The Theater of Hell.
"Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."
"What if . . ." Those two words are like the ushers into the theater of hell. On stage, are the characters of a pre-scripted tragedy. The deeper we go into the plot and acting, the more convincing the play becomes. The ending is inevitable.
Paul's instruction to substitute positive, noble thoughts in the place of negative, anxious thoughts anticipates "rational cognitive therapy" by 2000 years, but far exceeds its wisdom by instructing the believer to let God's Spirit govern the very center of our souls.
Both Paul and modern cognitive therapists hold this in common: a conscious and deliberate process is involved in challenging our dismal thoughts with alternative, evidence-based thoughts. I think Paul and they would agree that there is generally not a one-time solution to the habit of worry. Unlearning that habit is a process, but that the chances of long term success are very good.
Where Paul and the cognitive therapist would separate is in the matter of what "evidence" is credible and worthy. Paul would likely agree that most of our anxious musings are not supported by the probabilities of what will happen. When anxious, we tend to "catastrophize" and to conclude the worst. Paul would add another dimension of comfort and assurance: God loves us, seeks our good, and is our provision. We can trust Him totally. If we will look deeply into our lives, we will see how He has been our source, our protection, our abiding comfort, and our refuge in times of trouble. That experience too is credible "evidence" for the believer.
The "plot" of our "anxiety play" reaches a "turning point" when the Spirit of God takes center stage. You and I are the directors however, at least in this one regard: we may invite or reject the Holy Spirit into our human drama.
If we invite God into the play, He will of course rewrite the resolution of the crisis. Unlike a Shakespearean tragedy, bodies will not litter the stage at the end because of ill-informed impulsive choices. You, the protagonist, will emerge in victory, calm and confident, because you have placed total trust in the Master Playwright.
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