DJ: #76 The Hype of Now

The task of the Anxious Now is to push me to react, to the extreme. Anxiety is a bully, a bloated asshole. He lies while he accuses the Father of lies. His tactics never change, and he’s challenged everyone from Eve to Jesus to me. And yes, he comes for you. He is evil, and his only goal is steal, kill, or destroy.

His lies begin as whispers laced with truth. They sound like facts born of my history. That douche bag even sounds like me, “That’s not good. Did you see how they reacted? You know what’s next.”

It’s a thought so quick and easy to think, I barely notice. He plays on my insecurity. The thought dances on my need for acceptance and love, and subtly pushes my panic button. Quickly, I am in a hole. My emotions alert my soul, as tension builds in my veins.

What the fuck just happend?

Then my vision narrows. Only two options seem possible. Both of them are wrong. Both of them are based out of fear and need to escape the rising pressure- fight or flight. And the deadline is NOW. I NEED VALIDATION NOW! I NEED AN ANSWER NOW! But that’s not true.

Piss off bro.

(On occasion, Anxiety isn’t a total liar. We see the train coming and all we can do is let go. Get crushed.

Jesus did it, “Not my will, but your will be done.” Anxiety went to work on his greatest masterpiece only to suffer his greatest loss. Scripture doesn’t say it, but Jesus knew what was coming, all of Heaven and Earth knew it too. Evil wanted Jesus to run or fight or beg His way out. But Jesus did what the Messiah was called to do. He faced the cross and all the torture before it. For us, His prize.)

When I feel the waves of anxiety crashing into my existence, I fight it. I have to fight it. Victory arrives when I believe the Lord is not in the hype of the moment. Whatever my thoughts scream, they are wrong. My fate isn’t tied to a single moment of life. It isn’t tied to single person, job, or city. My life will always be linked to my daily decision to pursue the Kingdom.

Lord,

Thank you for being with me. Thank you for giving me tools to question Anxiety when it builds.