 5706 thorubazo; to bother, to distract, disturb, clamor, to frighten

  The Word says in verse 40 that Martha was ‘cumbered about much
  serving.’ The word ‘cumbered’ in the Greek means DISTRACTED WITH CARE.
  When someone is distracted it suggests that there is something else
  that they should be focusing on. In the story of Martha and Mary it’s
  clear to see that Mary had chosen to put her focus on Christ while
  Martha was distracted from His presence and had her focus on all the
  work that needed to be done. One of the terms used to describe
  ‘troubled’ means TO FRIGHTEN. Can you see it? Can you see Martha was
  not only distracted with all the care but she was frightened that the
  work would not get done? But, Mary, was looking at her Source. She
  wasn’t worried that there wouldn’t be food. She was looking to the
  source of her food. Her eyes were kept on Him. Poor Martha. Her eyes
  were on her circumstances which caused her to become careful and
  troubled.

  If we have a family we know that realistically we cannot sit at
  Jesus feet the entire day (every day) without suffering some major
  consequences in our homes. We have many duties that we alone are
  responsible for. So, how would this principle apply to us as we face
  each day with a mountain of work before us? I believe the answer has to
  do with the ‘principle’ of sitting at Jesus feet in our minds and
  hearts.

  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose MIND IS STAYED ON THEE: because he TRUSTETH in thee. Isa 26:3
  

  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…
  Hebrews 12:2

  This may come naturally for some but for me, personally, keeping my
  mind stayed on Christ is a practice that I am continually working on. I
  must admit, though, as I learn more of Him and about Him I find my
  thoughts drawn to Him naturally throughout the day.

  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication
  with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the
  peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
  and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7
  

  This is where I was lacking faith. When I became overwhelmed with
  the cares and distractions of the day, I did not pray and turn my
  thoughts on to the Lord in faith knowing that He was there and able to
  work it all together for His good. I kept my eyes focused on the
  problem, instead, and then became overwhelmed. I didn’t go to Him in
  prayer and make my request known that I needed His strength. My faith
  was not in God but my own abilities and strength to accomplish all that
  I had purposed to do. I was not ‘sitting at His feet’ with the eyes of
  my heart placed on Him. I was racing about like a wind up toy, going
  about in my own strength and most of the time going in circles. I was
  distracted from Him, divided from the knowledge of His presence.

  Right about this same time I listened to one of Elisabeth Elliot’s
  tapes that expounded on the scripture below and it was life changing.
  The tape was called, The Gift of the Present Moment. Basically, what
  she opened up to me from God’s Word concerning this scripture is the
  principle that God has assigned my days and my hours. He is the God of
  my moments. He has also promised that He will follow close, He’ll
  sustain me in each of those moments. He is my Strength and my Helper.

  LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. Ps 16:5
  

  Portion: 4490 manah (maw-naw’); something weighed out, specifically (of food) a ration; also a lot:
  
  Maintainest: 8551 tamak (taw-mak’); to sustain; to obtain, keep fast; to help, follow close:

  So how does this work itself out practically on a day by day basis?
  Well, let’s envision a normal, typical day in our homes. The details
  may differ but the basic principle remains the same. We all have our
  ‘mountain’ of work that screams at us the moment our eyelids pry
  themselves open to the sound of the alarm. We may have a schedule
  roughly planned out in our minds or we may have written some thoughts
  down on a paper the night before. Either way, we just KNOW that there
  is more work to be accomplished than we can physically perform but we
  start out hopeful with our plan of attack. Things are running fairly
  smooth and then all of sudden some unforeseen event takes place. It
  could be a child suddenly becomes ill and needs our full attention or
  perhaps our husband calls and asks us to drop everything and take care
  of something he needs done right away or unexpected guests call and
  want to stop by for a visit today. We each have our own daily
  interruptions so just fill in the blanks with your particulars. So, at
  that precise moment we begin to feel overwhelmed. We panic. We think to
  ourselves, “How in the world am I going to get everything done today
  that needs to be done if I have to stop and do _____?” Or you may not
  even think anything but just immediately react with frustration and
  irritation. We become agitated. If our husband is the one asking us to
  change our plans then we may snap back an unkind response. If the
  children are the cause we may grumble at them. We may start showing
  signs of anxiety such as chest pains or labored breathing. Whatever has
  changed our initial plans becomes our target of misery and we find it
  hard within ourselves to do the ‘interruption’ as unto the Lord.

  Let’s take the above scenario but this time let’s play it out
  differently as we choose to focus on the Lord. The moment our eyelids
  open to the sound of the alarm we lift our hearts toward heaven and
  give our day to the Lord. We remind ourselves that we belong to Him and
  that we are nothing without Him. We commit our ways and our plans to
  Him. We realize we are here for Him and that all we do today is for
  Him. We trust that He will direct our steps for the day and be our
  Strength.

  As the day unfolds and pressures and trials begin to arise, as they
  most assuredly will, instead of focusing on the problem, we lift our
  hearts towards Him in prayer. We cast the care of the situation onto
  Him. We have memorized His Word concerning our weakness to be
  distracted by the cares of this world, so we immediately ‘put off’ the
  anxious thoughts and begin to renew our minds by quoting His Word that
  reminds us that He will direct our steps. We remind ourselves that He
  is all powerful and works all things according to His will. We trust
  Him to redeem the situation as He sees fit. We give Him our plans. We
  give Him our ‘To Do List’ and we consciously make a decision to trust
  His plan instead of ours. We give Him the details of the things that we
  fear won’t get done and in FAITH we trust that HE will give us a
  portion of time, in His own timing, later that day or perhaps another
  day, to complete that which concerns us. We ‘put on’ prayers and
  supplications. (Eph 4:22-24) We continue to keep focused on Him and not
  the problem throughout the day. Our minds and hearts are filled with
  His peace and on our tongue is the law of kindness towards all in our
  homes.

  This may seem like a simple truth to some but to a person who is
  overcome easily by stress and a heavy workload this truth is the
  difference between living a godly life of peace compared to a life
  where she is overwhelmed, anxious, stressed, cranky, confused, doubtful
  and angry.
  Time and time again He has proven to be faithful in this type of
  situation. Time and time again, over the past 10 years, I have seen the
  obstacles in front of me and He has given me His grace to make a
  decision to trust Him instead of worry and fear. I have found His Word
  to be true and as I handle the stress in my home in a biblical manner I
  find that He floods my mind and heart with His peace, His life and His
  glory.

  I know that your desire is the same as mine… all that we are doing in
  our homes and for our husbands and children… we want this to be
  pleasing to our God because of our great love for Him. Right? His Word
  says that the just shall LIVE by faith. To me that means, that in my
  home, I am not to merely perform my daily duties in a timely manner but
  that in all I do I am to look to the Lord with the eye of faith
  depending on His strength and power to work through me to accomplish
  His will. This will bring forth His life instead of the fruit of my
  flesh.

  A few months ago my son and his wife had a new baby. My son works for
  us and because of the nature of our business he was not able to pick up
  his wife on the day she came home from the hospital so he asked if I
  would mind picking them up. So, that morning I had already left the
  house and was on the way to the hospital when my husband radioed me and
  said that one of the diesel’s had broken down. He needed me to drive
  (an hour away) to pick up the part and take it to the shop and then
  wait until it was finished and take it back to the truck. *Gasp* I
  couldn’t believe it! My plans were set! Immediately, I started to get
  irritated and frustrated. Now, you would think that after 10 years of
  trying to learn this lesson that I would respond perfectly, right?
  *Smile* I wish I could say that I did. My first reaction was not good
  and I responded with the ‘godly’ remark… “Of all days!” BUT….
  immediately the Lord reminded that He was able to work things out for
  good so I lifted my thoughts up to Him and asked that He help me accept
  whatever came my way as His plan for my day. I put my faith in Him to
  work it all together for my good, my daughter-in-love’s good and His
  glory.
  
  The fear, frustration and anxiety left. Peace flooded my mind.
  During the course of the conversation I had another thought on how we
  could solve this problem and my husband agreed that it would work out.
  I didn’t have to change my plans at all. But, let me tell you, I was so
  grieved that I had initially failed that test. (I am reassured, though,
  that I’ll have plenty of situations to practice it’s truths, again.
  *Smile*) I also know from past experience that it doesn’t always work
  out the way I hope it will. Many, many times I have had to stop
  whatever I was doing and completely change my plans for the day. More
  times than not.

  The meaning of faith means so much more to me today than it ever has
  before. The Lord, in all His glory, loves me and has a plan for my life
  and my home. He has promised that He is weaving His perfect plan
  throughout my days. He cares about my home. He cares about the work I
  have to do in my home. But, more than all of this, He wants me to put
  my faith in Him to accomplish all that needs to be done in my home. He
  wants me to look to Him in all I do. To keep my ‘eye’ on Him, so to
  speak, as I go about my day. Just as a child sitting in the room with
  His mother as he plays with his toys concentrates on what he is doing
  but all the while he is aware that his Mama is there. So it should be
  with us and the Lord. We must trust Him to work through us to build our
  homes for Him. And do you know what is even more wonderful… HE IS the
  author and finisher of our faith. So, if I lack faith to trust Him at
  those moments when everything seems out of control, I can pray and ask,
  “Lord, increase my faith” and He will!!!! What an awesome, good God we
  serve!

  Georgene Girouard
  
  September 19, 2002

  * God manages perfectly, day and night, year in and year out, the
  movements of the stars, the wheeling of the planets, the staggering
  coordination of events that goes on the molecular level in order to
  hold things together. There is no doubt that He can manage the timing
  of my days and weeks. Elisabeth Elliot
  
  * Where faith begins, anxiety ends. Where anxiety begins faith ends. George Mueller
  
  * Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the
  earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to
  the rock that is higher than I. Ps 61: 1, 2

  • 11:19 pm
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