mentioned the last time that there are three ways we can wait for change. One way is to wait in Apathy (read more about waiting in apathy here…. http://eyumocheolaoki.com/waiting-for-your-change/). Another way is to wait in Anxiety which we shall now examine.
Anxiety
The World English Dictionary defines Anxiety as a feeling of worry, nervousness or agitation, often about something that is going to happen. It is something that worries someone – a subject or concern that causes worry. It is an intense apprehension, or fear of real or imagined danger.
Anxiety is another extreme that most people tend toward when they are confronted with challenges. Anxiety sets fear (False Evidence Appearing Real) in you and makes your challenge look bigger than it really is. It sets your mind at work figuring out how your problem is going to be solved, and when you cannot figure out a solution, you get more worried. Anxiety makes you look only at the natural, making you to forget the supernatural. Even where there are testimonies of what God has done in the time past in similar cases to yours, anxiety makes you think and feel that your case is different. No wonder the Bible says ‘Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad’ – Proverbs 12:25. Anxiety can be very deadly. It can paralyse your faith, lead to a nervous breakdown and cause other numerous health problems.
Hebrews 4:3a (NLT) says – ‘For only we who believe can enter his rest.’ This means that if we don’t believe, we cannot enjoy God’s rest. And as you know, there is nothing that steals our rest like anxiety. Anxiety will make you have sleepless nights, make you lose your joy of the moment, make you not to be at peace with yourself and also weigh you down. Anxiety is therefore a sign that you are walking in unbelief not faith, because it takes away your rest. Sometimes you see people going from one man of God to another, from one prayer conference to another (these are not wrong on their own), not because of faith, but because they are anxious. Philippians 4:6 tells us to ‘Be anxious for nothing’. The New Living Translation puts it this way: ‘Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything.’
Verse 10 of Hebrews chapter 4 went on to say that ‘For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labours, just as God did after creating the world.’ There is great labour in anxiety. You will agree with me that a day full of anxieties is more exhaustive than a day of hard work. This is because anxiety will not only exhaust you physically, but will also exhaust you spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
Hebrews 4:11 -‘So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.’ The favour you can do for yourself is to do your best to enter God’s rest! Cease from anxieties! It can destroy you faster than you think or realise. To carry on with anxiety and deny yourself of God’s rest is disobedience to God. Determine to drop every anxiety at His feet today. His Grace is sufficient for you.
