"Anxssssssiety"

by WXAN & KMHM General Manager, Doug Apple

One night I was home alone. The rest of my family was away for the weekend. I was up late, reading in bed, in the basement, beneath our beautiful drop-ceiling. As often happens when one is home alone at night, I heard a noise. Then I heard it again, overhead. 

Now I must say that in the past we have heard mice scrambling over our heads. But this didn't sound like a scramble. It was more like…a slither.

Deer in the Headlights

Yes, I got that deer-in-the-headlights look, with no one there to enjoy it. What was I to do? Forget about it? Yeah, that's it. Just forget about it.

Slither.

O.K. Now that was the real thing! There is a snake over my bed, and I'll never to get sleep with that thought on my mind.

That Thought On Your Mind

Maybe it's not a real snake that keeps you awake at night. But maybe you have something just as sleep-robbing dangling above your bed. Let's call it “anxssssssiety”. Anxiety is that thought on your mind, that thought that brings with it a queasy stomach. 

And here is one thing about that thought, it's something you feel helpless about. It's something in which the outcome is not under your control. You don't know how it will end. You are probably unsure what to do about it. So you lie there in bed, anxiety dangling over your head, knowing you will never get to sleep with that thought on your mind.

The Answer to Anxssssssiety

Anxiety grips you when you are passive, inactive. It turns you into a victim. So what to do? Philippians 4 has the answer: Prayer. It says that when we pray, we will begin to feel God's peace. We should allow nothing to make us feel anxious. Instead, we should talk to God about it, tell Him what's going on, lay our requests at His feet, and give thanks for our many blessings.

First Peter 5 has more good words on this subject. Peter advises us to cast all our cares on God, because He cares for us. Prayer. That is the answer to anxiety.

End of Sssssstory

Back to my story! Instead of being a passive victim of this sleep-robbing serpent, I decided to take action! I decided to call my friend David Easton, “The Critter Gitter”. Wait, it's 2 o'clock in the morning. Plus that's wimpy. I gotta be a man, here, pull myself together. So I got out the pellet gun and started easing up ceiling tiles like some kind of TV cop…and never saw a thing.
Isn't that just like anxiety?! When you decide to stop being its victim, and take action to whip it, it vanishes into thin air. It's better to be like the Psalmist who wrote, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep, for You alone are my Protector.” Amen.