Commands of Christ-22a

A Christian’s Ambitions

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

1. What is the difference between anxiety and worry?

We talked about this some last week and came up with:

Worry - future? about what might happen?

Anxiety - about what is going on right now that is outside our control

Henry Ford Health (of Michigan) says:

With today's tumultuous and uncharted climate, a certain amount of worry and anxiety are normal. While we use these terms interchangeably, they are entirely different animals — and they have different implications for health and well-being.

"If people aren't a little bit worried right now, that's a problem," says Jeffrey Devore, MSW, a behavioral health social worker at Henry Ford Health. "Worry and anxiety fall on a spectrum. They're different states, but they're also interrelated."

Worry Versus Anxiety

Chances are good that you regularly experience some level of worry (or even anxiety). But what do these terms really mean? Both states are marked by a sense of concern, disquiet and possibly stress. But they're not the same.

Here are five key differences between worry and anxiety:

Worry tends to reside in our minds. | Anxiety affects both body and mind. "Everyday worries take place in your thoughts, while anxiety often manifests physically in the body," Devore explains. "You might feel faint or lightheaded. Some people even hyperventilate." People who are anxious are also more likely to suffer from digestive problems like nausea, indigestion and irritable bowel syndrome.

Worry is specific. | Anxiety is more generalized. Whether you're fixating on your odds of contracting the coronavirus or trying to figure out how you'll be able to homeschool three children, worry is distinct and concrete. Anxiety is generally vague. You feel unsettled, but you can't pinpoint what you're really anxious about — and that can make problem-solving difficult.

Worry is grounded in reality. | Anxiety is marked by catastrophic thinking. There's a logical component to worry. Your brain is trying to make sense of a real and present danger. Worrying when your fears are actionable makes sense. It’s worry that can lead you to take coronavirus precautions, like washing your hands and wearing a mask. Anxiety, on the other hand, overestimates risk. "So if the real risk of a negative outcome is 10%, someone who is anxious may perceive the risk closer to 70%," Devore explains. To make matters worse, people who are suffering from anxiety may underestimate their ability to cope with a negative outcome.

Worry is temporary. | Anxiety is longstanding. Worry is usually short term. There's a concerning situation (like COVID-19) and you worry about it. Worry prods you to use problem-solving skills to address your concerns. Anxiety is persistent, even when concerns are unrealistic. It often compromises your ability to function.

Worry doesn't impair function. | Anxiety does. You probably won't be forced to take a sick day due to worries about finances or weight gain. Anxiety, however, seeps into your psyche and can make it difficult to focus and get stuff done.

Naomi Judd committed suicide Sunday. Prior to her doing that she spoke of battling depression and anxiety. At the same time she professed to being a Christian.

What impact, if any, did her death have on your perception of anxiety?

I have always been aware that people will commit suicide because of depression.

But I haven’t really thought about anxiety being a cause of suicide.

But I guess the desire to escape the torment of anxiety might lead some to choose death.

I want to take a trip in the Way-back machine.

Does anyone remember the study upon which we embarked when we moved out of the old building during the construction of this building?

Max Lucado’s be anxious for nothing.

RightNow Media

He counsels:

Lucado gives us the acronym: C-A-L-M

B. Read Philippians 4:4-8

1. Celebrate God’s Goodness (Philippians 4:4): This will be a time to rejoice in the Lord, praising him for his goodness and for the new insight he is giving you through this study. Celebrating what God is teaching you and meditating on who God is will help shift your gaze from the problems on earth to your hope in heaven.

C. A

1. Ask God for Help (Philippians 4:6): During this reflection time, you will ask God to help you not only understand what he is teaching you through the lesson but also to supernaturally transform your heart to live out this truth in your daily life.

D. L

1. Leave Your Concerns with God (Philippians 4:7): This reflection activity will challenge you to leave your worries in the hands of God and pick up the specific worry weapons you are learning in each video session. That way, when worries threaten to return, you can fight them.

E. M

1. Meditate on Good Things (Philippians 4:8):At the end of Paul’s prescription against anxiety, he urges his readers to meditate on things that are of God. In this activity, you will meditate on Philippians 4:4–8 and memorize a portion of it. In this way you will take the first step to replace anxious thoughts with the truth of God’s Word.

A. Anxiety is a close cousin to fear, but the two are not twins. Fear sees a threat, while anxiety imagines one.

1. Another good insight!

B. We have been taught the Christian life is one of peace. When we don’t have peace, we assume the problem is within us, which leads us to feel guilty. But while the presence of anxiety is unavoidable, the prison of anxiety is optional.

1. We need to make sure we don’t magnify the situation by adding on guilt.

C. When Paul writes to “be anxious for nothing,” he is referring to an ongoing state. His words could be translated, “Don’t let anything in life leave you perpetually in angst and breathless.”

1. As with sin: A bird may land in your hair, but you don’t have to let him build a nest.

2. Anxious thoughts may come to mind, but we don’t have to dwell on them.

D. Paul’s prescription for anxiety is a call to “rejoice in the Lord.” This is not a call to a feeling but to a decision.

1. A decision about our attitude.

Explore It

Text: Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25–34 (NASB95) “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

1. How will the crucial choices we make in Matthew 6:19-24 affect our ability to live free from worry/anxiety (Matthew 6:25)?

The more we cling to the the things of this earth the more we will worry.

If they are the only things for which we seek we will have worry about them “being taken away” through being consumed, by decay, by being stolen.

CSB Study Bible Notes: Isn’t life more than food is a rabbinic style of argument.

It reasons that if God does a greater thing for us, he will also do lesser things.

Specifically, if God created you (the greater accomplishment), he is certainly capable of feeding you (a lesser accomplishment).

2. What three worries did Jesus discourage among His followers in this passage? Why? (6:25)

Don’t worry about food, drink or clothing.

Because God will provide.

3. According to Jesus, why are we foolish to worry about our physical and material needs (Matthew 6:25-30)?

God knows what we need and He will provide

Are these then trivial matters?

No, but in comparison with hungering and thirsting after God they have lesser importance.

And yet that is not the approach of many evangelistic or missions projects. They believe people will not listen to the Gospel with an empty belly.

4. What creatures did Jesus use to illustrate God’s reliability as a provider? Why? (6:26)

Birds.

They only gather to the food God provides. they don’t plant and store.

Why are God’s creatures consistently "fed and clothed"? (6:26)

Because He created them and He provides for them.

Why should we take great comfort from the way the animal and plant kingdoms operate? (6:26)

There is not worry or anxiety, but there is watchfulness and activity (vs. sloth).

5. What benefits does worry bring? (6:27)

None

6. What fact from nature did Jesus use to illustrate the folly of worrying over clothes? (6:28)

God gives beauty to those things that did not work for it. They have an intrinsic beauty.

How did Solomon’s wardrobe measure up to the beauty of nature? (6:29)

Not as great

What comfort can followers of Christ find in the beauty of nature? (6:30)

God will give us the same beauty to enjoy.

7. Who is consumed by concern over food, water, and clothing? (6:32)

The Gentiles.

How is Jesus comparing Jews and Gentiles.

Gentiles do not know God.

They don’t know to trust Him.

8. What priorities should we have in life? (6:33)

His righteousness and Kingdom should have priority.

What does God do for His children when they keep the right perspective, refuse to worry, and trust Him? (6:33)

He provides for them.

Why is it silly to fret over the future? (6:34)

Every day has sufficient reasons for concern.

9. How does worry/anxiety also reveal a lack of faith (Matthew 6:30)?

They seem tied together.

10. If God promises to feed and clothe his children, then why are many of them ill-clad and undernourished (see Matthew 25:41-45)?

A variety of factors:

Man’s inhumanity to man.

God still expects us to work.

Get It

1. Why do some of us worry about clothes more than others?

2. How do you think God feels about our society’s preoccupation with food?

3. If God is really in control of the universe, why do we worry so much about so many things?

4. How do you think worry is affecting or could affect you…

Emotionally

Physically

Spiritually

5. How would you answer someone who interprets this passage to mean that God promises to give His children everything their hearts desire?

6. In light of this passage, what would be some good principles on food and clothing for us to follow?

7. What is the difference between planning for the future and worrying about the future?

8. What worries do you struggle to keep under control?

9. What can help you entrust your worries to God?

Apply It

1. What worry will you entrust to God today?

2. What steps can you take today to change your priorities from worldly ones to kingdom ones?

3. Give examples of how people today "run after all these things" that Jesus mentions (Matthew 6:31).

4. Why and how are our ambitions to be different from those of non-Christians (Matthew 6:32-34)?

5. How has this passage challenged you to re-examine your goals and ambitions?