So what does “no anxiety allowed” look like? Does it look like never being thoughtful, never planning, never considering safety signs? If it does, surely there will be a lot of people who will not even consider it possible, much less attainable for the responsible adult. What if it’s not quite that extreme? Though we’ll end up trying the extremes along the way, what if it’s a personal sweet spot somewhere between being useless because of worry, and being careless in an effort to avoid worry?

The no anxiety life is the life of being free of the worries which cannot achieve actual results. It is the life where concern is allowed, but not permitted to grow into oppressive weight.

Let me paint you a picture.

In my day job I work as a permanent, full-time Christian missions volunteer. My living costs are taken care of thanks to a network of sponsors. These are generous people from all walks of life who see value in what I do, in how I use my time and energy. This creates, at least in my mind, a certain level of accountability. These people have given their hard earned money very generously to make sure I can do what I need to do. But that means I feel an obligation to provide “value for money:” that’s the reality of the society we live in.
With that as a precept, I’ve been dreaming for months of visiting my hometown for Christmas with my family for the first time in a couple of years. The cost of flights is making that an unrealistic proposition: I simply don’t have the cash I need. One Monday, out of the blue, I hear from my good friend. He’s the kind of friend with whom I might not speak for months on end, but the moment we talk it’s just like old times.
A good friend.
He’s getting married a few weeks after Christmas. In my hometown. I had no idea he was even in a relationship. But of course, I want to be there, he’s an old, and very dear friend. So I check flights. Since I looked just the day before, flights have halved in price (miracle much?). In my excitement I tell another friend who’s doing something outside. This friend gives me the money to buy the flights…in the blink of an eye (miracle much?).
So now I have a five week international trip scheduled. I know that my boss wants me to swing by our regional headquarters for some meetings, so they get scheduled into the first few days of the trip. They’re in a whole different part of the country though, so I’ll need to work out how to get from our office in Tauranga, to my hometown, Christchurch.
I’m a planner, I love to figure out how to get things organised efficiently. So I begin formulating ideas to fly, drive, sail…anything to get from a to b with the best balance between fiscal care and efficiency. Perhaps if I drive, I can visit my sister who lives halfway between a and b? Perhaps I can do some awareness raising for the cause, so that I’m not seen to be slacking off for too long? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

Within a few days, I catch myself becoming quite anxious. That’s when I feel the challenge from the Lord saying “no anxiety allowed.”

SO how do I do that?

Well, lets start by stopping.
I stop looking at every conceivable possibility, and simply prepare for the parts I’m sure of. I let my worries be real, and then take time to actually talk to God about them.
But once I’ve told God, I move on to whatever I’m doing today. I focus on doing the work of the today. I give it my best, as I like to do. Then, maybe if I have spare time late, I might look at possibilities.

What’s the outcome?
Well, in the first instance, I notice an improvement in my relationship with the Lord. Which makes sense. In the writings of the prophets, so many times His complaint to His people is that they’ve forgotten Him, they’ve turned to idols. Why would they do that? Was it that they didn’t understand how good He is, or did they simply forget that He was faithful the last time they needed Him?
Lets be honest. Humans tend to be forgetful. So we turn to all kinds of support mechanisms…credit cards, social networks, psychics…and we forget to do what works. We forget to bring it back to Him.

So I bring it back to God in prayer, understanding that He has more wisdom than me. Recognising that this trip is one which He wants to send me on, so He’s going to have some ideas on how it should look.

What happens? Not much. My stress levels go down. My work quality is more focussed.
And I have no answers for my family when they ask me “when will you arrive here?” and “how are you getting here?”
Remarkably, I’m OK with that.

So how did the trip work out?
That’s a story for another day…No anxiety allowed – an outcome

Have you been on a similar journey? Let me know in the comments.