While sitting at an intersection this morning, a small pickup truck came barreling toward me, fishtailing and over-correcting, until it made impact with the rear quarter panel of my car. The face of the shocked man in the driver’s seat was literally a few feet away from me.
As I pulled over, the man sped away. I stood outside my car for about ten minutes, assuming this man would return to the scene, but instead of his reappearance, a woman taking her girls to school pulled up and explained that they had followed the man and took a picture of his license plate. I was thankful for their efforts.
After she had driven away, I was left standing there, inspecting my car and realizing there is little to no damage except a scuff near the wheel well. As I knelt down to get a closer look, and saw only minor damage, knowing it could have been much worse, I said aloud, “Thank you Jesus!"
When telling my wife the story, I told her, I’m so thankful that the impact was so minimal that I didn’t feel any discomfort or pain.
All the way to work, the enemy of my soul was tempting me to be offended, upset and seek justice for this reckless display of driving and leaving without taking responsibility. There was a battle for my mind as I was fighting back all sorts of negative thoughts about this guy. By the time I parked my car and walked into the office, I had prayed out loud, first thanking God for protecting me, and praying blessing and wisdom over that guy who hit me today. I also asked the Lord to remove any shock and trauma from me from the situation. By the time my keys were jingling in the staff entrance door, I felt lighter and less burdened. Anxiety and bitterness were left out in the cold.
We are nearing the holidays, and the American Psychological Association says that 44% of women and 31% of men report increased stress and anxiety around the holidays. Whether it is the expectations of gift buying, challenging family dynamics or our lack of good boundaries in a busy season, it feels like anxiety is always crouching at our door, waiting to ambush us and steal our joy.
Philippians 4:6 says,
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
The best defense against the ever-present foe of anxiety is prayer that releases your burdens to God while actively choosing to practice thanksgiving.
I won’t spend time on coaching you how to pray today, but let’s talk about the secret weapon of thanksgiving and how it will neutralize the anxiety that we all face.
Why Is Thanksgiving Effective?
1. Thanksgiving is effective because it gets you outside of yourself.
Anxiety can be an obsessive concern for me, myself, and I. This means the loudest voice in our heads is our own, and God’s voice is often drowned out.
When we practice gratitude, the opposite takes place. Thanksgiving is an active recognition of the wonderful things of life that come from outside of us, specifically from God himself.
For those who struggle with anxiety, this doesn’t come naturally. It’s a mission we must intentionally undertake: searching the world for truth, goodness, and beauty, and develop a healthy habit of offering praise to God for his good and perfect gifts (James 1:17).
2. Thanksgiving is effective because it shifts your thinking from what you don't have and causes our thoughts to dwell on God's good gifts already in your hand.
This can occur by simply engaging in an exercise of counting our blessings. One author said,
"Anxiety lives in the land of lack..."
- I don’t have a good job,
- I don’t have a spouse,
- I don’t have many friends,
- I don’t have good looks,
- I don’t have enough money,
- I don’t have good health.
Thankfulness extinguishes that destructive way of thinking because it rejoices in the reality of God-given excess.
3. Thanksgiving is effective because it gets you talking to God who is the One who can deliver the peace and perspective you need.
When Paul writes in Phil. 4 “With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God", he is saying:
Talk to God when you’re fearful or worried.
Why? Because he’s the One who can help. As the psalmist reminds us:
“Only God gives inward peace, and I depend on him. God alone is the mighty rock that keeps me safe, and he is the fortress where I feel secure.” (Ps. 62:5-6 CEV)
There is an important correlation here: the more thankful we are, the greater peace we’ll experience and feel.
4. Thanksgiving is effective because it brings you back to the present moment.
We have a holiday called Thanksgiving that is focused on gratitude and being present in the moment as we think about our blessings. To be thankful is to recall and reflect on blessings in the past and in the present moment. It is a celebration of God’s goodness that will lead to faith that the God who does not change will also bring good things in our future as well.
Thanksgiving Vs. Anxiety.
If we were going to celebrate a holiday that would be the opposite of Thanksgiving, we might call it “anxiety day.” This made-up holiday would be all about the future (not the present) and all the things that could possibly happen.
Instead of focusing on what IS – anxiety likes to zoom in on what COULD BE. On this fictional holiday, we won't focus on the good things, we will obsess over scary things… Disease. Dying. Disaster. Social rejection. And a thousand other worst case scenarios.
On this day dedicated to stressing out, you will rehearse all of the ways you will minimize the pain or protect yourself from all the things that COULD happen to you or your loved ones. You’ll win the gold medal for worrying that day, while your health and immunity will be compromised. Whatever food you eat on Anxiety Day will be limited because your stomach will be churning and you’ll be paranoid about the toxins or poison in your food.
I think you get the idea. But what if you choose thankfulness instead?
Choosing Gratitude
When we choose thanksgiving, we leave an unhealthy fear of the future and unknown and step into a grateful posture about the present.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger to a friend.”
– Melody Beattie
Being grateful is making the decision to look at the past and present through a lens of gratitude rather than a lens of catastrophe.
Practicing gratitude is a skill that can be developed; we can actually learn and behave our way into this heart posture. We can learn to direct our attention away from threat, and toward the things that matter to us – the things for which we are truly thankful.
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude”
– Brene Brown, Ph.D.
So, while I wasn’t thrilled that my car was scratched up this morning, I chose thanksgiving and it resulted in the peace of Jesus in my heart and mind.
Thanksgiving isn’t the silver bullet to kill off all anxiety in our life, but it is an often forgotten secret weapon that will bring the peace of God that will truly change us.
My most recent podcast was about the power and effectiveness of thankfulness which includes some additional information and tips. To hear this podcast, click here.
I look forward to seeing you next Sunday at our Worship Service in the Dome at 10:00 a.m.
You can also live stream our service on Facebook and YouTube at 10:00 a.m.
If you missed last week's message, "The Big Picture #9- Minor Prophets Are Not in the Minor League" click here.
