Focus Man!

Not only is anxiousness fear and control, it is also an issue with focus.
Yes, anxiety is a focus problem.

Thou will keep in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on Thee . . .
Isaiah 26:3

The inverse is also true. When I cast my gaze from the Lord, I lose my peace. Anxious torment is the reward of looking for satisfaction outside of God. God has made Himself the answer of all my ills; my problem is, I often look beyond Him for a solution.

Focus and the Timing of God

Mankind is often too impatient to court the favor of God. And the Lord’s timing is wearying to the anxious heart. The adrenaline junkie is like any other addict: hopelessly devoted to self. And as I already stated, anxiety is the hero of the flesh.  Anxiety is like a personal “Jeeves” for the self-willed.

The anxious person literally sets things up to be anxious. Have you ever seen someone tackle a major enterprise in the middle of a trying time?  Like, “Hey, I am going to remodel my house while I am preparing for my daughter’s wedding!” Crazy, right? Well, I have seen it over and over and done it more than I wish to admit. It’s believing in the energy and motivation found in anxiety and using it like a tool. The problem is, I END UP BEING THE TOOL!

He who believes in Me
[who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me]
as the Scripture has said,
from his innermost being
shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.
John 7:38 AMP

Cleaving to, trusting in and relying on means you must LOOK at Someone. You can’t excuse yourself from the act of gazing, because a believer is focused on the Lord. It is an all or nothing proposition. And it is the only way to have peace. Is there anything more peaceful than a cool mountain stream?

Focus to Dethrone Anxiety

So I have been working to dethrone anxiety as a source, a motivator in my life. I am choosing to oust this force as a life-power. In doing this, I remember a funny thing that happen to me while traveling out West. At one point, I was sitting there anxiety-free, and I had the thought, “Am I sick?” The anxious buzz was absent and it made me feel irregular.

I think the addiction to the substance of adrenaline makes normal seem sick. How sad is that?! Normal Christianity is focusing on the King of the Kingdom. It is looking to my Lord for direction. Normal is NOT deciding what is lacking and doing it; that is abnormal and willful.

Isaiah 26:3 says peace is found in those whose mind is stayed on Christ. Stayed means residing in, leaning on, remaining in, and waiting for. This is a mind bowing to His Lordship and yielded to His directive. This is a mind free of the chaos of the self-willed man, the fruit of which is ANXIETY.