Does reading about Paul’s struggle with anxiety give you hope? I don’t know about you, but I feel very understood when comparing my struggles with Paul’s.
Like Paul, I can have lots of unfortunate circumstances in my life, such as broken cars, overdue bills, sudden moves, too much busyness, and more, but I’ll still sleep at night. However, when something is going on with one of my kids, the anxiety sometimes seems more than I can bear.
Thankfully, the Scriptures don’t leave us with Paul just struggling and unable to overcome his anxiety about his beloved children. Instead, what we learn from the totality of Paul’s writings is how to redirect our anxiety into something positive and God-glorifying. His proactivity is our model for success.
Before we dig into this, let’s take a quick side trip. In 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:3, we learned that Paul was so concerned for the believers at Thessalonica that he sent his helper, Timothy, to check on and encourage them. What was it that Paul was so worried about? According to verse 3, he was concerned that what was happening to him would cause anxiety for the Thessalonian believers.
In other words, he didn’t want his struggles to overburden anyone else.
When we are struggling with the hard things in life, it’s so important to have friends and counselors with whom we can share our burdens. I hope none of you feel alone and isolated in your struggles.
But not everyone needs to know what is happening in our lives.
Sometimes, the weight of our burden is just too heavy for another person. I’m sure Paul shared his feelings with Timothy before he sent him off to Thessalonica, but what he wanted Timothy to share upon his arrival wasn’t all the hard things. No. Paul wanted Timothy to help the Thessalonians not to be “disturbed” by what was happening to him.
I once had a pastor who used to say, “Burdens are halved, and joys are doubled when we share them.” While I agree that it can be true, sharing a burden with a person who is already struggling or who can’t stop carrying that burden as their own is counterproductive. Please, do the hard work to develop relationships in which you can be a burden-bearer and which are a safe place for you to share your burdens! Don’t forget… We can always hand the Lord our cares and concerns. He’s never too busy, too tired, or just not interested in what we have to say! (1 Peter 5:7) But be wise in sharing your burdens. Just because we CAN tell everyone our struggles doesn’t mean we SHOULD tell everyone our struggles.
Now, what about Paul? How did he corral his anxiety and make it obedient to Christ?
I think Paul did three important things to keep anxiety from overwhelming him. He had an eternal perspective, looked for encouragement, and recognized his weakness and Christ’s sufficiency.
Today, we’ll consider Paul’s eternal perspective.
An eternal perspective recognizes that what is happening today is small in light of eternity. It reminds us to lift our heads and look for the “bigger picture” in our struggles. When it comes to anxiety, an eternal picture helps us to remember that what we are enduring is NOT forever. For the believer, all of this life, including stress, anxiety, and fear, will be done away with once we are with Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says this:
Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Whew! That’s a lot to digest, but let’s take it a step at a time.
First, Paul makes it clear that he is not losing heart. What exactly does that mean? To lose heart is to lose hope. Hebrews 6:17 makes it clear that hope is the anchor of our soul. In other words, if we lose hope, we are adrift in a sea of struggles, discouragement, and confusion.
But, what is our hope? Hebrews 7:22 says it clearly. Jesus is our hope. He is the guarantee of a better covenant. He is our guarantee of heaven and eternal life.
Paul starts by reaffirming that he is not without hope because our hope is the foundation of our security in Christ. When trials rear their ugly heads and anxious thoughts threaten to overwhelm us, hope is what will keep us safe in Jesus. Hope for our future keeps us from drowning in a sea of troubles.
Romans 5:3-5 begins with Paul’s audacious statement that he exalts in tribulation. Whaaaat? At first glance, that seems crazy! But when Paul shares what he knows in his heart about tribulation, the statement makes more sense. He says this:
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Did you catch that beautiful truth? Hope.Does.Not.Disappoint!
People fail us, circumstances trouble us, and stress and anxiety threaten to derail us. But hope does not disappoint. A little snippet is found in Romans 12:12, where Paul reminds us to rejoice in hope, persevere in tribulation, and be devoted to prayer.
Why? Why do we need to do those things?
It’s because they keep us focused on eternity. Our hope grounds us and gives us the strength to persevere through tribulation, while our prayers give us an outlet for our stress and anxiety.
Done together, they keep our eyes on eternity. Our eternal perspective gives us the strength to live in our fallen world.
Life is hard. Just this month, a dear friend delivered a stillborn baby. One of my children is struggling at work. There’s been relationship drama and anxiety about upcoming meetings with people who don’t exactly love me. It is tempting to hug my anxiety around me and crawl under the covers.
But hope…
Hope reminds me that my life here is just a vapor. (James 4:14) It turns the enormity of daily stress into the realization that, like the flowering grass, all of this life will pass away. (James 1:10-11)
Most importantly, it refocuses my gaze on the lasting city that is to come. (Hebrews 13:14)
Back to 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Paul goes on to remind us where our focus belongs. It’s easy to look at the “things that are seen.” They’re all around us in complicated relationships and challenging circumstances. They’re (please pardon the expression) In Our Face!
On the other hand, it takes work to look for what is unseen. It takes diligence, purpose, and a decision to refocus our hearts and minds. We have to discipline our hearts and minds to see God at work, and that’s precisely what we are doing when we look for what is unseen. Those “God-things” are the things of eternity. And Paul carefully points out that those unseen things produce an eternal weight of glory far beyond comparison.
We can’t even imagine how wonderful that eternal weight of glory will be.
Focusing on those “unseen things” will produce in us an eternal perspective, which is the first step in our journey to discard anxiety and embrace hope and peace.
In the next lesson, we will examine steps two and three. Until then, may I encourage you to look up the verses referenced above and perhaps memorize one or two? When we’re armed with God’s Word, we’ll be reminded of the promise of His hope and the hope to come.
Megan Scheibner 