Simply Hippo

Overcoming Anxiety

The comfort I receive from the Holy Bible never cease to amaze me. When I agree to follow, God inevitably leads me to passages filled with meaning for my life.

A couple of Sundays ago I attended a Pro Life Rally. I was blessed to hear a Baptist preacher read the 94th Psalm as part of his talk. I’d read the Psalm before, but his impassioned reading of the text gave it new life. When I arrived home, for no particular reason, I read through the passage a few more times. Of course, I could see a clear application to the Pro Life movement in verse 21:

They band themselves together against the life of the righteous
And condemn the innocent to death.

But for some reason, I was more drawn to verses 18 and 19:

If I should say, “My foot has slipped,”
Your loving kindness, O LORD, will hold me up.
When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,
Your consolations delight my soul.

I wondered, ‘Did God put these passages before me, and if so, what application might they have for my life?’ I was not particularly anxious. I had no doubt that I had slipped here and there, but I wasn’t wringing my hands over my transgressions or anything like that. Why this passage?

This week, I found out. Workforce reductions and anxiety go hand in hand it seems.

When co-workers were forced to leave due to falling revenues, I became introspective. When attempting to console grieving friends, I became anxious. And when attempting to compose myself, I remembered the verses God had placed before me for the past two weeks.

The 94th Psalm is very powerful at any time and particularly helpful in tough times. I pray my recently unemployed friends will find consolation in the words I’ve quoted above, or perhaps in verse 22, which may be best of all:

But the LORD has been my stronghold,
And my God the rock of my refuge.

I’ve looked in a lot of places, but I’ve never found a better approach to life or to adversity than that which can be found in the pages of the Bible. If you’ve never read it, I recommend the 94th psalm as a great place to start.

“Stupidity is Also a Gift From God”

Pope John Paul II said, “Stupidity is also a gift from God, but one musn’t misuse it.” I thought this was an odd quote when I first read it, but later it began to make sense. One Saturday, I foolishly ate a plate of cold spagghetti for breakfast. About noon, I discovered the snack machine was out of Moon Pies, so I ate a 3 Musketeers bar instead. I washed that down with a caffeine-free coke.

Time passed. By mid afternoon, I was starting to feel queazy, abdominally blocked up, and light headed. I began to wonder if this was not a dietary cause and effect sort of thing. By evening, I was in serious discomfort, and ready for relief, which was not quick in coming. Two days later, I had still not recovered fully.

Perhaps it was not the food. In fact, it probably wasn’t. While I was writhing in pain at 4 a.m., however, that papal quote occurred to me. Maybe God allowed me to be stupid enough to eat myself sick, so I would think of Him. If so, it was a good tactic. I often think of God when hard times strike, and this incident was no exception. I tend to spend my healthy and happy moments locked in a constant state of self absorption while I reserve times of distress for pursuing God. It makes you think: Perhaps distress really is a gift from God!

A passage from Job comes to my mind, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10, NIV). Life can’t be all happiness and wonder, and perhaps we’re better off that it isn’t.

I’m not sure what the former Pope meant with his quote, and maybe my interpretation is way off, but I think he may have been onto something. Stupidity may be a “gift from God.” But we “musn’t misuse it.”