As someone who struggles with anxiety and has written much on the topic, I get this question a lot. It’s a good one, and I want to set out an answer to it that I believe is biblical and sensitive to sufferers. The difficulty is in giving such a personal question a general response. So, […]
My Christian mind needs a good workout . . . regularly. And so does yours. But it won’t happen simply by reading books. One of the disappointing realities for our time is that people seem to count knowledge as a virtue in itself. Reading books about theology and the Christian life is then automatically deemed […]
In honor of mens’ mental health month (November) I have been writing about my anxiety and my mental health battles for around 15 years now. Sometimes people ask me if I feel comfortable doing that or if it’s helped me at all. My answer is clear and direct: Writing about my mental health battles has […]
I should have written this post a long time ago, since the question is so frequent, and the answers to it can be so harmful or helpful. I’ve battled an anxiety disorder for over 12 years, and I’m a Christian. Knowing those two facts, you can probably guess the #1 question I’m asked by people […]
I have been working through Paul Miller’s excellent book J-Curve. It’s life-changing if you understand and then apply what he’s saying (which is really what the Apostle Paul is saying, which is really what Jesus is saying). As I read, I’ve been reminded of how anxiety, which I’ve long dealt with, can actually be a […]
There are a thousand things coronavirus chaos has pushed up to the surface of humanity, like old sticks caught under rocks at the bottom of a riverbed. Perhaps some of the most precious are our need for communion with each other and our longing for peace. I’ve been working on my first book of devotionals […]
Anxiety. It breaks over us, like rapids shouldering into sediment on a river bed. The constant pressure weathers, grinds, and rubs at the soul. We feel ourselves dissolve into the swirling chaos—that throat-tightening fear that we’ve lost all control, that the white water will win the day. Some of us remember being thick and strong […]
Sometimes anxiety feels like a bug crawling under your shirt. You squirm and shake and slap to get it off, but it keeps moving—tiny legs tickling the pores of your skin. The sensation is sickening. And you feel neurotic. How is everyone else just walking through the world without a care?! Why can’t I just […]
In the corner of our attic, I stared at a brown-gray clump of feathers, bottomed by black, bony talons. How did he get in? And how long had he been pecking at the window before he gave up and laid his body on the old pine boards? Sparrows and pigeons and starlings can squeeze themselves […]
I know—that’s a very weird thing to say. But it’s true. Don’t tell me how to “overcome” my anxiety. Don’t tell me how to “master my fear.” Don’t offer a hundred insights from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I’m not interested. I have a very different approach to anxiety. And I don’t think it’s going to change […]