It’s so easy to be anxious in our world today.
I was talking with a friend who just became a dad. Yet despite the joys, he divulged to me that he is very anxious about our world. The future is plagued with uncertainty and peril, and it can give us. If I were honest, it is easy to feel those same concerns myself.
I understand our society’s attempts at combating anxiety. Whether it’s pills or various coping mechanisms, we are struggling as a world (especially post-pandemic) to find true peace in the anxious world we live in. Yet many realize that those don’t offer real peace. How do we deal with our ever-anxious world?
To such a world, I am reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 6:
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life… Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them
Matthew 6
So Jesus is telling us not to be anxious! What a message in our time. He is telling us not to be so precisely because “he feeds the birds of the air.” If they are taken care of by God, then we are as well! Many of us hear this passage and, while comforting inwardly, we can think–how do we realize this practically? How am I not supposed to worry? How am I supposed to just be at peace while living in our world?
The secret I have found lies in the command actually given in the passage. He says to look. In other words, he wants us to literally look at the birds around us. Most of us who are reading this are reading this from our homes, our schools, or on the bus, and we’d like to metaphorically look at the birds. But I really think and am learning that there is power in physically looking. In other words, I think Jesus is promoting being in nature as a spiritual practice.
When we’re in nature, a lot of things happen. Number one, we become less stressed. We see beauty; we see art; we see the movement of creation. Secondly, we are reminded that the world is indeed taken care of by God. When we go into places of nature, we see not only birds; we see bushes, trees, animals, soil, and the plethora of creation that screams and yells, “There is a God! And he takes care of us!”
And when that happens, we naturally become less anxious. We naturally stop being fixated on the things we were so fixated on. If anxiety is the spinning of our minds to try to control things we can’t control, fighting anxiety is simply to look at things larger than our own lives. It is to live from a place of surrender before God.
And that is why being in nature is a critical way how we combat anxiety in our lives. It is to be in spaces so that we can be reminded that our lives our not solely our own to take care of. It is to be in spaces where our minds, bodies, and souls can come to rest in our Father’s loving arms.
It’s for this reason that I try to make it a habit of finding spaces where I can be in God’s creation regularly. Whether it is during my weekly Sabbath, camping, or long nature walks with my family, these regular occurrences help ease and soothe my heart before God.
Do you find being in nature eases and calms your anxiety as God designed?
You were made for greatness,
Phil
I absolutely feel closer to God in nature.
Every night, I need to go for a walk with my dogs to spend time with Him.
I don't play any podcasts; I am just quiet; and it feels amazing.
I talk about my day with Him; my worries; and because I am far away from most of the stress, I have a better perspective.
I can't do life without nature. Because that's where God's signal is closest.