Today’s Reflection
Anxiety as the Opposite of Faith

The opposite of faith in scripture is not doubt but anxiety. To lack faith is not so much to have theoretical doubts about God’s existence as it is to be anxious and fearful at a deep level.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is surrounded by darkness and betrayal. He has, it seems, every reason to be deeply anxious. Yet, he begins his prayer with the words: “Father, all things are possible for you!” He senses God’s graciousness and power, despite the darkness. Our problem is often the opposite.

We are surrounded with light (love, trust, health, good cheer, and no immediate danger or threat) yet underneath are racked with fear, guilt, and distrust. Jesus stood inside of darkness and was secure in the light, yet we stand in the light and are anxious about a darkness underneath. Jesus was being put to death by sick forces and he rooted himself in the sense that things are still good. We stand inside of health and feel guilty about life’s goodness. Jesus was dying and he assured himself that God had not forgotten him. We wake up to sunshine on any given morning and worry that we have been forgotten.
 
Anxiety of this sort is what haunts faith, the fear that we have been forgotten.  It’s also the opposite of faith, not so much the fear that God doesn’t exist as the fear that God does not notice our existence.
 
Faith doesn’t have you believe that you will have no worries, or that you will not make mistakes or betray, or that you and your loved ones won’t sometimes fall victim to accident, sickness, and suicide.
 
What faith gives you is the assurance that God is good, that God can be trusted, that God won’t forget you, and that, despite any indication to the contrary, God is still solidly in charge of this universe. Faith says that God is real, and God is lord and, because of this, there is ultimately nothing to fear. We are in safe hands. Reality is gracious, forgiving, loving, redeeming, and absolutely trustworthy. Our task is to surrender to that.
 
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