OVERCOMING ANXIETY THROUGH RIGHT THINKING
Philippians 4:8 (NIV 1984) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.
We so often obsess over the wrong things. The natural mind spirals downward into dark, unhealthy places where we get pounded by worry, stress, and anxiety. Worry, stress, anxiety, oh my! These major illnesses today are lining the pockets of major drug companies. How many are taking pills because they can’t cope with the mental stress they feel from life’s daily challenges? And how many are not taking pills yet we wish they were, for our benefit if not theirs. I’m not condemning here, and I am not necessarily opposed to medications, at least in some circumstances. I actually think there is a demonic dimension to this. We have no idea the amount of demonic activity to which our nation has opened itself by our increasingly blatant defiance of God and His laws. To put it naturally, we are losing our ability to cope. To put it spiritually, something is taking away our ability to cope. Our passage here gives us a practical solution.
We get ourselves into these mental pickles without much effort, yet once there, it seems next to impossible to get out; in fact, the more we try to think our way out of this psychological pit, the deeper we fall. So what is the answer? Is it to stop thinking all together? To empty the mind in some mystical trance? What foolishness! The more we think about not thinking the more we are thinking, yet thinking itself is not what got us into trouble. It is thinking about the WRONG stuff that did that. Scripture does not command us to stop thinking, rather it commands us to enter a higher level of thinking – to think about the RIGHT stuff. Because we are highly influenced by our sinful flesh and, as mentioned, demonic influence, I believe dark, despairing thoughts come to us automatically, while bright, hopeful ones do not. But there is good news. As Christians, we have a new nature given to us by the Holy Spirit who Himself directs us to better thinking habits.
None of this is not automatic. It requires our cooperation. Isaiah tells us that peace comes when our minds are SET on truth (Isa 26:3). Our passage tells us to do the same thing, “Think about such things.” That means “SET”. This is our duty in partnership with the Spirit. We must change the topics of our thinking or, as the Bible says, renew the mind (Rom 12:2). This affects our emotions as well as our behavior, and to affect behavior is the stated goal of the apostle in the following verse, “the things which you learned...these DO…” (v.9, caps mine). Thus, if we want to get our behavior in orientation with God’s principles, we must first get our thoughts in orientation with God’s words. When we allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify our thinking process our mind gets in a better place and we rise out of the dark, despairing pit we dug for ourselves, and attain a peace of mind. But peace of mind is not the only benefit, the truth actually sanctifies us (Jn 17:17). It is a living, life altering agent that changes us for the better. When truth is permeating our minds, the Holy Spirit Himself is permeating our minds (1 Jn 5:6), affecting real change in the way we think, in the way we feel, and in the way we live. Stress, worry, and anxiety have place in this mental fortress.
