Anxiety + Depression

Written by Susanna Fleming, Rock Church Team

Did you know that Jesus experienced intense anxiety? In Luke 22, we read about Jesus’ experience in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knew his arrest and crucifixion were imminent, so he brought a few of his friends to an olive grove to pray – but they fell asleep. 

Then, as Jesus prayed alone, his anxiety was so overwhelming that it manifested physically. Some scholars even believe that what Jesus experienced in the garden was nothing less than a panic attack!

And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:44). 

Agony? Sweating drops of blood? Scripture tells us these things, yet somehow it still feels awkward to admit. How could Jesus, the Savior of the world, experience anxiety? How could the One who holds victory over death have ever felt worried or fearful? 

While these questions are understandable, they reflect a lack of full understanding in the beautiful truth of the incarnation. We must remember that Jesus was both the Son of God and the Son of Man. He was both fully God and fully human. And because of this, Jesus experienced the full range of human emotions. Anxiety. Worry. Sadness. Pleasure. Joy. Passion. Boredom. The list goes on…

And because Jesus was fully God and fully human, he also showed us what it looks like to fully surrender the breadth and width of our emotions to God. He didn’t allow his emotions to sweep him away into sin. He didn’t try to take care of his problems on his own strength. Instead, he demonstrated how to live in deep connection with God – not in spite of our human emotions but in the midst of them!

Jesus didn’t stuff away his pain or worry. He placed all of his emotions at the feet of God the Father. He fully trusted God with them. And though he was not initially rescued from his pain – though he ultimately did go to the cross – there would be an end to his suffering. There was joy in his future. 

For the sake of the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, ignoring its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). 

What does this mean for our human experience today? Doesn’t the Bible also tell us not to be anxious? 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6-7). 

Importantly, this statement in Philippians 4:6-7 is not meant to be a dismissal of the reality of the human experience. It is not a cold or tone-deaf commandment. If you are experiencing worry, anxiety, depression — or any other negative human emotion, for that matter – this does not diminish your worth or spirituality. When these emotions overwhelm you, it is not an indication of fragile faith. 

Instead, Philippians 4:6-7 an invitation into a relationship with the One who is perfect love (1 John 4:18). It is an invitation to take our worries and allow them to be shaped into honest and openhearted prayers.

It may be awkward to recognize that Jesus experienced anxiety, but this is a powerful truth. His experience challenges us to reevaluate our understanding of the relationship between anxiety and faith and encourages us to embrace vulnerability through relationship and surrender.  Jesus doesn’t want you to experience shame! Instead, Jesus wants to walk with you in the midst of all of your emotions and fears. He cares deeply for you. And he is strong enough to bear the weight of your emotions. 

Holy Spirit Glow Up

Written by Susanna Fleming, Rock Church Team

When it comes to discipleship, the Bible is exceedingly clear about two concepts that play a fundamental role in shaping the lives of believers: the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. 

What’s the difference? I’m glad you asked!

The fruit of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5:22-23, describes the character traits that are formed in the life of a believer through the work of the Holy Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience… When we submit our lives to the influence of the Holy Spirit, we are shaped and molded to look more and more like Jesus every single day. This is the process of sanctification, in which we grow in holiness as a result of the Spirit’s work in our lives. 

The gifts of the Spirit, as the name implies, are given as a result of the Holy Spirit’s grace in our lives. The three main passages which describe these spiritual grace gifts are Romans 12:6–8, 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, 1 Corinthians 12:28 – but there are certainly other references in the Bible in which people are empowered with gifts by the Holy Spirit for the building up of the Church. 

Pretty cool, right? The Holy Spirit is actively working in the lives of Christians to sanctify us, and we get to partner with this process by forming spiritual habits like reading the Bible, spending time in prayer and solitude, fasting, and being in Christian community. 

And the Holy Spirit is actively empowering us with gifts, and we get to be good stewards of these gifts by using them – with humility – for the sake of God’s kingdom. 

So… what’s more important? The gifts or the fruit? 

This question gets thrown around a lot, but it isn’t altogether that helpful.

When it comes to the life of a disciple and the mission of God in the world, both the fruit and the gifts are vital. 

Interestingly, this is something the Church often has a difficult time balancing. There are countless churches that focus on holiness, purity, and the development of fruit but remain hush-hush about the gifts of the Spirit. 

Conversely, there are churches that love talking about the power of the Holy Spirit but practice their spiritual gifts without the fruit. It’s no coincidence that Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 and follows with a passage on love in 1 Corinthians 13. 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-2). 

As disciples, it is so important that we value both the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. Not just one or the other. Not just power. Not just purity. We need both!

I’ve heard different speakers quote a variation of this same idea: 

If you have the fruit of the Spirit without the gifts of the Spirit, you’ll dry up. If you have the gifts of the Spirit without the fruit of the Spirit, you’ll blow up. 

And to round out the thought, here is my addition: 

If you have the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit — that’s a Holy Spirit recipe for a major spiritual glow up! 

I know it may sound a little silly, but it’s an important point. I don’t want to be a believer that operates in power without purity. Then I’ll just be a noisy gong like Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13. Nor do I want to operate in purity without power. Then I’ll be at risk of “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” as warned against in 2 Timothy 3:5. 

No. I want to grow as a disciple in all of the grace that God has for my life. The gifts and fruit. The power and the purity. I want to grow up and glow up into maturity in my faith. And I want to invite all of my friends out there to do the same. 

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6)