Rev. Peter C. de Vries, Ph.D. has served Old Union since November 1993.
To learn more about Rev. Dr. de Vries, go to FaceBook, Linked-In, or his blog.
FROM THE PASTOR
Worry and anxiety is a fact of life. No matter who you are and what your life is like, it’s easy to stress out over what’s happening, or what might happen. According to the American Psychological Association, 75% of Americans report physical or emotional symptoms related to stress. And the Gallup Global Emotions Report found that 49% of Americans experience significant stress every day. Levels of stress are trending upward, and the younger generations are feeling it the most. Stress isn’t going away: it’s only getting worse.
How can we deal with the anxiety we face in our lives? We could turn to a number of different strategies:
In other words, each of these ways to cope with anxiety may be helpful in some ways, but none of them will make it go away.
We find another possibility in Scripture. As 1 Peter 5:7 encourages us, “Cast all your anxiety on him [God] because he cares for you.” Because of God’s great love for you, he wants to help you in your times of stress. And because of God’s limitless power, he is able to. But the good news of this verse depends upon the message of the verse that comes before it: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” Humility, in this context, means putting all your worries in God’s hands, and resisting the temptation to pick it back up for yourself. Are you able to trust the Lord this much?
Blessings,
Peter
Worry and anxiety is a fact of life. No matter who you are and what your life is like, it’s easy to stress out over what’s happening, or what might happen. According to the American Psychological Association, 75% of Americans report physical or emotional symptoms related to stress. And the Gallup Global Emotions Report found that 49% of Americans experience significant stress every day. Levels of stress are trending upward, and the younger generations are feeling it the most. Stress isn’t going away: it’s only getting worse.
How can we deal with the anxiety we face in our lives? We could turn to a number of different strategies:
- Work harder and longer to address the stress-causing factors in your life. Wear yourself out trying to get ahead of your problems.
- Plan ahead to avoid having anxiety-provoking issues come your way. Think of every possible thing that could go wrong and come up with contingency plans to address each of them.
- Ignore the sources of anxiety in your life and hope they go away. Pretend everything is wonderful even if it isn’t.
- Play the odds: it’s been said that 90% of the things we worry about won’t happen, and that when they do they turn out well 90% of the time. Only 1% of what you’re anxious about will happen. (But there’s no way to know which 1% of your stressors that will be.)
- Engage in calming practices like mindfulness, deep breathing, yoga, or meditation to reduce the effects of stress and anxiety. They will certainly reduce the physical and emotional toll that anxiety takes on us, but the problems will still be there.
- Look for someone to blame for the stress you are feeling and try to replace your anxiety with anger and accusation. The result, however, is that your anxiety will still be there: you’ve only added resentment on top of it.
- Distract yourself from the troubling issues you face by focusing instead on what you enjoy in life. You’ll feel good for the moment, even if it means that your problems will only get worse while you are amusing yourself.
- Ask or expect someone else to take care of what is causing your anxiety. Just make sure you pick someone reliable, or else you’ll have to worry about whether or not they will come through for you. And what if you’re the person someone else is relying on?
In other words, each of these ways to cope with anxiety may be helpful in some ways, but none of them will make it go away.
We find another possibility in Scripture. As 1 Peter 5:7 encourages us, “Cast all your anxiety on him [God] because he cares for you.” Because of God’s great love for you, he wants to help you in your times of stress. And because of God’s limitless power, he is able to. But the good news of this verse depends upon the message of the verse that comes before it: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” Humility, in this context, means putting all your worries in God’s hands, and resisting the temptation to pick it back up for yourself. Are you able to trust the Lord this much?
Blessings,
Peter
Old Union Presbyterian Church | 200 Union Church Road, Mars, PA 16046
724-538-8672 | [email protected]
724-538-8672 | [email protected]