You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all my days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD as long as I live. —Psalm 23:5–6
My family watched professional wrestling when I was a kid. In the mid-1980s, professional wrestling was very localized. I was born in the South, so a lot of the wrestlers I grew up liking were from places like Atlanta, Georgia, or Charlotte, North Carolina. One of the things I loved about professional wrestling was the way the promoters wrote good storylines. The promoters behind the sport came up with colorful characters and plots that made us enjoy the good guys and dislike the bad guys. Every Saturday night, my family gathered around our television to watch the world of good-versus-evil come to life in a scripted display of athleticism and showmanship. We cheered on our favorites and shook our fists at the bad guys.
One of the things I’ve noticed about worry is that it makes everything and everyone seem like the bad guy. As I’ve mentioned, anxiety makes circumstances and situations seem more significant than they are. Worry also can cause conditions, events, and often people look like the enemy. Anxiety and fear often will make us paranoid, making us believe everyone is out to get us. Stress has a way of making everyone and everything the enemy.
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