Tuesday, January 1, 2008 - Guilt, Fear, and Anxiety
What a depressing title for a blog post! McIntyre, what is wrong with you? This place is supposed to be upbeat and positive! OK, fine, stick with me here.
There are very few things that can rob us of genuine life like these three enemies, guilt, fear, and anxiety. Medicating these emotions is a billion dollar a year industry. I think it is easier to bear with physical pain than to bear up under a load of guilt, fear, and anxiety. How often do we get trapped into unbiblical thinking and wind up mired in these three? How often do we get roped into some unbiblical solution to deal with them? They are the wasting disease of a life lived with a wrong focus. I think we need a little Romans chapter eight.
The first thing you have to notice about chapter eight of Romans is that it isn’t chapter one! There is a whole lot of good news in between the condemnation of sinful man in chapter’s one through three and the promises of chapter eight. You can read it all in one sitting but to live, experience, and understand what is being said here takes years. Most critically there is an encounter with the living Christ that is necessary before the promises of chapter eight will belong to you. If you think you might be there then please see chapter 3:21 through chapter seven.
Let’s think this through. In order to feel guilt we have to focus on the sins of our past. We all have stuff back there in the past that we aren’t proud of but so far I haven’t been able to go back and do anything about them, have you? Focusing on the wrongs of the past won’t change them, but focusing on Christ will.
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4)
Are you thinking correctly or are you buying into a lie that somehow, after what Christ did for you that the stain and shame of sin remains upon you? He has paid the price in full; He has atoned for your guilt. So yes, you were guilty, but that “you” was condemned to death with Him. The requirement of the law has been fulfilled. I am convinced that we cannot wallow in guilt without first slathering ourselves in unbelief.
Fear robs us of our present. Do you face challenges today that are beyond your ability to bear? Isn’t life sometimes just a bit much? Things don’t run along smoothly like we want them to. We look at the challenges we face and we look at ourselves and who wouldn’t feel fear? That fear stems from the fact that we all want to be our own small “g” god and we know we aren’t. We want to be in control of our lives to make them run smoothly and we know we can’t do it.
“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:15-17)
It is OK to admit it… you’re not God! However it is not OK to forget that your God is not next to you, nor behind you, nor slightly above, or holding you up. He is within you and He has received you as an adopted child, dearly loved. I do some crazy stuff with my kids like take them out into the wilderness. Often they come up against their natural fear and I tell them, “Hey, I’m right here. Karina, you have a dad! There’s nothing going on here that I can’t handle.” That cuts to the heart with me every time I say it because my own unbelief gets the best of me at times and I forget that my “Abba, Father” is right here (Mac tapping on chest). There is nothing going on that He can’t handle. You cannot feel fear and focus on Christ at the same time.
Anxiety robs us of our future and I think of all this has to be the worst. This is the ultimate unbelief because it reflects a profound distrust of God. How can He possibly know what He is doing? This thing isn’t going to work, how could it? I can’t pull this off! The sky is falling and our little wings are too weak to push it back up.
If there is one characteristic of Jesus that we see repeatedly in the gospels it is that He knew nothing of pessimism. At His worst moment, Gethsemane, He said not my will but thine be done. That is confidence in the Living God. That is total trust and overriding faith in the goodness of a loving, omnipotent, and all-wise God.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:28-32)
Did you just skip over the bible verse above because you already know it? Seriously, do you really think that I am going to say something here more life altering than what God Himself is telling you in those words? Is that passage some dusty, dry bit of doctrine or is it the anchor of your soul when faced with an uncertain future? Do you choose today by faith to depend fully on God’s unmerited goodness towards you, goodness purchased for you by the blood of His Son? He has declared you righteous, who are you to contradict Him? His plan for your future is to show you forever the riches of His grace and faithfulness towards you. Examine unchecked anxiety in that light for a moment, is it really something you want to keep around or does it start to look like that thing you found in the corner of the refrigerator?
Guilt, fear, and anxiety are powerless in the face of truth but if your face isn’t turned towards the truth they will loom larger and larger until they fill your vision. When climbing a cliff you have to use the three point rule. You stay anchored at three points at all times and only move one hand or foot at a time. My guilt has been atoned for, my God resides within, and He is in control of my future. Don’t look down, look up and fix your eyes on Him.
Lord you have purchased our guilt and given us a Spirit of boldness. Your plans for us are glorious but we are blind and unbelieving. Lord, draw our attention away from ourselves and our circumstances to gaze upon You and trust You fully.
In the Name of Jesus, our Friend, Brother, and Savior. Amen
Mac
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