I’m going to be completely truthful – I and my faith have had an incredibly difficult time during this pandemic and the closures of our churches. Before everything shut down, I did not fully realize how much my faith, my spirit, and my heart depended on going to church every week. I knew that I had a sense of renewal every Sunday at church, but I didn’t realize just how dependent I was on it.
Since the beginning of the shut downs, our church – as many churches have – has insisted that we are not just a building. And since the beginning of the shut downs, I have struggled with online worship. I have struggled with not being in the building.
But I have found, it isn’t the building specifically that I miss.
What I miss is the community. What I miss is that feeling of goosebumps you get when the message from the pastor hits home for you. What I miss is seeing people worshiping around me, seeing their love of God just as I feel it.
While I’ve been missing all of these things, my anxiety has started to climb. I’ve found ways to try to cope, but I can’t do it all on my own. I need to trust God.
I recently led a Bible study with a group on Jennie Allen’s Get Out of Your Head. I highly recommend the study – it was perfect for everything that is happening in the world today. Every week it felt like God had conveniently plopped the study in my lap to help me through the week.
This last week was about fighting anxiety with trust – specifically trust in God.
The way to counteract these lies that we tell ourselves is to put our complete trust in God.
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:11-13
Paul tells us to put all our faith, all our trust, in God. That no matter what, God will strengthen us. When we are in the highs of life or the lows, if we put all our faith in Him, we will be stronger through Him.
Jennie Allen discussed that our anxiety develops from three different lies or thought patterns that we tell ourselves…
- I am helpless.
- I am worthless.
- I am unlovable.
The way to counteract these lies that we tell ourselves is to put our complete trust in God.
The more I thought about these lies and where they begin, I realized that, for so many of us, these lies begin when we are young and impressionable. When we are trying to find our way through the world and figure out how we define ourselves.
As children, our parents take us to church and we learn good Sunday school lessons, memorize the books of the Bible, hear the easy and memorable Bible stories – often toned down. We learn that Jesus loves us and wants to be our friend. But through all of that, we fail our children in teaching them to put all of their faith and trust in God. We fail to emphasize the importance of providing our children a safe space in God.
If we work to provide our children this space, we arm them with the ability to trust God over the anxiety and negative thoughts. No longer will these lies have a hold on our children. We teach them that there is someone more powerful than hurtful words that cause us anxiety.
We should demonstrate to our children faith and trust in God through the hard times. Our children deserve to be able to trust in God and know that these lies cannot have a hold on them. Our children deserve to be confident in His strength. Are we willing to provide our children that? Are we, as a congregation, willing to demonstrate our willingness to surrender our troubles to God?
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4