It's not about the nail

One of my favorite youtube videos is this one, It's not about the nail.   My friends say it is the perfect example of their daughter and it is.  It really is.  In the video, a woman is talking about this pain in her head and the man is trying to tell her it is a nail in her head.  The woman doesn't want to listen to the man and accusing him of not listening when in reality he has identified the problem.

But this week I was listening to a Matt Chandler sermon about fear and anxiety and it made me think about this video and how it may apply to me.  I am riddled with anxiety and fear and create it in my head to the point where I sometimes don't sleep and have stomach issues.  When I tell my sister some of the issues, she points out that I am a crazy person who is worrying about nothing.  She is right. Yet I still worry.

Matt Chandler in his message talks about how it is okay to have fear and anxiety but what matters is how respond to it.  And he also says that most of that anxiety and fear is rooted in thinking that God isn't good.  This is what I have been pondering.   Do I think God isn't good?  Why do I really have this anxiety?

In thinking about some of the examples, the anxiety is often due to thinking that I have to control situations and can't or that "things" will fall apart if "x" happens.   And that does mean I think God isn't good.  If I thought God was good, my anxiety should go away as I can know that if my fear is realized, God is good and will take care of me.  Maybe not in the way I hoped but in a way that I can grow closer to Him.

So going back to the video, next time I can't sleep because of anxiety and am complaining about it, I need to remember that maybe God is telling me the cause is that I don't believe He is good. And instead of ignoring this lesson, I should hear and respond to it.