Interesting point in the sermon Saturday night, from that preacher man of mine. (My uncle mocked my reference to the “preacher man”, and I told him he was saying it wrong. It’s preacher man, the way a teenage girl says a guy’s name because she hopes he asks her to the prom or even notices her from across the room. It comes with a little blush and an I’ve-got-a-crush smile. So if you would kindly read it with that inflection. Thank you.)

So. Oh yeah. Interesting point in his sermon. He was talking about dads not exasperating their children, from Colossians 3:21, and he said one way dads frustrate their kids is by teaching them to be self-sufficient.

He said kids will grow up to be disappointed and deflated, if they think all the power and answers are inside of themselves instead of knowing Jesus is the source of all help and provision.

At the time of this sermon, I have been surrounded by people on all sides who are in a hard spot. (An “apuro”, if you want the Spanish word. In my house, everyone always gets the Spanish word, so I don’t know why you should escape that language torture.)

I mean, a good chunk of people in my life are in a really hard place where if something doesn’t work in their favor it will mean painful and damaging consequences.

What I’ve been learning recently is that when I’m in a really hard spot, anxiety rises if I think I can fix it myself.

That’s a simple observation.

Anxiety surfaces when I try to get myself out of the predicament or when I try to figure out how to manipulate the outcome. My teeth grind at night, and I cry more and sleep less.

But what do we really need when we’re in a jam?

A Savior.

I used to think the word “Savior” was just for that initial rescue and transfer into the kingdom of God. It’s not. Jesus keeps being a Savior. He’s alive. He sees us. He has all resources at his disposal. He is strong enough to manipulate even the enemy to do his bidding. He can make something out of nothing.

Jesus keeps being Savior.

So the secret of stepping off of the anxiety-go-round, which is circular thinking that goes fast but takes you nowhere, is to admit you cannot fix your situation.

There are some actions you can take.

But I bet most of the solution is completely out of your hands.

Do we have it within ourselves to fix the situation? If the answer is no, then we need someone who can take over where our influence leaves off.

Have you ever thought about why the Bible says the word “wait” so many times?

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.  (Psalm 27:14 NIV)

Anxiety says, How can I fix this? What am I going to do? I,I,I,I,I.

The peaceful heart says, I know I can’t get myself out of this, so I’m going to have to wait for Jesus to work on my behalf. I’ll have to stay put and wait for rescue.

I’m going to have to wait for Jesus to work on my behalf.

We stop trying to extricate ourselves and instead wait for Someone else to do it.

We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help… (Psalm 33:20 NIV)

We wait and get a good night’s sleep.