Finding An Anchor In Our AnxietySample

Anxiety can bring Excellence

Let me tell you there can be a positive side to anxiety. I am a hard worker, go getter, like the adrenaline rush, but that which was a blessing for me in my 30’s, is turning on me now in my 40’s. I can only assume that it will get worse later in life, and now  realize that I have to go to the chiropractic so he can help me relax my back. Anxiety turns on you! There is a difference between anxiety and ambition, and if you are operating from adrenaline rush and anxiety you are going to crash. But if you are operating from an ambition standpoint where you say, “God, I want you to do something great through the gifts you have given me,” that’s a different place. I tell you, I have vacillated between the two of them. Am I doing this because I am nervous about something, and want to perform at a high level and do a great job? Or, am I being ambitious and saying, “Lord, you do what you want to do.” You have to pay attention because those two are hard to distinguish. If it is anxiety, then you’ll end up in this reactionary track where you will be stressed out for so long, that it will become your new norm. The day will come when you won’t have anything to do, and realize, “wait a minute, why do I keep trying to find something to do.” 

Men, and women as well, you’ll feel more comfortable at work because you’re in control, than outside of work because you are out of control. You’ll end up being a workaholic. Your vacation will end up looking like a spread sheet of all these things that you have to accomplish instead of having a real vacation to actually rest. We break the commandment of honoring the Sabbath. That is the reason we are like this, because we don’t ‘sabbath.’

Sure, anxiety can bring excellence, but it’s not what you want to be pushing you forward. You want the power and will of God to be what is your wind in your sails, not the fear of something else. So be careful of ambition and anxiety. Be careful of being reactive, be mindful even of the chemical aspect of anxiety, even if you need to see a doctor about it. And be careful of where we are as a city and the traumatic things that we have experienced. Do not lessen it, even if it wasn’t your home. God wants you to turn to Him with all of that.