Skip to main content

Anxiety


For God Has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, Love, and sound judgment.
2 Timothy 1:7 (HCSB)

Anxiety; we feel it in our chest
, our hands shake and we can't sit still. Every noise around us is magnified and all we want to do is shrink into ourselves and avoid the outside world. 

Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. 
Philippians 4:6 (HCSB)

I must have recited that verse a thousand times in my mind, but the truth is when you are anxious that scripture feels like nothing but a bunch of words nicely put together. I'm too worried to pray; I'm thankful but I just feel like God keeps giving me the short end of the stick. I can't breathe. These are all things we've told ourselves at some point in time. However, before you can shake the daily life anxiety and spiritually breathe, you must take a time out to physically breathe. Do this as many times as you need to in order to stop the shaking, to slow your racing heart, the tapping of your foot or even your racing thoughts. There, are we good now? I have to say that if that scripture were enough to cure anxiety every Christian would be walking around with their heads held high and a pep in their step, ready to take on any trial and tribulation with relative ease. The truth is; context matters. So how do we put this into context?
Philippians 4:4-7
We will focus on the second half of the 5th verse; the Lord is near. These four words are absolute. It doesn't suggest that the Lord is near but it makes it plain. You can rest in the knowledge that even with everything going on around you the Lord is near. even when you can't trace Him you can rest assured that He is in fact near, and in his nearness he wants you to not worry about anything...ANYTHING. That means the light bill, the water, the car note, none of those things shall be cause for worry. Instead, we are instructed to pray and let our requests be made known to God. 

I know what you are thinking, you're thinking that with everything going on it's just so difficult to pray. Can I take a moment to tell you that God hears even unspoken prayers? In Romans 8:26 the bible says that the Spirit Himself intercedes on our behalf, so even if you go to your quiet place and say, Lord, I don't even know what to pray for, He knows exactly what you need. You can then rest assured that He knows what we need better than we do ourselves.

So when you find yourself anxious and overwhelmed remember to step back take the time out to breathe and pray. Rest in the knowledge that God's got you. 


Related post: Shattered Endurance.

 Related scripture: 
Matthew 6:25-34
Philippians 4:4-7
Romans 8:18-30 











Image Credits
Creator:Serdar Bayraktar
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mental Health Pandemic

This is more or less an impulsive post. After many years, for the first time, I decided to watch Good Will Hunting. Of course, I'd seen it referenced in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but I'd never once actually seen the movie. I was quite shocked to see that Robin Williams was in this movie. Although the movie was an award-winning drama and was meant to play at your emotions, the entire time I couldn't help but feel saddened by the absence of Robin Williams in real life. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Is therapy REALLY working?

At this point I have to ask, is therapy really working?    I've been in therapy on and off since I was about 14 years old... maybe one or two years younger than that. That being said, I never really got much out of it in the teen years because let's face it, as a teen you really don't want to cooperate with any adult, let alone a "Shrink". I would go and talk about nothing of importance, pretending to sleep when it was my mother's turn to come in for the session with me. How this woman knew I wasn't sleeping was beyond me. I did what I was required to do and got my Doritos every time I went, so I was happy. Looking back at my first session, I can see the pattern that started even way back then. I have the hardest time finding competent therapists. Let me explain, from the moment I read an article in Teen Magazine about depression, I basically diagnosed myself. My being in therapy wasn't even the result of my mother thinking I had depression; it was bec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mask on... Fuck it, Mask Off?

  It's frustrating that I even feel the need to write about this. It's more than frustrating, it's downright infuriating. It's so strange to look back on my life and see how far I have come. I used to have the worst attitude in the world. If my day was going bad I would take it out on anyone and everyone at any given time. It wasn't until I was at McDonald's one day, and a lady I had been really nasty to said to me "Honey, I haven't done anything to you." I remember exactly how I felt in that moment. The mere memory of it elicits the same emotions and feelings of that moment. The realization as it swept over me, the light that seemed to brighten my world, and the smile that spread across my face. I felt light, and I felt free. I apologized and vowed from that day forward that I would try my best not to take my bad day out on others. Admittingly, I still struggle with it from time to time, however, in those moments that I do forget I try to at least...
Post a Comment
Read more