Discernment - Tuesday
For the next two week’s Fairview is entering a time of discernment. The Community Discovery Team has spent several months talking with our neighbors and community members to hear about the needs present in the Fairview neighborhood. Every person at Fairview is being asked to spend time each day in prayer listening for God’ guidance for our church.
Tuesday - Addressing Anxiety and Mental Wellness
The number of Americans reporting increasing anxiety and struggling with mental wellness is on the rise. This is true of people in the community surrounding Fairview. Our neighbors have reported anxiety related to crime, health concerns, finances, and worsening national and societal issues. Butler students are feeling increasing pressures related to grades, paying for college, job prospects, and relationships with peers. Depression and other mental health issues are becoming more and more common on campus.
You may be dealing with your own anxiety, as you feel increased stress or worry related to a particular situation or relationship in your life. You may be feeling anxious just reading these paragraphs. A certain amount of concern and worry in our lives is normal, but increasingly our anxiety levels are rising to unhealthy levels.
Take a few moments to quiet yourself and then read the scripture below. If it is helpful, get in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and concentrate on taking a few deep breaths before reading.
Matthew 6:25-34
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Take a few moments to answer the following questions. If it is helpful to you, feel free to write your answers down.
What is your personal experience with the need to address anxiety and mental wellness?
Where in the community have you seen evidence of this need?
Why do you think it might be important for Fairview to have a part in addressing this need?
What do you think God might be saying to you or to Fairview about addressing anxiety and mental wellness?
When you are ready say aloud or read quietly the following prayer.