Feb
04
2010
Battling the Unbelief of Anxiety
In my opinion, the most biblically practical of all of John Piper’s books may be one of his least known: Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure.
He defines “anxiety” as “the loss of confident security in God owing to feelings of uneasiness or foreboding that something harmful is going to happen.”
Here’s an outline of verses that can be used as weapons to combat the lies and false promises of the Evil One in contrast to believing the great promises of God:
Battling Anxiety in General
Lamentations 3:22-23; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Deuteronomy 33:25; Psalm 56:3; 1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6-7
Battling Anxiety About Being Useless
1 Corinthians 15:58; Isaiah 55:9-11
Battling Anxiety about Feeling Weak
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Battling Anxiety about Difficult Decisions
Psalm 32:8; Psalm 25:8-9
Battling Anxiety about Opponents
Romans 8:31
Battling Anxiety about Afflictions
Psalm 34:19; Romans 5:3-5
Battling Anxiety about Aging
Isaiah 46:3-4
Battling Anxiety about Not Persevering to the End in Faith
Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 7:25; Jeremiah 32:40
Battling Anxiety about Death
Romans 14:7-9
11 Comments
I have a question. Does the virtue of being care-free or anxious-free apply to police officers in violent situations?
I’m talking about the adrenaline rush which makes one freeze up
I absolutely agree with Justin about this book. The sermons he preached on this theme are also great. They are a little different, but the sermon on covetousness and regret I have given to many people including lots of pastors.
Erick,
I think the adrenaline rush which makes a police officer spring into action in violent situations differs significantly from anxiety (which often paralyzes and prevents decisive action). In fact, relaxed, focused action is what is probably called for in such situations, not unlike a Christian athlete in a vigorous competition. I find that whereas relaxation increases both focus and energy, anxiety fruitlessly consumes both of them.
Thanks for the verses. Anxiety is something I’ve struggled with over the past 10 years or so (it’s genetic to some extent – my father and one of my sisters gets the same sort of anxiety attacks), and I’ve found that reviewing God’s promises is the surest way to find comfort and solace, even in the midst of uncertainty and foreboding.
I took a look at this book on Amazon and one of the commenters said that the contents of Battling Unbelief are a subset of JP’s book Future Grace. Can anyone verify this? Blessings, Hans
Hans, that’s true. They are essentially the application chapters from FG.
JT
[...] Battling the Unbelief of Anxiety… Some Resources! 5 February 2010 No Comment http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/02/04/battling-the-unbelief-of-anxiety/ [...]
Thank you Justin. i have battled with anxiety all my life. These verses are a great encouragement. I thank God for speaking to me through you today.
[...] full post where he uses Scripture to support these arguments. You may want to check out his follow-up post as [...]
I am glad for this book: many of us struggle with worry and anxiety and need to be reminded of the promises of God. Remembering who He is can go a long way towards calming us.
It is important, however, to distinguish between the anxiety of everyday life and an anxiety disorder. While the former can be managed by being reminded of who God is and what He has promised, a clinical anxiety disorder will not be alleviated. In fact, when I have worked with Christians who suffer with the disorder, they turn the promises on themselves: they are tormented by the fact that their faith – and some doubt that they are truly saved because of the failure – cannot fix this disorder.
So before anyone tosses their medication away, it would be good to determine whether they are medicating common anxiety – which can be paralyzing at times – or a true disorder.
Again, I’m glad the book/chapter is out there for the edification of most of us.