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Call to Cultivate: Overcome Anxiety by Thriving Where God Plants You
Ours is the age of anxiety.
We were sold a vision of our hyper-technological era as one that would see our biggest problems solved and our greatest ailments treated. But despite the promise of cancer cures and flying cars, it is our cortisol levels that have soared. We are drained by our devices, bewildered by social-media fights, and battle guilt while scrolling through texts from our parent group over how just a single fast-food cheeseburger can break a child’s health for a lifetime.
In the age of “fluid modernity,” everything changes all the time. Marriages collapse; families break apart; parents and kids whir through life like bees in a hive. We occupy 5, 10, 15 places of residence before we start talking about “settling down,” even as we change jobs on a rotational basis. Against this backdrop of constant stress and change, small wonder that so many pilgrims of hyper-modernity turn to medication, therapy, and “positive thinking” for aid.
But there is hope for frazzled people like us. It is found in an unlikely the Old Testament. But not just any corner of the Old Testament; the spiritual detox we need is nestled deep within the Book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 29:5, we “plant gardens.” A shimmering worldview hides in this little phrase.
In A Call to Cultivate, bestselling author and theologian Dr. Owen Strachan helps readers to replace a mindset consumed by anxiety in favor of a biblical focus on cultivation. As the Israelite exiles came to Babylon, God called them to plant roots and cultivate shalom (holistic peace and flourishing) in the midst of anxiety, madness, and chaos. We need something radically different as our cultivation. We need to A Call to Cultivate, meaning a lifestyle that centers in joyfully nurturing life, building lasting living things, and going deep with God. It is not merely the body or the mind that need healing, after all; it is preeminently the soul.
We were sold a vision of our hyper-technological era as one that would see our biggest problems solved and our greatest ailments treated. But despite the promise of cancer cures and flying cars, it is our cortisol levels that have soared. We are drained by our devices, bewildered by social-media fights, and battle guilt while scrolling through texts from our parent group over how just a single fast-food cheeseburger can break a child’s health for a lifetime.
In the age of “fluid modernity,” everything changes all the time. Marriages collapse; families break apart; parents and kids whir through life like bees in a hive. We occupy 5, 10, 15 places of residence before we start talking about “settling down,” even as we change jobs on a rotational basis. Against this backdrop of constant stress and change, small wonder that so many pilgrims of hyper-modernity turn to medication, therapy, and “positive thinking” for aid.
But there is hope for frazzled people like us. It is found in an unlikely the Old Testament. But not just any corner of the Old Testament; the spiritual detox we need is nestled deep within the Book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 29:5, we “plant gardens.” A shimmering worldview hides in this little phrase.
In A Call to Cultivate, bestselling author and theologian Dr. Owen Strachan helps readers to replace a mindset consumed by anxiety in favor of a biblical focus on cultivation. As the Israelite exiles came to Babylon, God called them to plant roots and cultivate shalom (holistic peace and flourishing) in the midst of anxiety, madness, and chaos. We need something radically different as our cultivation. We need to A Call to Cultivate, meaning a lifestyle that centers in joyfully nurturing life, building lasting living things, and going deep with God. It is not merely the body or the mind that need healing, after all; it is preeminently the soul.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 5, 2026
About the author
Owen Strachan
46 books139 followersDr. Owen Strachan is Provost and Research Professor of Theology at Grace Bible Theological Seminary (GBTS). Before coming to GBTS, he served as Associate Professor of Christian Theology and Director of the Residency PhD Program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS). He holds a PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an MDiv from Southern Seminary, and an AB from Bowdoin College. Strachan has published fourteen books and writes regularly for the Christian Post, and Thoughtlife, his Patheos blog. Strachan hosts the
City of God
podcast. He is married and is the father of three children.
You can also connect with Strachan on Facebook.
You can also connect with Strachan on Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 22, 2026
Based on the title, this was not where I thought this book was going to go. Nevertheless, it was even better than I had thought it was going to be. This book is a great reflection on Jeremiah 29. As Christians, we sometimes feel like we are living in Babylon in the midst of a culture that is not consistent with our worldview and values. However, God did not tell the Israelites to do nothing while they were in Babylon; He told them to settle down and live their lives as people of God in a culture where they did not fit in either (or at least would not fit in if they were living the way God wanted them to). I found this book to be refreshing. It is easy for us as Christians to freak out about things, and it is not that we excuse evil and don't grieve for the wrongs that we see around us all the time. However, this book is a reminder that God puts us where we are for a purpose, and we need to buckle down and follow His will in that time and place.
June 3, 2026
Practical, thoroughly Biblical advice for exiles living in a strange (and getting stranger) land. Particularly strong ending with his treatment of the hope that is every Christian's. Read it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews