Jerusha: I’m delighted to welcome pastor and author Kevin Weeks to the FW Blog! If his last name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the husband of Stacey Weeks, who has visited us here several times. What a fantastic fear-fighting duo! Kevin’s book, Anxiety Attack, is free to download right now, so read on to be encouraged and to get your free anxiety-busting book!
By Kevin Weeks
The date was April 1, 2018: Easter Sunday morning. I was only minutes away from preaching the first of two services, and I had major knots in my stomach. More than normal. Far more.
I couldn’t think straight. My brain slogged through a dense fog.
My emotions were all over the place. They had been for some time.
I wasn’t sure if I had the physical strength, the emotional strength, or the spiritual strength to stand up and preach again.
As this storm raged in me, I sank into a chair at the back of our Worship Centre. I cradled my head in my hands, occasionally looking up.
People were walking past me, finding their seats, ready for the worship gathering to begin. I was trying to smile and say hi to people, but the smiles felt fake. I could barely maintain eye contact.
There I sat, alone in a room full of people, wondering what in the world was happening to me. Raw emotion smouldered, ready to burst through the surface in a blistering mess, and all I could manage to do was quietly quiver in my plastic chair and wonder to God why I was suddenly overcome by a fear that I couldn’t explain.
If you’ve ever been through something like that, then you know the questions that start flooding your mind. Have I done something wrong? Is there sin that I need to confess? Is there something physically or mentally wrong with me? Is there a spiritual component to this that I don’t see? Is it something else altogether?
And then: What do I do with the guilt that I feel for the way that I feel even though I don’t know what I feel right now? Should I tell someone what’s happening? But if I tell someone, then what? What happens next?
Plenty of questions. No answers anywhere in sight.
That weekend was followed by several conversations with my wife, the elders in our church, and a lot of desperate and emotional time with God.
I also visited my doctor who told me I was showing the physical symptoms of anxiety, maybe even depression. I was shocked, not to mention a little more anxious than I was before I got there. I left his office after my appointment was over and, as I was walking back to my car, all I could think was: How did this happen? How did I let this happen?
And maybe more importantly: How do I get out of this?
What I experienced on Easter weekend of 2018 is not unique. My circumstance is unique to me, but the greater problem behind it is not.
Anxiety, in all its different forms, is not only overwhelming our culture, but it’s also infiltrating the church.
This should not surprise us. We are humans living in a broken and sinful world.
I imagine you could probably tell a story or two of how you have experienced anxiety, worry, fear, panic attacks, or any number of challenges at different times, in different ways, and to different levels.
The question is: How do you make sure the anxiety you experience through your life does not become a sinful pattern in your life?
That’s where Philippians 4 comes in.
It’s All in Your Posture
Anxiety is the fearful concern I feel when the burdens of life become greater than my ability to bear them.
In Philippians 4, the Apostle Paul teaches us how to wage war on the burdens we bear. He writes,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7
Philippians 4:6-7 is one of the keystone passages in our battle against anxiety and fear. God says that when we pray about whatever is making us anxious, it’s as though our divided heart is being brought back together by a peace that only He can give.
Don’t miss the impact of this: Only God can peace your heart back together.
There is nothing else that can give you the kind of peace that erases anxiety or overcomes worry. Only worship-based, urgency-driven, joy-filled pleading with God (like what Paul describes in verse 6) can mend your heart when you’ve been stretched thin by an emotional tug-of-war.
But there’s more. Don’t miss the impact of that little three-letter-word that connects verses 6 and 7: “And.” Rarely does such a seemingly insignificant word mean so much!
Follow this: the Bible is saying that if you will do verse 6 (be anxious for nothing and pray about everything), then God will do verse 7 (give His peace that surpasses all understanding to guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus).
God is saying that you will have peace in your life not because your problem has changed but because your posture has changed.
This is the power of trusting God with your anxieties. The reality is that you don’t know how much longer your problem will go on in your life. It could stop tomorrow. It could stop next month. It could go on for another year or another decade. You just don’t know.
But what you do know is that you can have God’s peace in your life that abolishes anxiety.
You can know that if you will pray and seek His face and trust Him with your problem, then He will give you a supernatural contentment in Him.
If you will embrace that peace that only God can give, then fear, anxiety—and even the enemy—will flee.
God is merciful and gracious. He alone can peace your divided heart back together again.
Do you struggle with anxiety? Have you taken your fear to God and received His peace? Please share!
Photos by Aziz Acharki, Ben White, Drew Murphy, and Harli Marten on Unsplash. Original graphics designed by Jerusha Agen.
Kevin Weeks serves as the founding and Senior Pastor of Mission City Bible Church in Brantford, Ontario. His passion is to shepherd God’s people with God’s word toward God’s mission so that God’s name would be known among all the nations.
After 15 years in ministry, God called Kevin and his family, along with many other families, to plant a church in Brantford in 2014. Since then, they have seen God’s grace and power in countless ways. “Break Forth Radio,” (a ministry of Mission City Bible Church that airs one-minute clips from Kevin’s sermons) broadcasts daily on Christian radio across the Brant region.
Kevin earned his Bachelor’s degree from Heritage College, his Master’s degree from Briercrest Seminary, and is currently working on a Doctor of Ministry degree in Missions and Evangelism from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Kevin and his wife, Stacey, have three children and live in Brantford. Connect with Kevin on Instagram.
Kevin is giving away a free digital copy of his nonfiction book, Anxiety Attack, to, well, ALL of you! Follow the links you see highlighted (or click the cover image) to get your free download!
Anxiety Attack
Anxiety can strike in any area of our lives, from our money to our marriage, from our job to our health to our kids. It can attack our friendships and our very faith itself.
It’s a joy-stealer, a peace-robber, and a hope-hijacker. It weakens our courage, waters down our contentment, and fans the flames of our greatest fears. It’s a security-snatcher and a faith-killer. It’s eating us alive.
And it’s time for us to fight back.
Anxiety Attack presents God’s antidote to the epidemic. So, open your Bible, seek the Lord in prayer, and press on. It’s time to wage war on the burdens we bear.
Download your free copy here!
Comments 2
Thanks for a terrific post. Those verses have been my go-to verses for years. God is so faithful.
Amen! Glad it’s an encouragement, Anne.