Anxiety Level #1

ANXIETY LEVEL #1

Many of us have lost our sense of celebration.

Most cynics are former optimists – not because they don’t care, but because they do.

Ecclesiastes 1:2-8 Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

³ What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? ⁴ Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. ⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. ⁶ The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. ⁷ Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. ⁸ Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

Ecclesiastes 1:16-17  I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” ¹⁷ So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.
    To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

• The hurt of your past pronounces a death sentence on your future.

When you close your heart to people, you close your heart to God.

Cynicism is a choice – life doesn’t make us cynics – we choose that.

Cynicism melts under the relentless hope of the Gospel.

HOW DO I COMBAT CYNICISM?

• HOPE AGAIN
• TRUST AGAIN
• BELIEVE AGAIN

Be curious

Watch anxiety fade and celebration return