Recently, I learned that Dr. Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States has been taking a lot of time to speak about the health crisis of anxiety that has been plaguing our country due to the 2020 Pandemic. He has spoken a great deal about anxiety, especially in the work place, through official channels such as the U.S. Public Health Service website. He's also been raising awareness through many opinion editorials in various newspapers.
Seeing Dr. Murthy's work makes me proud of our country because this is often an overlooked fact. While we do speak of things like "self-care", such words are often used either to belittle the importance of taking care of ourselves or with just a hint of not truly believing such things are important.
Yet taking care of ourselves and working through our anxiety is more than important. It is necessary to life. Even Scripture has something to say on this subject.
In 1 Kings 19, when the Prophet Elijah is on the run for his life and trying to figure out what to do. He eventually travels to Mt. Horeb where he encounters God in "the sound of sheer silence." Before he makes this journey, though, an angel appears to Elijah and commands him to eat and drink "else the journey will be to great for you." Before Elijah can continue to do God's work, he must first do what is necessary to take care of himself.
Jesus too tries to take care of Himself and encourages His Disciples to do the same. We see this in the many times He takes the Disciples off by themselves to rest and recharge, such as in Mark 6. We see it in Jesus Himself taking His own time to be alone, even if it is often interrupted.
In the very act of Creation, God took time to rest. Through the Law, it is clear that God meant this as an example to us for how we were meant to live, including Sabbath rest as one of the 10 Commandments.
The Bible calls on us to take care of ourselves, even going so far as to view it as a necessity. That doesn't mean we won't still face hard times. Scripture speaks a great deal about putting our worries and anxieties to the Lord in prayer. It also reminds us that God is always with us, which is a hope for us when times are dark.
In Proverbs, we also hear: "Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." This is a reminder to us to help one another with our anxiety, being the tools God uses to help one another bear each others' burdens.