DAVID ADAMS reads an insightful look at the issue of anxiety through a Biblical lens…
Guan Un
Anxiety and Me
Matthias Media, Sydney, Australia, 2021
ISBN: 978-1925424683
“At a time when the world seems to be facing one crisis after another and we’re all feeling a little bit impotent in the face of it, Guan’s insights into one short psalm may well be balm to the soul.”
First up Guan Un, who himself has a moderate anxiety disorder, is keen to differentiate between the general anxiety which everyone may feel from time-to-time and the anxiety experienced by those with an anxiety disorder. The latter, he says, is a bit like a car having a broken gearbox – not obvious on the outside but “on the inside, invisible to everyone else, are the grinding gears of anxiety”.
While everyday anxiety may be situational and fleeting, an anxiety disorder may require external help. And while Guan says he’s speaking about his own experience in the book – living with an anxiety disorder and how God’s Word has helped him do that, there is some crossover with general anxiety. Which means this book is a useful read for anyone, not just in what those who have an anxiety disorder experience, but for the help it can offer those who may only encounter anxiety from time-to-time.
As he writes: “I’m writing this book primarily to those who themselves struggle with anxiety. But I hope it will also be useful to those seeking to understand more about anxiety, perhaps in order to care for those struggling with it.”
Guan focuses in this book on a single psalm – 131 – which, at just three verses, is one of the shortest in the Bible. But, despite its limited scope, he manages to draw some fascinating insights from it by focusing on each verse and how it moves us from anxiety towards the “truths of the Gospel”.
There’s some deep truths explored in the book’s mere 50 pages including our need to step back from our attempts to be God and exercise complete control over our domain (as well as those things well outside it), the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit in how we view ourselves and why simply telling people to “stop it” isn’t necessarily helpful. And, of course, Guan does make references to verses outside of Psalm 131 including Philipians 4:4-7.
At a time when the world seems to be facing one crisis after another and we’re all feeling a little bit impotent in the face of it, this little book featuring Guan’s insights into one short psalm may well be balm to the soul.
