Anxiety and the Christian Life – Part One
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2017%3A1-9&version=NLT
When a pastor friend of mine was preparing to start a new Bible study with the young adults in his church, he did something simple. He asked them a question. “What are the issues most impacting your lives right now?” He expected a range of answers, including relationships, work, money, faith, and, politics. But the response was nearly unanimous. Again and again, different voices named the same concern: anxiety. Not just stress, not just busyness; but a persistent sense of worry, pressure, and unease about the future. These were faithful, thoughtful young adults, who were doing many of the “right things,” yet carrying a weight they didn’t seem to be able to put down.
What struck my friend, and what struck me, is that this wasn’t a fringe concern or a personal weakness. It was a shared experience. And that’s not unique to one church or one generation. We are living in a moment where anxiety has become one of the defining features of post-modern life. Many people in this room, young and old alike. know what it feels like to lie awake at night, to carry a low-grade fear into their days, or to wonder silently whether peace is something other people get but you have somehow missed. Which makes it all the more striking that the Christian story does not begin by scolding anxious people, but by revealing a Savior who knows both glory and anguish, light and lament.
Head/Mind – Important Information
I. The Rays of Glory Often Come Before the Pains of Difficulty (Matthew 17:1–9)
Lent traces the journey of Jesus and his followers make to Jerusalem. But, before embarking on that journey, Jesus needs to make sure they are ready, or as ready as they can be, before setting out.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain, just after telling them he must suffer and die.
Starting with Matthew 16:21 we read: “From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. ‘Heaven forbid, Lord,’ he said. ‘This will never happen to you.’ Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human pint of view, not from God’s.’ Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.’”
Peter and the others disciples were not quite ready to hear that. But, they would soon have to be ready. For, ready or not, the days of great trial were coming. So Jesus gave them something to hold on to; a glimpse of glory.
On the mountain they saw:
- Jesus is transfigured.
- His face shining like the sun.
- His clothes blazing white.
- Moses and Elijah standing beside Jesus.
- The Father speaks: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him.”
This is not a retreat from suffering. It is preparation for it.
God does not shield His people from hardship by keeping them ignorant.He strengthens them by anchoring them in truth before the storm comes. And, in this we see: The Rays of Glory Often Come Before the Pains of Difficulty.
Heart – The Personal Application
II. The Radiant Cloud and the Dark Cloud (Exodus 24:12–18)
In Exodus 24:12-18 we read:
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.” So Moses and his assistant Joshua set out, and Moses climbed up the mountain of God.
Moses told the elders, “Stay here and wait for us until we come back. Aaron and Hur are here with you. If anyone has a dispute while I am gone, consult with them.”
Then Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it. And the glory of the Lord settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 24 describes Moses ascending Sinai:
- A cloud covers the mountain.
- God’s glory is visible.
- But the cloud is dark, thick, overwhelming.
- Moses waits. So do the people.
This is crucial:
- The cloud is glorious and frightening.
- God’s presence is radiant and heavy.
- Encountering God includes awe and uncertainty.
The same God who reveals himself in blazing glory also reveals Himself in thick darkness. This is so important to understand, because it means that you may discover as much about yourself, about God, and about the journey of faith in times of suffering as you do in times of prosperity. In fact, you may discover more.
The only way to really know what you’re made of is to go beyond where you are comfortable.
Before a fighter jet is ever trusted in combat, it’s pushed far beyond what it will normally experience. Engineers don’t just see if it flies; they test how it behaves under extreme stress—violent G-forces, sharp turns, sustained strain on wings and engines. In fact, they intentionally push the aircraft close to its breaking point. Not because they expect it to fail, but because only under that kind of pressure do you learn what the jet is truly made of and whether it can be trusted when everything is on the line.
What’s striking is that a jet can look flawless sitting on the runway and still be unproven. It’s the stress test—not the appearance—that reveals its true strength. In the same way, human lives and human faith are not formed or revealed in calm conditions alone. Pressure doesn’t just create character; it also reveals it. And often, it’s only when life pushes us to the edge of our ability—when our usual confidence or control gives way—that we discover what can actually carry us through.
An Irish proverb says, “Calm seas never made a great sailor.”
Crash Tests Reveal the Truth
Automakers evaluate safety based on how cars look when everything goes right. Instead, they smash them into walls at high speeds—again and again. The question isn’t:
- “Does it drive well on a sunny day?”
but: - “What happens when things go wrong?”
A car’s true design is revealed in the collision, not the showroom.
You don’t discover safety ratings in comfort—you discover it in impact.
Something similar is true of cognitive development and growth. Cognitive scientists tell us something fascinating about how people actually grow. Whether it’s learning an instrument, training for a sport, or mastering a profession, the most effective practice doesn’t happen where we feel confident—it happens just beyond that. Growth occurs at the edge of our ability, where we’re slightly uncomfortable, where mistakes happen, where effort is required.
But here’s the catch: most people waste most of their practice time doing what they already do well. It feels productive. It feels reassuring. But it doesn’t stretch us. And over time, it can actually stall growth. We stay polished—but shallow. Skilled—but untested.
Practice that never stretches you may feel comforting, but it almost never transforms you.”
Faith has always meant:
Walking into God’s presence
even when clarity disappears.
“You don’t really know what something is made of until it’s pushed to the edge—and God often reveals truth not in comfort, but under pressure.”
III. From the Mountain to the Valley
Matthew shows us the Transfiguration just before:
- Jesus sets His face toward Jerusalem
- The disciples argue, misunderstand, panic
- Jesus begins walking toward betrayal, suffering, and death
Before all of this, God shows them:Who Jesus truly is before they see what following Him will cost.This is how it works. When the storms come, we have to remember who Jesus is.
Military trainers know something important about human behavior under stress: when a real emergency hits, people don’t suddenly become wiser, calmer, or more skilled. The adrenaline is too high, the time is too short, and the stakes are too high. In those moments, people default to whatever has been practiced deeply and repeatedly. Training—not intention—determines behavior when the pressure comes.
That’s why soldiers drill the basics again and again, under chaotic circumstances. Not because they expect chaos to make people heroic, but because chaos strips away everything except what has been formed in them. When fear rises and clarity disappears, people don’t rise to some higher version of themselves—they fall back on what they’ve been trained to do.
Spiritually, the same thing is true. When anxiety, loss, or uncertainty hits, we don’t suddenly invent new faith. We default to whatever habits, prayers, and practices have already been shaping us. The question Lent asks is not, “What do you hope to believe when life gets hard?” but, “What are you actually being trained to rely on right now?”
IV. The Shock: This Glorious Jesus Will Pray Laments
The disciples see Jesus glorified. But later, they will hear this same Jesus pray words like:
- “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
- “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.”
- “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”
These are David’s psalms of lament. David’s psalms of lament come from a world where life was fragile: constant threats of war, disease, famine, and betrayal. As king, David lived under intense political pressure, family conflict, and the real possibility of assassination or revolt. Many laments likely arise from seasons when he was hunted by Saul, betrayed by close allies, or dealing with the fallout of his own sin.
In Israel’s worship life, these raw prayers were not private journal entries but songs for the congregation, teaching God’s people that honest complaint, confusion, and fear belonged in the presence of God, not simply for the prayer closet. Lament let Israel say, “I am overwhelmed, and still, I cling to you, O God. This molds a faith that brings anxiety and pain straight to the throne of grace, rather than hiding it.
Many people that we read about in scripture, including David, at times felt overwhelmed, afraid, deeply distressed, or lacking faith. Anxiety is not foreign to the Bible. God invites honest lament, naming fears, confusion and even doubt before God, instead of pretending it is not there, or doing something to numb ourselves to its presence.
Heart – The Personal Connection
This Matters Deeply. The Son of God does not invent new prayers for times of suffering. He borrows Israel’s honest prayers.
The Jesus of the Transfiguration is also the Jesus who:
- Feels anguish
- Names distress
- Voices abandonment
- Cries out honestly to the Father
Lament is not a failure of faith. It is the language of faithful people walking through pain.
Hands – The Practical Application
V. Why Lent Departs from this Port
Lent is not:
- “Try harder”
- “Be less anxious”
- “Have stronger faith”
Lent is:
- Learning to walk with God through times of Intense Emotions
- Learning to pray honestly.
- Learning to trust before we understand
Before Scripture says, “Do not be anxious,”
it teaches us how to speak when we are anxious.
That is why the church begins Lent:
- Not with answers
- But with honesty
- Not with victory
- But with truth
VI. Series Framing (Brief, Forward-Looking)
In the weeks ahead, we will walk with:
- David, who names fear and betrayal
- Joshua, who faces overwhelming responsibility
- Elijah, who burns out and wants to quit
- Martha, who is anxious and distracted
- Jesus, who trembles in Gethsemane
But we start here:With the glorious Christ who teaches us that honest prayer belongs to God’s people.
Hands – the Practical Application
Invitation
Friends, today we’ve seen that Lent does not begin by telling us to try harder or feel less anxious. It begins by teaching us how to walk with God when life is heavy, when clarity is hard to find, and when fear refuses to stay quiet.
The disciples were given a glimpse of Jesus’ glory—not so they could stay on the mountain, but so they would remember who He is when the road grows difficult. And we are invited to do the same. To bring our anxiety, our worries, and our unfinished prayers into God’s presence, trusting that honest prayer is not a failure of faith, but one of its deepest expressions.
So I invite you now:
If you are carrying anxiety, bring it to God.
If you feel stretched, uncertain, or overwhelmed, bring that too.
If your prayers feel more like questions than answers, you are not alone.
This Lent, God is not asking you to pretend you are strong.
He is inviting you to learn how to pray when strength runs thin.
He is inviting you to practice faith not only in moments of clarity,
but in moments of pressure.
Come and pray.
Come and listen.
Come and begin this journey with the One who shines in glory
and walks with us through every valley.