3 Things to Remember When You Can’t ‘Not Be Anxious’

Those words are the punch line to a relatively well-known MadTV sketch involving Bob Newhart. In the sketch, Newhart plays a psychologist. He listens to the story of a young woman as she expresses all of her fears.

He seems somewhat empathetic at first, but you can tell a bit of impatience is wearing through. After hearing her story, he then gives his expert advice. STOP IT!

It’s comical because we understand how deficient such counsel is. It’d be wonderful if you could simply tell an addict to just stop it.

And it’d be great if we could simply shout, “STOP IT!” to feelings of depression and anxiety. Some who struggle with anxiety have had experiences with pastors, counselors, or well-meaning friends, which painfully parallels that MadTV sketch.

Simply knowing that the Bible tells you, “Do not be anxious about anything,” does not mean that anxiety will suddenly disappear. What do you do when you can’t seem to obey that directive?

Here are three tips that might be helpful.

What Does Philippians 4:6 Mean?

Before giving those three tips, though, it is helpful to understand a bit more about Philippians 4:6. In Philippians 4:4-9, Paul gives a few rapid-fire exhortations to the church at Philippi.

They seem to be disconnected, but closer inspection and knowledge of their historical situation will show how personal these imperatives are.

The Church at Philippi has much in their lives, which could lead to anxiety. We learn from the letter that their beloved Epaphroditus has been sick, they are being persecuted and disturbed by a group of false teachers, there is disunity amongst them, and Paul himself is in jail.

When will they be next? Paul’s imperative here isn’t something like, “Be careful not to start getting anxious.” But rather, it is a present imperative. His meaning is closer to Bob Newhart’s “Stop It!” They are to cease an action that they have begun.

Yet, Paul’s imperative here is much different than the incomplete counsel of Newhart. For one, it is grounded in the truth that “The Lord is at hand.” If that is the case, then why should they be anxious?

But he also gives them the path forward. Instead of anxiety they should be prayerfully, and with gracious hearts, make their requests known to God.

This isn’t a distant and unfeeling command. This is loving counsel to one who knows that anxiety can be ever present in our lives. We still must fight worry and anxiety because it robs us of the joy which Christ purchased for us.

And it can be the pathway to more pernicious and harmful things like bitterness and isolation. But Paul knows this isn’t fought by mere commands. Anxiety is mortified through replacement, not guilt or grit.

3 Tips to Help Battle Anxiety

There are numerous tips out there for dealing with anxiety. I’m not a doctor or licensed counselor, but I am a pastor who battles anxiety. There are a few things I’ve learned through the years, and perhaps this will be helpful to you as well.

When I start feeling anxious, I’ll go through a minor inventory. I’ll think about physical symptoms and circumstances, and then I’ll preach the gospel to myself.

Usually, this will help me stop any kind of anxious spiral. The problem for me is that there are times when I’m not disciplined enough to stop and take a breath and consider these things.

1. Consider Physical Symptoms and Solutions

We are holistic creatures. But we’re holistic creatures who like to deny our own structural integrity. What I mean is that we have a tendency to want to make everything spiritual, or everything mental, or everything physical. It’s usually a combination.

If I am lacking sleep, getting all jacked up on Mt. Dew (or other false energy sources), or eating tons of unhealthy food, it’s probably not surprising if my body feels a little jittery.

I’ve found that the same workload with seven to eight hours of sleep feels much different than if I’m trying to fire on all cylinders with only four to five hours of sleep. Sometimes the best thing I can do for my anxiety is to take a nap.

Exercise also plays a role in my levels of anxiety. I almost always feel better after physical exercise.

For me, if I can spend a few hours out in the shop, building something, getting in some exercise while doing so, listening to some heavy metal, I tend to feel much better. Find those things which help you exert some energy and get some of those happy chemicals released in your brain.

There might also be seasons when you ought to consider talking to your doctor about medicine. There’s no shame in admitting that we are holistic creatures and at times need holistic solutions.

Truthfully, that type of anxiety is probably different than what Paul had in mind in Philippians 4:6, but that’s a different topic for another day.

When I’m feeling particularly anxious, I tend to look at my circumstances and try to see if there is some outside trigger causing me to feel as I do. If so, I’ll explore that.

2. Reframing

Perhaps I am anxious because of my circumstances. Let’s face it; we live in an age that can produce some serious anxiety. Social media only exacerbates the problem.

When I start feeling anxious, I’ll ask myself a few questions. Is there a particular situation that I’m facing, a conversation I’ve just had, a trying situation, or anything of the sort which is pressing upon me? If so, then I’ll engage in a bit of reframing.

I’m switching metaphors a little here, so bear with me. Imagine that you have blurry vision. Your poor eyesight will shape the way you go about your day. It might limit things you can do (especially if your eyesight is as bad as mine).

You will not see the world accurately. And if you are entirely convinced that your blurry vision is reality, it’s also going to start impacting your relationships with others. “No, that’s not a dangerous animal that we need to shoot at. It’s the family cat!”

If I put on a pair of glasses, though, it will reshape the way I view the world. This is what reframing does. It encourages me to look at the world through a different lens. It reframes my thinking. How do I do this cognitively?

You can start by stating the facts. Acknowledge what you are thinking and feeling. What is the situation? What am I thinking/feeling about the situation? Is it possible to change anything about these facts? Can I change the circumstances?

If you can change the circumstances — go for it. But most of the time, our feeling of anxiety comes from situations that we cannot change. Think of those in Philippi.

They couldn’t control the feuding between Eudoia and Syntche. We can’t control other people. We can’t control persecution. We can’t control natural disasters (like the earthquake that hit Philippi). And we can’t really control what happens to others.

But we can change the way we think about things. Paul engaged in this in Philippians 1:12-18. The Philippians looked at the situation and said, “Oh, this is not good. Our leader, the great evangelist Paul, has been chained to Rome. He’s in lockdown. The gospel is being shut down.”

But Paul was able to look at the situation and said, “What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel” In other words, “Oh, you thought I was chained to Rome. It’s quite the opposite, my friends. Rome is chained to me. I get to share Jesus with a revolving door of guards who cannot leave. The whole empire is being impacted by this!”

That is some serious reframing. We can learn from Paul in this. And think about our situations through the lens of the gospel. This is why, in my better moments, I battle anxiety by preaching the gospel to myself.

3. Preach the Gospel to Yourself

The antidote to anxiety is the gospel.

But if you have a tiny gospel, that truth will be used as a cudgel. If your gospel is something like, “Jesus died for you, you have the Spirit, you can change, now go do it!” then this truth can be damaging.

When I say that the gospel is the antidote to anxiety, I mean a full-orbed gospel, which dips into the themes of Creation, the Fall, Redemption, and Glory. It’s a gospel that acknowledges that we are already free, but we’re not yet fully living in that freedom.

Preaching the gospel to yourself means that you remember those threads of the good news. We remember who God is, who we are, how Christ redeems, and how we respond to Jesus. But it also is a reminder of the big picture story.

Anxiety wasn’t present in the Garden of Eden. But it’s woven into the fiber of life outside Eden. Anxiety and chaos are the stuff of an unredeemed earth.

And so, when I preach the gospel to myself, I remember that the feelings which I’m having are ultimately going to be conquered and defeated in Christ. All the things which make us anxious are ultimately defeated — even our eyes that cannot see things as they truly are.

When I proclaim the gospel to myself, I’m remembering the security I have through union with Christ. I remember that Christ will reign victorious. I move my eyes away from myself and on toward the new heaven and the new earth.

And something happens internally when I engage in this discipline. The latter half of Philippians 4:6 begins to take root. Rather than being overcome with anxiety, I’m now overcome with deep gratitude.

For further reading:

What Does it Mean ‘Be Anxious for Nothing’?

How to Have Hope in Anxious Times

What Does the Bible Say about Anxiety?

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Drazen Zigic

Mike Leake is husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah. He is also the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO. Mike is the author of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need. His writing home is http://mikeleake.net and you can connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake. Mike has a new writing project at Proverbs4Today.

This article originally appeared on Christianity.com. For more faith-building resources, visit Christianity.com.