The Anxious Balloon
Emotions are funny things. We were made in such a way that we can actually feel our emotional state. There’s a weightlessness to joy, a heating up to anger, a stillness to peace, and a pent-up heaviness to anxiety. It’s the latter I’d like to spend a few moments on.
Anxiousness has been a struggle of mine as long as I can remember. I think back to my first day of Kindergarten. I was in my school uniform, and I looked at myself in the mirror and had one of those cold flush moments spark through my face – I was nervous. The all-star soccer tournaments where I’d need to go to the bathroom three times on the drive to the field. The constant wondering and overthinking after a good first date that can leave you concluding she hated you and you’re going to be alone forever. Anxiety is a tough cookie.
If you’re at all familiar with the word, you know that feeling of heaviness. Like a balloon is filled to fullness right there in the cavity of your chest. The Bible has a lot to say about worry and anxiety. “Give all your cares to the Lord, for He cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7). “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything” (Philippians 4:6a).
A constant theme to handling anxiety is prayerfully letting it go to God. Sounds simple enough, but how does that work? Anxiety and worry get elevated based on our attention – what we’re fixed on. If my thoughts are constantly fixed on how others might be viewing me, I’m going to have worry around others’ opinions of me.
The principle is not to just “let go” and move forward. We have to shift our gaze. The Biblical charge is to talk to God and look to Him. Praying doesn’t make our problems go away, but it’s like a see-saw – when we fix our gaze on God, it becomes Him being elevated and our worries become de-elevated.
See, prayer and worship are charges not just so that God gets glory through our thoughts, words, and actions. No, these practices actually function as a sort of reorientation for our hearts to remember Who is truly in control. God is so very big that when we look at Him, even our huge problems begin to shrink.
Give your burdens to the Lord, because He cares about you. This sort of prayer is like getting coffee with a trusted friend. There’s a release that happens when we put words to our feelings. We’re told that as we pray and let God know the things we have been anxious about, His peace will fill us and it will guard our hearts and our minds (Philippians 4).
Prayer and worship function less like a light switch in terms of turning off our anxiety and more like untying the balloon and slowly releasing the air out. Try it, you can feel as you talk to God the balloon of your worry begins to shrink and the heaviness start to lighten.
Friend, God desires to know what you’re going through. Even though He already knows without you using your words, He listens as though it was the first time. And when we have the courage to talk to Him, He gives us His peace which surpasses understanding.
What is it for you that’s built up the pressure in your balloon? Talk to the Lord about it today. Even if it’s your first time ever, get in a quiet place, speak out loud to Jesus’ Name, and be brutally honest. I’m so excited for you to give this a chance. Let’s release the pressure as we talk to the God of peace.
