Midweek: Has Anxiety Got You Seeing Red?

Last week we answered the question, "Can anxiety and gratitude co-exist?" The short answer is yes. The caveat is, like balancing an account, if deposits (gratitude) outnumber withdrawals (anxiety), you can wind up in the black, with a greater peace than anxiety. In our others "talks" about anxiety, we've reviewed the importance of "staying in our lane," minding our own business and not trying to control the behavior or choices of others. We've looked at what Scripture has to say about confession and repentance, freedom from anxiety as the blood of Christ releases us from the guilt and shame of our sin. And we've discussed the overall importance of giving our problems, our fears, our whole lives to Jesus and waiting on His timing in every circumstance. Today, I'd like to finish up our study on anxiety with the sin that has been my Achilles heel for many years: the sin of anger and how that impacts anxiety.

First of all, anger. Why is it sin? Shouldn't I be angry about those who do harm to children or a legal system that is so lacking in results? The anger to which I refer is not that. The anger I and so many others battle comes from feeling as though we are owed something; we are owed respect, we are owed the fulfillment of our dreams, we are owed a fair shake, fill in the blank. It is not anger for the sake of Christ and His righteousness. It is a selfishness. It is pride. It is sin.

Secondly, what does anger have to do with anxiety? When I was a silly little tyke, our neighbors had a dog that was, apparently, an escape artist. Despite having a picket fence around their yard, they kept the dog on a chain. The chain, however, was long enough that furry little Fido's nose juuuust reached the fence on one side. That was the side I chose to reach into the yard and pet the momentarily wagging canine. As soon as my fingers made contact with the soft fur, SNAP! The barking, snarling, whale-eyed and terrified dog used no uncertain terms to communicate her fear, and I wound up on my backside before the fence, by the grace of God escaping stitches (and a moment in which I would have to explain to my mother why I was messing with the neighbor's dog). The dog had learned her ability to flee danger was governed by the chain. That limitation taught her to fear. Fear caused her to react aggressively. I, in response to my sudden fear, stood up from my place on the ground and kicked the fence in anger. The dog, seeing only red
, responded with even more barking and growling, testing the strength of that chain for all she was worth. Anger was the means we both called upon to protect vulnerable places.

Human beings are not, in and of ourselves, well-balanced individuals. We tend to counter one unwelcome feeling or behavior with another from the far end of the spectrum. Like a pendulum swinging back and forth, we careen from one sinful "solution" to another. We counter shame with pride and, sometimes, outrageous behavior. We counter fear with pride and false bravado; Of course I can do this! while our insides are churning like butter. And we counter those anxious feelings of inadequacy, tininess, helplessness, and uncertainty with anger, rage at the people and circumstances who are "making things more difficult." In Peter's denial of Jesus, fear was a huge motivator. Peter feared the murder of his Rabbi and Friend and the likelihood that he, too, could suffer the same. When simple folks accused Peter of being associated with Jesus, he felt threatened. The situation was shocking, it was chaotic, and now these people were dragging him into it! Peter wanted nothing to do with Jesus at that moment, and he responded with angry curses to gain more distance and end the conversation. Anxiety uses anger as a defense.

So, in this our last installment on anxiety (at least, for the time being), I would encourage you, if you have struggled with anger, to ask yourself, "Are you afraid?" Maybe your angry responses to others are the way you protect yourself from being known, being vulnerable; maybe they are rooted in anxiety over what will happen if you do not control the situation. If there is something you fear, what is it? Is it a rational fear? Is there a response more appropriate, more beneficial than anger? And, above all, pray. Turn your thoughts, your words, your behavior over to Jesus and ask His Holy Spirit to be your guide as you seek to purge your life and your relationships of anxiety and its anger.