With God, Everything is Backwards

The title of this post smuggles into my mind — and hopefully yours — several truths that I’ve known technically for some time, but only recently began to see outworked in reality:

• The best stories have deep low points.

• God draws straight with crooked lines.

• Life grows out of death.

• Down is only halfway up.

• When you are weak, then you are strong.

September, for me, was a month of realisations along these lines. The most dramatic example was, of course, the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk, who, Samson-like, seems to have done more in his death than in his life (impossible though that may seem). And as I think through the stories of at least a dozen people I know, I see the same principles at work, whether that is recognised or not. God will use every season of sadness, of difficulty, of stress — if it is faithfully navigated — as a springboard from which to launch you into his covenantal blessings.

Joy is a Choice, Anxiety is a Sin

Recently, I was gratified by my pastor’s words: “we aim for the most difficult times to be the most joyous.” It describes exactly the principle above.

But this is only possible if you acknowledge that joy is a choice, that anxiety is a sin. If you find yourself laying awake in bed, your mind whirring away at some insoluble problem, there is a simple process to follow:

1. Confess the anxiety as sin.

2. Ask yourself: is there something I can do about this problem right now?

3. If so, do it. Set the reminder, send the text, write the email. Actually do it.

4. If not, let go of the steering wheel. (And remember it’s a fake steering wheel, anyway. One of those colourful kids' ones that starts singing about traffic jams if you push the right button.)

5. Still anxious? Start at point 1 again, and don't forget point 3.

As indicated above, anxiety is the emotional equivalent of a backseat driver holding onto the driver’s headrest as though it were the steering wheel. You are reluctant to let go because “What if the car drives into a ditch?” All the while, you fail to realise that worrying about the problem does nothing to solve it. No matter how hard you tug at the headrest, the car’s going wherever the Driver decides.

Anxiety wants to maintain the illusion of control. As such, it is nothing more than idolatry of the self. You are trying to turn yourself into God — a being who can solve real world problems by just thinking about them. (Usually at 11pm.) But you can’t. Sorry.

Choosing to live in the reality that God is driving is no different to choosing joy.