The Anxiety of Jacob

This month, we’re talking about anxiety. It’s estimated that 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. have struggled with anxiety disorders in the last year, so chances are that if you haven’t, you probably know a few people in your circle who have. Last week we looked back at how anxiety has been understood and treated over the past few decades. Recognizing that, despite popular belief, the chemical imbalance theory is not believed to be the primary cause of anxiety and depression disorders, has led to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a goals-oriented talk-based therapy where the individual learns to reframe their thinking and behavioral patterns, to become the gold standard for treatment. Today, anxiety is better understood to be primarily a result of disordered thinking rather than a chemical or even genetic predisposition which means that in order to overcome anxiety disorder we must deal with the thinking patterns that caused us to get there in the first place.

As new as some of this information might be to you, the Bible has clearly been teaching on the importance of reordering our thinking and not being overcome by fear since it was written. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” We are also warned that our internal monologue is not always meant to be trusted. Contrary to the popular, Disney-inspired “Follow your heart” mantra, in Jeremiah 17: 9 God says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” What is particularly interesting is that the context of this often-quoted passage is actually contrasting “The man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength” saying that this man is cursed; while on the other side ““Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” What modern psychology describes as “disordered thinking” the Bible reveals to an issue of trust; will you put your faith in your deceitful heart or in God?

Does this put God’s word in conflict with science? Not at all! Aaron Beck, known as the “Father of CBT,” identified 3 primary levels of cognition where disordered thinking takes place; core beliefs, dysfunctional assumptions and automatic negative thoughts. In each one of these areas, the individual is believing untrue, unhelpful thoughts produced in their own minds and falling into a negative feedback loop. The premise of CBT is that by revealing those unhealthy patterns, grounding ourselves in what is true and reorienting ourselves with a hopeful perspective for the future, we can overcome anxious episodes in the moment and learn to consistently be free of them in the future. In scripture, we simply learn to orient ourselves towards the highest truth, the “truest truth,” which is God. John 14:6 - “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 16:3 – “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 8:31-32 - “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

One of the most difficult parts about overcoming our anxieties with truth, though, is that if our anxiety is stemming from something we’ve done in the past, how is that not true? Take the example of Jacob. In Genesis chapter 32, Jacob is preparing to face down the consequence of his past sins. In the Hebrew, one of the meanings of the name “Jacob” is “usurper” or “supplanter.” This is because when Jacob was younger, he had gotten his older brother, Esau, to sell him his birthright in a very one-sided deal and a short time later, tricked their blind father into giving him Esau’s blessing, as well! To escape the anger of his brother, Jacob left his home, worked for his uncle Laban (who pulled a significant deception of his own on Jacob), and built a family and life out on his own. Now, Jacob was finally returning to his homeland and heard that his brother was riding out to meet him with 400 men. Verse 7 tells us that, upon hearing this, Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. At this point, Jacob had a choice. He could give into his anxieties, turn around and run the other way. Afterall, he knew what he had done. He knew that when he had left, his brother was threatening to kill him! Now, that same brother had heard he was crossing back into their lands and he was riding out with 400 men to finally make good on his threat. These all seem like rational thoughts, right? I mean, it makes sense. But, here’s where the other side of the choice comes in; Jacob was returning because God had told him to.

“And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’... Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.” - Genesis 32:9 and 11

Was Jacob guilty of robbing his brother? Yes. Had Esau swore to kill Jacob? Yes. But, God told Jacob to go back and that it would go well for him. There’s truth and then there’s God’s truth. Anxiety brought on by our past sins is challenging because it is true that we sinned and we are deserving of its consequences. That is true. God’s truth is that we are made new in Christ Jesus by His atoning death in our place. God’s truth is that our debt is paid by His grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. For Jacob, his anxiety was due to guilt and it caused a broken relationship between him and his brother, his father and mother for over 20 years. For many of us, anxiety has wreaked similar havoc in our own relationships and families. It’s important to keep in mind that Jacob’s story is not your story, so while we can learn principals from his life and choices, we shouldn’t take this passage as God necessarily telling us to return to a potentially hostile environment. The only guarantee of safety that Jacob had was that God had told him He would make it well for him. If God hasn’t said that clearly to you, you don’t necessarily have the same assurances. The assurances that you do have, however, are that the guilt you have before Him is washed away, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” - Psalm 103:12 If God has chosen not to hold your past sins against you, then you don’t need to either.

There is so much more that we could say on the subject of anxiety over past sins and even if anxiety itself is sinful – and, we will! Let us know your thoughts and questions about anxieties over past sin in the comments section below!