High Anxiety

High Anxiety

‘AWord from the Pastor’ By Clayton Adams

Thanksgiving is coming!

Christmas will soon be here and another New Year will soon begin. Oh, I almost forgot! The presidential election will soon be over and every one can say AMEN!

No one can deny this has been a very cantankerous and negative presidential campaign. Republicans blame Democrats and viceversa. We have American Africans blaming American Europeans for years of injustice. There are those of the Judeo-Christian heritage suspiciously observing the fast paced takeover of Europe by Islamic people groups.

Special interest groups are lobbying for their benefits and “rights” not caring or not realizing the damage being done to the basic foundation of our country and culture.

I believe neither political party has the health and well being of our nation as their top priority and focus. The major party candidates each have diseased character traits that have not been properly diagnosed, treated and properly worked through (truth be told we all do). The very real danger is that leaders who lead with pride and arrogance always make the road of life far longer, more dangerous and destructive for those that follow after them.

America is on a spiritual journey. We started out well as our founding documents and leaders proved.

Even during the Civil War between the states, each side claimed God was on their side and prayed for divine intervention.

Somewhere along our journey, we stopped pursuing God and began pursuing pleasure and what makes us feel good. The problem is what we are pursuing as a nation is proving to be disastrous. Consider just one indication.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (www.adaa.org) states; “Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18% of the population.” How anxiety disorders develop is a combination of “a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events.”

Jesus spoke about anxiety and gave the cure for it in His Sermon on the Mount; 'For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 'Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 'And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

'And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

'But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 'Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 'For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 'So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

(Matthew 6:25-34) Read these ten verses again and again. Make a list of His instructions and then you will have a very simple but complete plan for reducing stress and anxiety in your life.

In the letter of James, the Holy Spirit of God cautions us when it comes to making plans. (James 4:1317) Are they the right plans? Have we asked God for guidance and direction? We are but “a vapor in the wind, here for just a little while and then gone.”

The words of Jesus in Matthew and the words of the Holy Spirit in James go hand-in-hand. Making plans without first pursuing the kingdom of God, is foolish and ushers in high anxiety in your life.

Making plans for the future is good, God wants us to plan for the future but He desires that we pursue Him first. He must be both the end point and the pathway of your life's journey.

Planning for the future is a good and a godly thing to do. For the church I serve and for the community I experience life in, it's not too late for me to begin planning for 2017 and beyond. It's not too soon to pray for specific things to happen, for people, new opportunities, to serve and minister to people with needs and become the person of God that He desires and has designed me to be.

This is true for you too!

Pray! This is the first step in planning for the future. I believe the Holy Spirit of God will lead you and your church (if you attend and participate) into new and exciting opportunities of ministry! People need salvation, deliverance, healing, guidance, friendship, people need to be discipled in God's Word – if we fulfill the Great Commission of God as found in Matthew 28:1820 and “pursue His kingdom and His righteousness” first, then “all these things (of life) will be added to you.”

Pursuing God first will eliminate the anxiety in your life and take the focus away from “self” and enable you to be the productive, and joy-filled individual God created you to be. If we join together, our journey will be better, more enjoyable and more productive and all will end well.

The cure for anxiety in your life is to seek God above all else. He knows all you have need of. The past, present and future are in His hands and we are too.

Clayton Adams is pastor at Earle First Assembly of God. You can e- mail him at cpalaa@ yahoo. com, or find Earle First Assembly on Facebook.