Taming Temptation: Slowing Down for Inner Peace

Blog by Alan Fadling

Two weeks ago I pointed out how temptation thrives on hurry. The truth is, if we were to take our time and reflect on the thing that is tempting us, we would say no to it. But temptation is like an advertisement that says “Buy it now!” Maybe you wouldn’t buy it if you paused a minute or two and thought about whether or not you need it.

The temptation of anxiety wants to rush you to respond. It wants to hurry you to react.

Remember the counsel of James, who says to resist the devil and he will flee from you. When we withstand the temptation to worry, we discover such temptation doesn’t have a great deal of endurance. If we really do offer ourselves to God rather than offering ourselves to worry-filled ruminating, we find that we can resist the impulsiveness of anxiety and Christ’s peace displaces it at the center of our lives.

Sometimes we may think we’re actively resisting temptation when we’re still giving it access to our minds and hearts. Inwardly entertaining temptation energizes it so it will not flee. Redirecting our attention to God-with-us will diminish the potency of temptation until it finally gives up—at least in that moment. Even in the example of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, we read that the tempter left him until a more opportune time (Luke 4:13).

Another way that anxiety provokes soul hurry is the impulse to control our circumstances or even other people. We imagine that if we could make people do something (or stop doing something), we would no longer feel anxious. We think this is the path of protecting ourselves from the harm we fear.

But controlling circumstances is really beyond us. We may have a smidge of agency, but so many factors in what goes on around us are completely out of our control. For example, as I was editing this post, I awoke one morning to find strong Santa Ana winds had blown over a multi-trunk ornamental pear tree that’s been in our front yard for decades. What could I do about that? Nothing. How could I have prevented that? I couldn’t. All kinds of things happen in my life that I’m powerless to change.

Control is an illusion. Attempting to control circumstances or other people as a way to manage our own anxiety is always a losing game that will only raise more anxious feelings in us. The perfectionism that drives our attempts to micromanage everything only amplifies anxiety.

A far more fruitful approach to dealing with our anxiety is to look not so much for outward changes as inward ones. If we embrace peace instead, it is possible to find an eye at the center of our anxiety storm. Rather than letting anxiety accelerate our thoughts and drive us to a great deal of fruitless activity, we can abide in the presence of the Prince of Peace here and now—right in the middle of all that swirls around us. This is the strategy that Jesus and his apostles seem to recommend for us in the New Testament writings. 

Even as I share these insights, I’m not speaking from some plateau of peace where I never feel nervous or fearful anymore. I still often find myself reacting to unpleasant or unwelcome surprises with anxious thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. These are moments in which I can decide how I’ll respond to my inward experiences of anxiety.

• Will I ruminate or will I pray?
• Will I frantically try to control my circumstances, or will I find my way into acknowledging God’s strong presence that surrounds me in the midst of trouble?
• Will I fret or will I entrust my cares to God-with-me?

Adding anxious commentary or writing an anxious story to accompany my anxious thoughts and feelings won’t resolve the anxiety but actually increases it.

Here’s another thing I’ve noticed when I’m letting anxiety run the show: I jump to conclusions. Which is just another form of hurry. I think I know what’s happening and then act on those assumptions. I take actions based on a mistaken reality.

A recent example of this was when I couldn’t find my wallet after we’d gone out for dinner. I immediately began to fret that I might have left it at the restaurant and considered calling them, but maybe I had left it in the car. I went out and anxiously searched around the driver’s seat without success. I frantically searched everywhere it could have ended up. I even started looking in places around the house where it really couldn’t have been…just to do something.

Eventually, I discovered my wallet wedged in the cushion of my familiar recliner. It had fallen out of my side jacket pocket. It really was the most obvious place, but anxiety had driven me on a fruitless search.

Following the lead of my anxious reactions to unpleasant circumstances does not result in wise action. All capacity for creative and reasonable thinking gets bypassed when I let myself be anxiety reactive. But if I take just a moment to pay attention to God in the midst of an unpleasant surprise, it often doesn’t take long for me to respond from a sense of God’s superintending peace that overrides anxiety.

As I said in A Non-Anxious Life, anxiety is not a wonderful counselor. It’s been wrong so often that I’d do better to see it as a false prophet. I don’t want anxiety defining reality for me. Jesus does that so much better!

I’m learning that peace really can displace worry at the center of my life. I’m learning that peace is more productive than anxiety. I’m continuing to learn how to live my life and do my work in the faithful presence of the Prince of Peace.

For Reflection:

• How often do you find yourself rushing to respond to anxiety-driven thoughts and impulses?
• Can you identify moments when anxiety has led you to make hasty, unwise decisions? How might you handle those situations differently?
• Reflect on a recent time when you felt anxious. How could you have redirected your attention to God in that moment?