Leaning Into Fear & Anxiety
"I’m Only 23."
That was what I told Chaplain Wil Gardner when he offered me a job as a chaplain at Simmons back in 2010. I tried to talk him out of hiring me. I asked him if I could come back in 30 years when I had enough life experience to do and know everything that this job requires of you.
He said what eventually made me commit to Simmons, “Nick, I don’t want to hire you based on what you know. I want to hire you because of how you learn.” That’s what I needed to hear. I just turned 30 yesterday. I thought alot about how much I have been able to learn and how God has really transformed me through books I've read, personal experience I've gone through, and the chance to walk alongside people through some of their most difficult and challenging moments. God has been gracious and the growth has been significant.
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God's Will, an Angus Cow and a Swimming Pool
There are times in life when we know that we are following the lead of the Shepherd and we experience life as God intended for us to live. Then there are other times when a cow ends up in the swimming pool.
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Stressed Out
A wise person once said that the human body is made up of 80% water, so we are basically just cucumbers with anxiety. (That’s funny right there. If you can’t laugh at that, this blog is for you.) Everywhere I go, it seems that people are stressed out and anxious about everything. The worst is when I’m by myself looking in the mirror...that guy drives me nuts! I find myself stressed out and anxious about things all the time.
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Out of Control
There is a tension in my life, and maybe in yours too. It battles against my desire to live for God. It is a force that drives me away from trusting in Him at all times and towards relying on myself. It damages relationships, brings out insecurities, drives us to manipulate others, and inevitably governs my ability to have an intimate relationship with God and others.
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I'm Still Angry!
Is It Right for You to be Angry?
Last week I said that anger will never completely disappear from our lives this side of heaven, nor should it. There is a time and a place for anger and it will either be our servant or our master. In order for our anger to be our servant, we need to get beyond anger management to anger control. Anger is an emotion, and we do not have direct volitional control over our emotions. We can’t will ourselves to like people we have an emotional hatred for. We can choose to do the loving thing for them even though we don’t like them; but we can’t simply tell ourselves to stop being angry.
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That Makes Me So Mad!
Why do our homes and workplaces become hotbeds for anger? Do we have a right to be angry? What are the roots of all the anger and hostility that we see in our world today? Is anger a normal human trait? Is there a time and place for anger? Can I ever get my anger under control...?
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