Catalyst Track: Elephant Off My Chest // Day One

This week’s 3-day track comes from Max Lucado, Senior Minister at Oaks Hill Church in San Antonio Texas. Max has been deemed “The Best Preacher in America” by Readers Digest and is a best-selling Christian author with over 100 published books. This September, Max released his 34th trade book, Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World.

 

Have you ever felt like there was an elephant sitting right in the center of your chest? That no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t catch your breath? If so, you are not alone. A native Hawaiian once told me the origin of the name that Islanders use for us non-Hawaiians—haole. Haole is a Hawaiian word for “no breath.” The name became associated with the European immigrants of the 1820s. While there are varying explanations for this term, I like the one he gave me: “Our forefathers thought the settlers were always in a hurry to build plantations, harbors, and ranches. To the native Hawaiians they seemed short of breath.”

 

In this 3-day track, Max challenges us to free ourselves from the anxiety that holds us back. He explains that through God’s healing we can overcome these barriers and live more freely.

 

Whether it’s a pep talk or even a deeper form of healing, take the next few days to recognize ways in which you can free yourself from anxieties.

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DAY 1: The Anxiety Epidemic

 

Anxiety takes our breath, for sure. If only that were all it took. It also takes our sleep. Our energy. Our well-being.

 

Chances are that you or someone you know seriously struggles with anxiety. “The United States is now the most anxious nation in the world.” The land of the Stars and Stripes has become the country of stress and strife.

 

How can this be? Our cars are safer than ever. We regulate food and water and electricity. Most Americans do not live under the danger of imminent attack. Yet if worry were an Olympic event, we’d win the gold medal!

 

Why? What is the cause of our anxiety?

 

Change, for one thing. Researchers speculate that the Western world’s “environment and social order have changed more in the last thirty years than they have in the previous three hundred”! Technology. The Internet. Increased warnings about global warming, nuclear war, and terrorist attacks. Changes and new threats are imported into our lives every few seconds thanks to smartphones. We’ve barely processed one crisis, and then we hear of another.

 

REFLECTION: Answer the poll below

What is the biggest cause of your stress?

A. Personal

B. Life 

C. Work 

D. Faith