Stop the Worry Stream: Confess

Do you know the first time that fear is mentioned in the Bible? Adam and Eve; well, it was Adam in Genesis 3:10, ‘He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”’ He was afraid when he heard the Creator in the garden. He was afraid because he was naked.

The thing is, he was naked the day before as well.

Changed perspective

The only thing that has changed in the garden is the perspective that Adam and Eve have toward God. They now have a different perspective of themselves: good and bad. I guess before he only saw good? Or neutral? There was a new awareness of self. I don’t think that the nakedness Adam was just talking about was limited to only a lack of clothing. I think he was feeling laid bare to God. God knew everything.

Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world and experienced the first fear. God knew what had happened but asked after them anyway. You see, the Bible tells the story of God seeking a relationship with us and that starts from the very beginning: walking in the garden with Adam and Eve every evening. And even now, when God knows what has happened, he seeks the people themselves and does not go off into a fury in his infinite knowledge of what happened.

Response to fear

Adam says he hid because he was afraid. Unfortunately, our very first look at fear in the Bible shows hiding as the preferred response. I am so thankful that God doesn’t leave it there and get mad and smite us all. He seeks the whole story from Adam and Eve before he acts. He seeks to understand what happened from Adam and from Eve, he brings it all to light, then he acts. He examines this fear from all angles, its beginning and its result. All is known and in the light. Then God acts.

How many times have we been faced with fearful circumstances and chosen to hide? I have a laundry list. One of those times I still regret. I was due to assist in a celebration with the church, but my co-worker stepped down just before we got into full swing. I panicked. I admit it now. But then, I just crawled under a rock. Eventually another of the planners called me and we spoke, but I still didn’t do anything to assist in the planning of the 100th time this event was held. I have asked forgiveness and it has served as a valuable lesson for me to admit my shortcomings and ask for help. It was a tremendously dark time for me, where I physically tried to keep myself hidden from notice in all areas of my life. Of course, the others of the planning group were well aware of my shortcomings, they had a different perspective. But I didn’t let it come to light within myself until years later.

Bring it to light

God questioned Adam and Eve to bring everything out into the open with Him. We too have to bring everything into His light.  1 John 1:9 says, ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’ It is in this bringing to light that we confess to God the sins of worry and anxiety and he forgives us. It doesn’t stop there! He will purify us from all unrighteousness, in this case he will purify us from all fear, anxiety, worry. We have been unrighteous in our worry, since we are commanded not to. I think that the prevalence of anxiety today is a proliferation of not only worry, but a continual stream of worry within us. It is the stream which much come out of us, in confession, into the light, so that we may be forgiven and that worry taken away.

So, I invite you to give in to your worry and anxiety. Live it for a moment so that you will confess down to the roots of it, not leaving anything uncovered. Be specific. Write it down, say it out loud. Give it over to God and ask forgiveness.

I was once so anxious for my sister’s situation that I drew a picture of a fire and wrote her name and her situation in the flames. I pictured this sacrifice, this giving over to God the worry over the situation. It is a sacrifice; it will be a challenge to stop the worry stream in our minds. Giving to God is the most fundamental step of stopping the worry stream.

So, write it down, then later you can look at it in joy and praise God for having taken it away from you. Speak it to God in pray. Visualize him taking charge of the situations, fears and insecurities.

God is faithful

He is able. He big enough. He is sovereign. He is powerful enough. He is supernatural. He can handle it.