Gratitude: An Rx for Anxiety
"Be anxious for nothing,”
Philippians 4:6a (NKJV)
High school football has been a way of life for our family for the last fifty years. My husband coached for 38 years, and our oldest son is now in his 19th year of high school coaching. I’ve seen high school football from all sides as a coach’s wife, a player’s mom, and a head coach’s mom. Fall Friday nights centered around our school, players, and community are still a priority for all of our family.
High school football is unlike the college and professional levels of the game. There’s no NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) money, transfer portal, draft, and few scholarships to be gained. It’s kids playing for the love of the sport and the good of the team. Few high school athletes make it to the next level in any sport, yet most players and parents would gladly tell you about the long-term benefits derived from participating in high school athletics. These benefits include discipline; hard work; commitment; community; learning from failure; overcoming adversity and disappointment; working together as a team; and building relationships. These lessons can serve athletes long after high school graduation when their life circumstances become difficult in jobs, marriages, and parenting.
Beyond a paycheck, coaching has always also been a ministry for our family whether it was hosting FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) Bible studies in our home, living out our faith in a public-school setting, or speaking to various groups. (I’ve written about this here, here, and here). This week I have the privilege of speaking to a group of football moms and answering the question: What does the Bible have to say about gratitude as an antidote for anxiety?
Anxiety is a human response to danger or stress. “Anxiety is anticipatory grief,” writes Phil Allen. It wants to be God; is self on its own; tries to get control; and is unable to relax in the face of chaos. After 50 years of involvement with high school athletics, I can testify that there’s a lot of anxiety in high school athletics!
The Apostle Paul answers today’s question and gives us a biblical prescription for God’s peace with these words: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV)
Paul’s counsel for dealing with anxiety looks like this:
Anxious for nothing
Pray about everything with gratitude
Present your requests to God
The result? God’s supernatural peace will guard or stand watch over both our hearts (emotions) and minds (thoughts).
We are in the early days of October, yet the “Christmas Crush” is already upon us with Amazon’s Prime days and retail stores full of Christmas displays and gifts. Thanksgiving isn’t just a retail holiday season. For the Christian, thanksgiving is supposed to be an everyday attitude of heart and a way of life.
"Give thanks" is a biblical command, not an add-on option or a good idea. If the command is to "give thanks," then the resulting important questions are "to whom?" and "for what?" If there are gifts, there must be a Giver. We give thanks to the Lord for who He is and what He has done.
Keeping a gratitude/gift list journal not only increases my awareness of the many good gifts God gives, but it also decreases my anxiety as I remember, rehearse, and recall God’s faithfulness, care, and provision. Writing and recording God-given gifts one by one, brings clarity, perspective, gratitude, and joy. Author and pastor John Piper writes, "Moving the ink across the page opens up the eyes" and "there are eyes to see in pencils and pens."
Hymn writer Johnson Oatman, the author of 5000 hymns, penned these words in 1897:
Count your many blessings,
Name them one by one
And it will surprise you
What the Lord has done.
What are your anxiety triggers and what are you doing to cast them on God? Are you churning and burning or praying with gratitude over the stresses and messes of life? If I’m really honest, I am usually anxious about EVERYTHING and pray about SOME things. Wherever we are, let’s remember we can cast our cares and count our blessings!
“Every breath is a battle between grudgery and gratitude.” Ann Voskamp