Fear and anxiety are crippling emotions, emotions that play a significant role in mental health struggles. As anyone who has had mental health problems knows, problems with physical health have a tendency to exacerbate or cause mental health problems. I was chronically ill for years (14 years to be exact). In my case, an undiagnosed illness, chronic pain, countless failed treatments, and a few brushes with death often filled me with anxiety and fear. Of course, in a fallen world, we all battle fear and anxiety, to differing degrees and for different reasons. These negative emotions are an inescapable feature of living in a broken world.
But there is good news for those of us beset with fear and in the grip of anxiety. This good news is what settled my soul and calmed my central nervous system on numerous occasions. It’s the truth that Jesus is always with us and is stronger than everything that makes us anxious and afraid.
A Story of Fear and Anxiety
When I was a freshman in high school, I got caught participating in verbally roasting our football team. It just so happened that one of our larger players was walking by as I made my one contribution to the misguided discussion. Next thing I knew, my feet were dangling in midair. I had been picked up out of my seat and placed in front of the physically imposing upperclassman, who informed me that I had earned a spot in “the gauntlet.” In short, I had to make my way through a human tunnel while being met with various forms of resistance (I’ll leave it to the imagination what that resistance looked like with no teachers present).
Unfortunately, the repercussions didn’t end there. Two upperclassmen felt compelled to continue enforcing penance despite my apologies. However, one night I went to a soccer game with a guy in my neighborhood who played the role of big brother in my life. As we were walking in, I spotted one of the football players who had been causing me a great deal of fear and anxiety. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t realize that the guy walking behind me was with me. As the football player approached to intimidate me, he was quickly intercepted by my “big brother,” who, in an act of poetic justice, lifted him off his feet and placed him up against a light pole. My “big brother” informed the football player that if he so much as said a negative word to me again, there would be severe consequences. Needless to say, I went to school the next day at peace. Why? The problem had been decisively resolved: the guy on my side was bigger and stronger than the source of my fears and had leveraged his strength to subdue my antagonists.
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