* Anxiety has many root causes.
* Trauma, ambition, self-consciousness, over-work, etc.
* Another cause of anxiety is sin (often unconscious).
* Conviction and anxiety often feel the same.
* Jeremiah had his bout with anxiety and he found the cause:
* vs 20 - “See, Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death.”
* The root cause of heartache and despair was rebellion against God.
* A great place to start is to ask, “Have I rebelled against God in any way?”
* It may not always be the case, but quite often our experience of brokenness is due to our lack of surrender to Him.
* Psalms 88:7 - “Your wrath lies heavily on me; and you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.”
* The term for “wrath” is ḥēmâ and it’s used a few times to indicate physical heat in body.
* Like the heat from a fever.
* The term is used to convey the concept of an inner, emotional heat that rises from within.
* In various places where ḥēmâ appears it refers to God’s reaction to people who have been unfaithful to Him in some way.
* God is aroused to great heat because he, as a jealous God, sees the people He loves disobey him.
* According to this verse, the psalmist is feeling divine heat.
* In fact, it’s a weight that is almost too much for him to bear.
* God is pressing, pressing, pressing—squeezing the life out of him.
* Why?
* Because He wants us to need Him, to draw close to Him.
* Conviction draws us close.
* EX: My bout with anxiety.
* God revealed some things I needed to get right.