Anxiety Lesson 3: Noah: Be Sober Minded
James 1:16-18 clearly spells out for every human right here and right now...Do not be deceived my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights who does not change like shifting shadows. By His own choice he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Let's review the graphic:
1. God does not change - He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
2. Our sin does not separate us from God - It is our own knowledge of our sin that
separates us from God.
3. God encases us in our own heavenly lights 24/7 with Jesus Christ - the Word of Truth -
available at our side, offering a loving relationship and desiring to shower us with good and perfect gifts.
4. God chose us and wants to bless us here on this earth now, as we wait to reconnect
with Him in eternity.
5. Do not be deceived implies that something is out there trying to deceive us and does
not want us to stay connected to Christ in our heavenly light bubble but rather remain
crushed under the weight of the Tree of Knowledge - fruitless.
There lies the struggle….How do we stay connected and not deceived?
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God Genesis 6:9 (CSB). In a time when human wickedness was widespread on the earth and every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time Genesis 6:5 (CSB), how did Noah remain within the confines of the heavenly lights and keep his gaze upon the Lord? The task God gave Noah must have seemed impossible. Undoubtedly, people ridiculed him. How closely did Noah have to focus on God moment by moment not simply day by day to keep his unbroken connection?
Noah and Genesis for some are easy to dismiss as stories - simplistic narratives illustrated in children’s books. People would rather rely on their own knowledge, facts that can be scientifically proven. I’ve engaged in many conversations with people who want proof of God’s existence and that He cares for His creation. They simply cannot concede that a higher power exists, and the Bible is His love letter to His creation, written to engage humanity in a conversation and ultimately, a loving a relationship. Many of these people talk to me from a point of deep anxiety and expressed frustration. This next graphic illustrates how we trade our safety and security of our 24/7 bubble of heavenly lights and begin to stray back toward the oppression of the weight of the Tree of Knowledge.
1 Peter 5:6 -9 reads Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world. (CSB)
Wow - there is so much to unpack in here but let's start with the obvious word since this is a study on anxiety. The synonym for anxiety in this verse is cares. Look up the original Greek for this word and you get merimna or care/anxiety/to be drawn in different directions...English - distractions.
Well isn’t that a kicker. The literal English translation of the word in this verse is a distraction. In my little visual, if I were completing this lesson in a physical classroom setting, I would print off the graphic as a color page and have students physically illustrate each distraction on the page that opens their light bubbles and pulls their attention away from Jesus.
My distractions and my anxieties aren’t necessarily the same things are they? But how quickly do my distractions morph into worries and troubles when my hand leaves my Lord? See that lion up in the corner waiting to eat me as soon as I step outside my protective bubble? Also, how much time do I spend on distractions rather than in the Word of Truth? Anxiety soon follows when my Word time is limited and my distraction time is high. Maybe giving myself a weekly report with a Jesus % and a distraction % like my iPhone sends me a screen time report needs to become a new part of my weekly routine?
Casting my cares upon the Lord is not a new concept as a tool to combat anxiety. People throw this verse out there all the time. But hopefully reframing a care as any distraction that takes away primary focus from the Lord can help keep some of the gaps closed in the heavenly lights. But there are additional critical parts of 1 Peter 5 that Noah fully understood.
Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God so he may exalt you in the proper time. Noah worked on the ark for around 75-100 years. That’s a long time to have people calling you crazy before it begins to rain. We are not very patient, and we like to question God and His timing. We crawl out of our protective relationship with God only to get eaten by a lion or crushed by the Tree of Knowledge. We have to trust that God is unchanging and rely on God’s Thoughts to be in perfect unchanging providence because He cares for us! (I understand some people simply are not here. That Tree of Knowledge is heavy. My next Lesson series is Higher IQ: Harder Faith)
Also, we are called to be sober-minded and alert. Sober-minded means literally not drunk but figuratively free from intoxicating influences. Free from illusion . To possess clear judgement and self-control.
If at any point in the last year you have caught yourself wondering if there has been a more difficult time or a more evil time or a time when more bizarre influences plagued the world, think about Noah. Literally, the Bible says every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time. If anyone understood how difficult it was to stay sober-minded and alert in a corrupt and distracting culture, that guy was Noah. Once again the imagery is strong. I have placed my bow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9;13 (CSB) God’s character never changed even in the most difficult of times or cultures, God provided additional reinforcements to help Noah keep his focus.
No one has ever been able to conquer anxiety alone Sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world. The devil, that prowling lion, one of his greatest deceptions makes you believe you are all alone in your suffering. Once the loneliness descends, the weight of that tree becomes so heavy, I compare it to the frog in the pot syndrome. You know the analogy. You put the frog in the pot and turn up the heat slowly, and the frog stays in the pot until it eventually reaches boiling. The frog cooks to death because it never realizes the water in the pot is boiling. That’s the weight of anxiety. A person stays crushed by their personal Tree of Knowledge, unable to lift the weight themselves, struggling to cast their cares upon the Lord, feeling isolated and alone, trying to find their rainbow, cycling through the drama over and over day after day. Sealing up the heavenly light bubble should be possible but takes a strong, supportive community of fellow believers to strengthen the sufferer and assist in minimizing the distractions until a believer can wiggle out from under his/her tree just enough to gain a better perspective and move forward into a better mental health journey. Never underestimate the importance of a community of faith.
Finally, recognizing two last personal responses forge that lasting bond between you and Jesus and keep the heavenly light bubble sealed shut and force anxiety away and lift the weight of the Tree of Knowledge from crushing you on a regular basis.
First, Noah’s response to his suffering provides the best indicator of how to handle life when things start careening off the tracks, distractions take the lead, and worry rules the day.
Noah worshiped the Lord. His first response to his trauma was to build an altar and worship. Time and again in the Bible, examples are given of characters who either worship in response to trouble or who place conditions on the Lord. Research for yourself and find other examples! Those who worship fill their souls with peace!
Second, never forget who trumps that prowling lion. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the young lion and the serpent. Psalm 91:13
Once again, me being visual, I love the idea of being able to trample on snakes and beat up a lion! In verse 11 of that same Psalm it reads For He will give His angels orders concerning you to protect you in all your ways. I love the idea of having an angel take my hand to escort me back into my bubble after a particularly difficult day and then seal me back up with a loving kiss. Sometimes my angels even take the form of my grandmothers. I know I am meant to lead a blessed, productive, and beautiful life in the here and now. That nasty lion does not want that, so he does his best to distract me. My mind...my own mind...can be my worst enemy.
I pray my Anxiety Lessons and illustrations benefited my readers but please do not hesitate to seek professional help if anxiety becomes debilitating. Anxiety is real. Don't let anyone tell you that it isn't. The Bible acknowledges that it is real in the shape of that prowling lion waiting to devour. But I also know the end of the story and the victory formation. We are not powerless. We are fruit bearers protected by the never changing maker of the heavenly lights who showers us with good and perfect gifts by His choosing. We can cast our cares on Him. Stand firm in the faith. Thanks be to God.
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