Justin Lakemacher, Program Director
Anxiety and addictions go hand in hand, whether in active addiction or in recovery. Think about it. The person in active addiction is anxious about things like where he will get his next fix, about others finding out, or is anxious about quitting. The addict in recovery is anxious about different things. He is anxious about sobriety, about repairing relationships or he is anxious about what a new life will look like. Anxiety is quite common when it comes to addiction.
How do we help addicts face and fight anxiety?
Before answering this question, it is unfortunately necessary to state plainly that we, Christians, do have something to say on anxiety. While many Christians have abdicated their responsibility to help the anxious to the “professionals,” anxiety is an issue God has spoken about in His Word. The most repeated command in Scripture is “Do not fear” or “Do not be anxious” in its various forms. God cares about our anxieties and we should care enough to help the anxious in our lives with hope and help from God’s word.
Before we can fight anxiety, however, we must face it. This is true of any problem. If we are to fight it properly, we must see the problem accurately. Specifically for addicts, we must help them face their anxieties by helping them see how it is connected to their heart. What we are anxious about is always connected to what we love and value.
For example, every time I prepare to preach, I regularly experience anxiety. There are two main ways in which anxiety is connected to my heart in these moments. The first one is unfortunately connected to remaining sin. When I preach, I want others to think highly of me and I care how people respond to my sermon. The other anxiety is something that I can only attribute to the work of grace in my heart: When I preach I am consciously aware that I am speaking as a representative of God and his word and it is a serious and sacred task. Both of these anxieties are at play when I preach and both are connected to desires within my heart.
Understanding the different forms of anxiety is essential before fighting it because how you wage war will vary depending on the type of anxiety. The sinful anxiety I experience in caring what others think is something Scripture calls me to repent of and the other anxiety is a sign of a growing fear of the Lord and I would never want to preach without that!
So we begin by helping the anxious addict see how their anxieties are connected to their hearts. What is making them anxious? Why? What does their anxiety reveal about what they love? These are great places to start the conversation and move them toward a plan to fight. As they begin to see anxieties and the connection to their heart, we can move them to Scripture and the weapons God’s word provides to help us fight. Here are 3 weapons to help the anxious from Matthew 6:25-34.
1. Logic
Jesus begins the discussion on anxiety with a command to not be anxious. But notice how Jesus follows up the command with a question aimed at our minds? He asks, “Is not life more than….?” (Food and clothing in this case). The logical answer to this question is “YES!” Life is more than the thing(s) that is making us anxious. Jesus is using logic to help make our anxieties smaller and to make God bigger.
He continues, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (vs. 26). Jesus is directing our gaze from what we can plainly observe from nature, birds in particular and moving us to God himself. He uses logic to do this, beginning with bird watching but moving us upward to the one who cares for birds and for us. His point is that we are more valuable than the birds and if God takes care of them, won’t he care for us? Peter uses the same logic. He calls his readers to “cast all your anxieties on him.” Why? Use logic: “because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Give God your anxieties because you know his care for you.
Imagine for a moment a young child who is lost at an amusement park and cannot find his parents. His experience is one of terror and anxiety until he finds his parents. Imagine now how different the experience is if the child is with his parents the entire time. He is safe and able to enjoy the park in the secure presence of his parents. If we know God cares for us, it can help us put our anxieties in a proper place as we relate them to God. Logic helps the anxious think about their anxieties in relationship to who God is and his promise to care for us.
2. Worship
It is important that we don’t use logic as an end in itself. Logic is a means to help us worship by thinking about who God really is. Thus, knowing who God is will be a critical weapon to help us worship our way out of anxiety. Jonathan Edwards wisely said, “Men will trust God no further than they know Him.” Since helping the anxious person learn to trust in God is what we are aiming for, helping the anxious person know and worship God will be one of the ways in which we offer help.
Consider Jesus’ words in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He wants us to know that one of the reasons we have not to fear (or be anxious) is because we have a Father who wants to give us His kingdom. He delights in us. He has great affection for us, even when we are afraid and he wants to give us His kingdom.
My experience with anxious addicts has been that many of them believe God is angry with them for “not trusting” when they are anxious. It seems, however, from Scripture that God’s attitude toward the anxious is not primarily anger but rather an invitation to come to Him, to know Him and to trust him. This is an invitation to know and worship God. When you are counseling an anxious addict, help them worship God by recalling who God is and help them identify in Scripture specific promises that speak to their anxieties.
3. Obedience
The third weapon we have to fight anxiety from this passage is obedience. Jesus concludes this section with a command, “Seek first the kingdom of God…” (vs. 33). Seek is an action. He is calling us to trust in Him and do something in the midst of our anxieties. This is probably the hardest application for anxious hearts because anxiety by nature is crippling. It has a way of freezing us into inactivity.
So part of our encouragement for anxious addicts is to help them learn to take small steps of obedience grounded in faith. Through this we are helping them see God’s faithfulness because when we trust God in the midst of anxiety, we will find he never leads us astray. Things may not go the way we expect but God will always be faithful to his character and his promises. If we can help addicts obey even when racing thoughts and sweaty palms stand in the way, we are helping them take a huge step of faith in someone outside of themselves.
A helpful way for anxious people to take small steps is for them to list out their anxieties from largest to smallest. Have them begin with the small ones, the ones they can have victory over and work their way to the bigger ones. Each time they take a step of obedience, remind them to thank God for his strength and faithfulness. When they can accomplish small things like making phone calls to loved ones they have hurt and see God’s faithfulness to get them through something that they were once anxious about, the bigger anxieties on their list become easier to face and they are able to progressively worship their way out of anxiety.
So as we help addicts to face and fight their anxieties, let’s take a walk with Jesus and learn to use the weapons he gives us. Logic, worship and obedience are God given means of grace that help us fight anxiety well. And remember, there is a day coming soon when Christ returns and we will be in perfect rest with nothing to be anxious about for all eternity.