Getting Rid of Catastrophic Thinking
What if...
What if oil prices continue to rise?
What if the war causes long term harm to my retirement savings?
What if I can’t pay my mortgage?
What if… (fill in your worst nightmare).
We have seen many examples of catastrophic thinking in recent weeks. Just pick a topic and look at your favorite source of information, and you hear the panic and anxiety rise. You’ve probably had conversations with a family member that includes some catastrophic thinking. Over the last several weeks it’s likely that everyone has had at least a few moments of this worst-case thinking. But the results of this type of thinking often bring panic and increased anxiety. And if there was a thermometer to take our national or international anxiety temperature, our panic would be pretty high.
So here is a two-dollar word for you that many psychologists think Albert Ellis first coined: “de-catastrophizing.” This technique is sometimes used by therapists as a way to treat cognitive distortions and thereby reduce anxiety.
For many of us when we follow the worst-case thoughts, we end up with someone (and likely it is you or a family member) dying. And from a human perspective, maybe that is the worst thing. Losing your house because of job loss and a bad economy might be the worst thing, but often our fears have to do with the reality that in this life everyone is terminal. We just would prefer to delay our deaths till much later.
The apostle Paul puts things in perspective for us in 2 Corinthians 5. There he calls our bodies, our earthly dwelling place, a tent, and he considered the “what if” scenario. What if the tent is destroyed? And the answer isn’t that we move to another temporary structure. The answer is we move into a place that is designed by God to perfection and comes with a lifetime guarantee...an eternal life guarantee!
Paul said that in this life it is normal that we groan from a variety of suffering and burdens because the tent we live in was by design a temporary home. But God has promised both a new body that doesn’t wear out and a renewed eternal surrounding that is beyond imagination.
Paul continues by telling us that when we get to our eventual and forever home, we will be in the physical presence of God. Now, God is present, but we can’t see him. Then we will look eye to eye and face to face with the God who created heaven and earth and all that dwells in it.
I do not in any way make light of this difficult and horrible situation that we face with the reality of war and its impact on the economy. These things are hard and can be frightening. But we must, as people of faith and hope, remember that God is both with us now and will be with us in glory. Our worst case is living in a new body, in an eternal home, with an ever-present God, who will also take care of our loved ones until they join us.
We just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. We often celebrate and then move on to other holidays like Mother’s Day, graduation days, Memorial Day, and the beginning of summer. But the resurrection was not meant simply to be a spring holiday! It is a reminder that on that day, God’s new creation began. And today and every day, Jesus is both alive and working through you and me along with all who confess Christ to do the work of restoration now as we wait for his final return when he restores all things for all time. And on that day, we will rise with our own resurrected bodies and enjoy walking together in the presence of God.
As believers in the resurrection, we can rise up, work hard, solve problems, help others here and now, and bring hope that is real and eternal!
Your Time with God’s Word
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 ESV
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