Do Not Be Anxious

Easier said than done, right? Well, not if you cooperate with the Holy Spirit to discipline your mind and heart.

Yesterday's contentious election in the United States caused the nation to brace for trouble regardless of who won.

We humans seem prone to worry and anxiety nowadays, which falsely flows from a weak theology. Someone once said that worry, anger, and fear are the theology of atheism lived out! No matter what we claim to believe, our true beliefs show up when confronted with real life. And too many Americans seem to be “Functional atheists.”

We live and confront our lives as if there is no God. We act as if the world is empty of God's grace, and the anxiety and worry that flow from that “stinking thinking” show up in our expectations, relationships, and behavior.

How do we confront our temptation to worry and be anxious?

Look at our Gospel Lesson in Luke 12:8-12:

The Lord said to His disciples, “Every one who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And every one who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Lord commands us to “do not be anxious” when we are faced with standing up for our faith and living our faith, even in a hostile society. But that only becomes possible when we embrace the path to a place where our tendency toward fear is swallowed by confidence and faith.

The first step on that path is Acknowledgment. If I am ever going to be free from anxious living and have the right words to say at the right time, I have to start by embracing the truth that I am a follower of Jesus Christ.

I will never be free from anxiousness when I am unwilling to declare my allegiance to Jesus Christ. That tepid way of living, where I try to live with one foot in the Church and the other foot in secular society, will always lead me to quick denial when I am confronted as a Christian. This is why the central discipline of Orthodox Christianity is Repentance - to confront honestly our pattern of thinking that leads us away from the Eternal and towards the trap of the Temporary!

The Next Step is Acceptance. I am called to accept that I will not be seen as a “friend” to the society that finds it easy to blaspheme the Spirit. Knowing I will not be counted on as a supporter of a culture that has forgotten wisdom sets me free to be unconcerned that I am considered “Old fashioned,” “nothing but a bigot,” or “not very sophisticated.” My allegiance to the Faith means

I don’t live in the delusion that I am one of the “cool kids.” I’m free from that burden! I purposefully embrace the idea that I am not part of the shallow culture that only sees the material world as real.

The Final Step is to Embrace. When I am confronted with the choice of being rejected by those who also reject Christ or watering down my witness by trying to “fit in” in a society that hates what I love, the Spirit of Christ at work in me will give me the words to say that are inspired and provided. All I have to do is rest and embrace the truth of this intimate connection with God through His Spirit.

This path to peace of Acknowledgment, Acceptance, and Embrace invites me to cultivate an inner peace that is not enslaved to outside circumstances. I have no control over those around me and limited control over most of my circumstances, but I have absolute control (or should) over how I react and how I choose to live. The disciplines of Faith are meant to strengthen my will to choose faith over fear.

St. Paul the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople, was a hero of the faith who refused to give into a world of much controversy in the church. In the middle of the 4th Century, the Arian heresy that threatened the fullness of the Faith was raging in the Empire. The Arians were using the government to punish the Orthodox, and St. Paul was deposed from his See in Constantinople by their threats. He went to Rome, where the Orthodox were strong, and the Emeoror insisted that Paul be returned to his ministry in Constantinople. St. Paul refused to back down even though this would have been easier on him. He could have succumbed to fear and anxiety and allowed the enemies of the Faith to intimidate him, but he chose the royal path of faithfulness, and we remember his humble faith to this day.

Today, are you worried, anxious, overwhelmed by life? How is your connection to God? Are you following the Path that leads to confidence and peace, or is life filled with anxiousness because you’re unsure of where you’re headed? Today is the day to renew your focus on building intimacy with God by practicing this timeless faith through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If you do, when the time comes, you’ll have the words to say and be an example for others to follow! You’ll finally be living a Normal Orthodox Life.

P.S. Your confession of the one divine Faith showed you to the Church to be a new Paul and a zealot among priests, O holy one. The righteous blood both of Abel and Zachary with you cries out together unto the Lord. Righteous Father, intercede with Christ God on our behalf that His great mercy may be granted unto us.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV