“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6).
“Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God?” (1 John 5:5)
These are familiar and widely used verses from the Bible that speak to us about anxiety and how to deal with it.
The fact that these verses are found written in the Bible during the first century leads us to believe and know that anxiety is not a new, modern contrived condition, but more like an ongoing condition birthed at the beginning of time at a time when man and God were separated.
How does anxiety affect people; people like you and me. What does anxiety look like in today’s world? How many are affected, and what can we do about it? Do we need to deal with it, or will it just dissipate as events unfurl around us?
These questions are addressed daily and in almost every article, magazine, and online blog that you see today. If you’ve never experienced anxiety, you are one of the few. Some have intermittent bouts of anxiety, while others seem to live every moment of every day in some form of an anxious state.
So, what do we do? Can we just live with it and adopt it as an ongoing state of mind and just call it “who we are” or “ what we do”.
Are we born anxious? Some people seem to think that anxiety runs in their family and therefore, it is normal to be anxious. How else would I fit in the family? Our very acceptance of something which causes us grief, bad health, poor judgment, and sleepless nights, speaks to the lack of health within our culture.
Look at a newborn baby. They cry when they are hungry or wet or uncomfortable. The parents respond to their needs with food, or diaper change and/or cuddling and rocking. The feelings of anxiety are squashed by the response and the baby learns over time to trust that their needs will be met.
Look at the new Christian. Maybe their needs were not met in a timely fashion as children and they grew distrustful and anxious about people and their lives. Some began to think that what they need is more important than anything or anyone else and their behaviors change accordingly. The church family that they chose to adopt should be there to nourish the new Christian and help them fulfill their needs through the words of God found in the Bible.
When Jesus said to not be anxious and taught that the needs of people were so much more urgent than the birds in the sky or wheat in the fields, was He met with cheers or wonderment? “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barbs, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matt 6:26-27)
Therapy, meditation, EMDR, prayer are all methods used to assist a person with anxiety. Take some time today to listen, pray and practice meditation and deep breathing. Feel the anxiety dissipate as breath is exchanged for new breath and hope is instilled in your heart. Understand that situations may not be changed, but we are changed from within and our thoughts change to allow calmness and peace to enter our hearts.
If you can relate to anything in this article, consider yourself one of many and not alone. If your feelings are interfering with your ability to live your life to the fullest, maybe today is the time to call for a little assistance. Restore Counseling has been established to be that hand that reaches out to provide assurance and assistance in decreasing the anxiety in your life. Don’t wait to become what God has intended you to be. Call today.