1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be alert and of sober mind. We have been doing this by becoming aware of how anxiety affects us and the ways we respond do it.
Strategy #1 Awareness
Know Your Weaknesses -temptations (i.e., worry) -desire (i.e., fix things on your own) -response (i.e., panic)
Know The Enemy Of God -mission/goal (i.e., separate us from God) -how the enemy works (i.e., division, hatred)
Know Who God Is -His attributes -His promises -His faithfulness
Know Who You Are -chosen -protected -empowered -victorious
Our second strategy comes from Ephesians 6:11, telling us to put on the armor of God. The moment we turned our lives over to God is the moment we received our armor. Unfortunately, many of us forgot to put it on.
Strategy #2 Put On Your Armor, And Keep It On!
Know Gods Word -read it daily -truth vs. lies -test all thoughts against God’s Word, if they are not in alignment with what He says about you, kick them to the curb.
Prayer -pray boldly in the name of Jesus -pray God’s attributes and who you are in Him -proclaim His promises and the victory that is yours -pray for strength and power
Choice -obedience over desires -believe what God’s Word says over thoughts and feelings -faith over fear
Remember -the battle has already been won -we stand in victory
This battle was never meant to be ours alone.
When we choose to partner with God, we are a force to be reckoned with.
In order to prepare for battle, we need to know what we are fighting against.
My desires led to living a selfish life. The words I spoke over my life were those of defeat and degradation. The lies that I believed about myself created my reality, telling me I wasn’t good enough. Temptations caused me to do things that weren’t good for me. I made many decisions that hurt myself and others.
I have always been my own worst enemy.
Enemy #1 Ourselves
My worldview has helped me to understand that there is also a spiritual battle happening, one between good and evil. While researching this topic I came across a “job description” that I thought was quite fitting. “The enemy is like a prosecuting attorney, calling attention to the unworthiness of mankind, collecting evidence to prove cases (source unknown).”
Now that we know the mission of the enemy, we need to know what to look for;
rebellion distortion darkness disorder chaos death stealing destruction
How does the enemy work? Mostly behind the scenes.
hatred division temptation lies deception working through our weaknesses
Enemy #2: The Accuser
Peter 5:8 says, “Your enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Now that we know what we are fighting against, we can develop our battle plan.
Has your anxiety ever caused you to feel so physically and mentally uncomfortable, you just wanted to shed your skin?
I hated that feeling. I would do anything to make those feelings go away, so much so that I ended up becoming my very own doctor, self-medicating with drugs and alcohol.
These substances provided an illusioned vacation. Unfortunately, when the drugs wore off, my anxiety would be waiting for me, holding up a “welcome back” sign, excited to re-engage. Numbing my symptoms only made them worse.
I am a natural reactor, I’ve always been, BUT, over time I’ve learned to respond to things (like my anxiety) rather than react. Hallelujah, there’s hope for everybody!
We’re not always able to control when anxiety hits, but we can control the way we respond to it.
I grew up by the world’s standards, often hearing;
If you want something, go and get it. If there’s a problem, you fix it. All responsibility was placed on the individual.
There were a few problems with this.
My ways of fixing things weren’t always good for me.
Knowing that my entire life depended on me was way too much pressure.
Once I became a believer, my worldview shifted. I no longer felt the need to control everything. I managed what I could and chose to trust God with the rest, but this didn’t happen right away.
Like any other relationship, it took me a while to build trust. Through reading God’s Word, I learned a lot about His character and who He was, discovering that He was in fact Trustworthy.
He keeps His promises. We see this by his finished work on the cross.
Thus began a process of developing my worldview and overall foundation. This has affected the way I view the world and how I function in it. It’s all helped me to deal with my anxiety from a more biblical perspective.
What we believe about the world influences everything in our lives, including how we deal with anxiety.
I’ve struggled with anxiety to varying degrees throughout my life. Once I became a Christian and began reading God’s Word, I realized how many passages addressed the issue of anxiety, telling me not to be anxious.
I understood that I wasn’t supposed to be anxious, but I still was, and where was the how-to section?
Some of us might have confided in our church family only to have been told;
You’re not trusting God
“Be anxious for nothing” or quoting other scriptures
You don’t need medication. God can heal you.
Pray harder
I honestly thought that something was wrong with me. I must be a “bad Christian.”
Over time I realized that nothing was wrong with me. I was human. God created us with a fight or flight response which tells me that anxiety is part of the human experience.
I want to draw your attention to Luke 22: 42-44. We see Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane. He knows what’s about to go down. This is his prayer;
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done. An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
Luke 22:42-44 NIV
Jesus is anxious. He is experiencing human emotions. In the midst of this, we witness his obedience and also get a glimpse of the spiritual tools that are available to help him cope. Those same tools are available to us.
We may never be free from anxiety (not in this lifetime, anyway), but partnering with God gives us the power to battle anxiety.
I think that’s worth repeating,
Partnering with God gives us the power to battle anxiety.
A lot is going on in the world right now. I can feel you lurking beneath the surface. It’s during these times when you awaken from hibernation.
I know you think you’re protecting me, but you’re not. The truth is, you make me nuts. Hanging out with you causes a physical reaction and an excavating of all rational thinking. You plant seeds of worry that grow into skyscrapers.
You’ve ruled my days, preventing me from enjoying the precious moments in life. You were my default for the big and little things. You advised my choices and influenced my reactions. You came at me hard after my daughter was born, making me believe she was going to die.
You’ve forced yourself upon me. I never felt like I had a choice, but now it’s different.
I’ve been training for battle. I’m heavily armed. My greatest weapon?
The Truth
Truth tells me that I no longer have to engage with you. I get to choose whether or not I accept your thoughts and feelings. Even when my breath is shallow and incessant thoughts circle my brain, I Get To Choose.
I acknowledge your presence, but you will no longer control me. My choice partnered with God’s power is indestructible. And even though you still exist, I know how the story ends.
Yesterday was a rough day. I found myself connecting more with the mangled than the masterpiece.
I was involved in a battle, a spiritual one. It was like an arm-wrestling match between lies and truth. The truth kept me in the game, but the lies were strong.
What did this look like?
Unhealthy thoughts, insecurities, and anxiety.
What did I do?
I shared it with my women’s group. I know full well that when I keep this stuff in the dark, the enemy feeds on it. I felt extremely vulnerable after sharing BUT my desire to live in the freedom that Jesus has given trumps all else.
I went to a pool party/bible study. I forced myself to go when all I wanted to do was isolate. I knew if I went with a servants heart, I’d feel better. A good time was had, AND as usual, God provided the exact words I needed to hear through a fellow believer’s reading of Scripture. He is such a personal God.
Through this situation, I learned something (always growing and learning); My pride is still alive and kicking, and I may not be as humble as I thought.
On most days the truth can slam lies down with little effort. What I need to do is remain close to the Source and stay away from things that don’t serve me well.
There have been times I’ve wanted to introduce myself this way, just to get it out of the way. My anxiety and people-pleasing tendencies come up when I talk about my faith with unbelievers.
I want people to like me for who I am, regardless of my beliefs. I don’t want to be lumped into a category of people that have misrepresented his name. Besides that, once you mention the name of Jesus an automatic line is drawn in the sand.
I’m placing the fear of opinions above my faith
This is not in alignment with who I claim to be.
No one likes to be judged. We all want to be seen and accepted for who we are as people, not by our choices or preferences. But the truth is we’ve all judged and been judged in one way or another.
Then there’s Jesus. The one who sees all my faults and mistakes. He knows my history of disdain towards him, yet he dies for me. I spit on him, brutally attack him and mock him, yet he dies for me.
How can I be ashamed of the one who gave his life for me, for the one who solidified my own personal “I am.”
I am making a decision;
I will not be ashamed
I can’t talk the talk and not walk it. I need to walk it. I WANT to.
I need to make sure that I’m keeping it real, which for me means not shying away from speaking about the one who saved me from myself. With that being said, I’m not trying to convert you (well maybe a little) when I talk about him. He is just so much a part of my life, I can’t NOT talk about him. It wouldn’t be authentic.
Now that I have made this choice, it seems appropriate to give him a proper shout out:
I’ve seen many anti-drug commercials, but one stood out to me the most.
Three teenage boys sit on a couch. They are not in jail, haven’t been in a car accident, and are not dead. Fast forward to the future. They haven’t moved. They sit on the same couch. Even though the consequences don’t seem severe they are not living up to their full potential.
I can’t help but wonder about these boys. Why were they choosing to confine themselves to a couch instead of experiencing life?
I then realized, I chose that very same path.
They are not living up to their full potential
Like a warm blanket, drugs covered my insecurity and anxiety. Numbing my worries and temporarily blocking problems from my consciousness.
Eventually, the drugs started to feel more like a wet blanket. My insecurities worsened and I began to isolate. I’d sit watching television for hours at a time, sometimes days. The depression and anxiety following the come down was terrible-so I’d stay high, and the cycle repeated.
I wasn’t living life to my fullest potential. I knew this, even with all the discomfort and chaos happening internally.
But knowing and doing are two separate things.
I eventually got clean and sober. At the age of 27.
My emotional maturity level was that of a teenager, the same age I started using. Drugs had been my primary coping method for so long. I now had to learn to deal with life and feelings.
With the help of 12 step meetings, therapy, doctors, friends, family, and God, I started down this road of mental healthiness (I think I just made that up).
I dealt with what I needed to and in the process discovered purpose and passions I never knew I had.
I eventually got clean and sober
If I kept numbing myself I might still be on that same couch today (probably a newer couch, but you get the point) or worse. I wouldn’t be living for what I have been purposed for.
Each one of us is created with gifts and talents. Every. Single. One.
If you are under the influence and reading this, you were created for a purpose.
If you are anxious, depressed, angry, hurt, manic and everything else in between, you were created for a purpose.
Whoever you are, you were created for a purpose.
What’s getting in the way of reaching your full potential?
This was first my experience with a Psychiatrist. I didn’t appreciate his frankness and besides that, he was wrong.
Years passed, and once again I found myself in a Psychiatrist’s office, but this time it was a different doctor. “You are bipolar,” he told me.
“Crap!”
Growing up I struggled with depression, anxiety, and anger. These three symptoms were besties. One was never present without the other, although much of the time one would lead the rest.
I knew I had issues but an official diagnosis freaked me out. I was now willing to hear it but accepting it was a whole different thing.
The doctor suggested medication, but I wasn’t ready. I was already self-medicating with my dear friends: drugs and alcohol. They had been around a long time.
I knew I had issues
It got to a point where my coping methods started working against me, taking my mental health to even more extreme highs and lows, so I chose to get clean and sober.
I no longer had my friends to console me and needed another way to manage my symptoms, so I became open to the possibility of taking legit medication.
I didn’t want this diagnosis
I didn’t want to be labeled.
I had a specific idea of how people with mental health issues looked. What I had seen was extreme. I wasn’t like “them.” I was a functional part of society. This mindset kept me stagnant, floating in the river of denial.
I started attending support groups through DBSA (Depression Bipolar Support Alliance). I never knew how broad the spectrum of mental health was. It was at these groups that I began to release the stigma I had attached to mental health.
I didn’t want to be labeled
Fellow Christians would tell me stories about God healing them of their depression. I’d walk away thinking, why them and not me God?
I believed God was more than capable of healing me, but that’s not part of my story.
Once I started to accept that this was something I’d struggle with throughout my life, my attitude started to change. Instead of asking for this “thing” to be taken away, I started praying that he would use it for His glory.
He has.
As I started sharing my experiences, others shared theirs. If it wasn’t them who struggled it was usually someone close to them.
God put people in my path for me to support and encourage when I was a complete trainwreck, reminding me that even at my lowest, He can use me.
I can’t even begin to count the times He’s provided comfort to me in the midst of it all. Sometimes it was a text from a friend; other times it was a song playing on the radio. Although, nothing beats my all-time favorite comfort tactic like my tattoo (Ephesians 2:10).
Why them and not me, God?
The struggle and pain that comes with life are real. Knowing that there might be a greater purpose than what my eyes can see encourages me to keep moving forward.
Having bipolar doesn’t define me, even though it tries to convince me otherwise. When my thoughts start attaching to this idea, God gently reminds me “You are who I say you are, my beautiful daughter.”
God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
If you are in need of some encouragement today, please listen to this song.
