Is There an Inhaler for Anxiety?

For years now I have been terrorized by what I like to now consider the "thorn in my flesh"…
 

                       Anxiety. 

 

Sure it consists of thoughts that could care less about your sleep schedule or that you get sleep at all! And sure it consists of symptoms that makes ya think that you're having a heart attack, stroke, and cancer when all you're doing is panicking over gas! Anxiety doesn't care about anything good going on in your life. It only concerns itself with everything that has gone wrong and with the uncertainty of the future. 

 

"When will I hear back from that job?"

"Why haven't I heard back from that job?"

"What job am I supposed to even have?"

"When will I meet a man that is serious about me?

 

Not just fake it til he make it (as in leading me on). Not just awakening emotions of commitment out of me and not fulfilling them. I mean that is intentional about me and pursues me Gods way? And God make sure that he's actually someone I'm attracted to and is actually in a relationship with you! Ain't nobody got time for these fake men!"

 

"When will I get the house and car that I want? I want to live in a high end neighborhood. Have a house with an open concept and a bomb kitchen! I also want to drive a Lexus that I paid for all by myself! I need a good job with good pay in order to do that!"

 

"What do people think of me? Am I pretty enough? smart enough? witty enough? too witty? awkward? weird?"

 

"When will this trial go away God? I'm so tired of LIFE!!!"

 

Trust me when I say that these are regular and recurring nightmares... I mean "thoughts."

Last year in March I went to the hospital for having chronic insomnia. What caused it? Not too much Starbucks, although I was an addict at the time and am still convinced that they put some type of drug in their caramel mocciatos (but that's neither here nor there). No, the culprit turned out to be anxiety mixed in with some mild depression. 

 

                                                       "WHYYYYYYY MEEEEEEEEEE?!!!!" 

 

Now, over a whole year  later and a whole year of battling with sleep issues and crippling faith, it finally hit me when I really read and meditated on the goodness of this scripture. (Don't allow a scripture to become so contrite that you don't appreciate the deliciousness it provides to your soul when you truly meditate on it.)

 

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

 

I had read this scripture for years and have never realized the beauty of it until now. This scripture is telling me a few things that I wanted to share with you all (bear with me): 

 

• To be anxious for nothing or about nothing. So not to be anxious about my future, marital status, food, health, safety, job, what people think and say, about my family, about my friends, about potentially being hurt by someone, about my relationship with God.....NOTHING. 

 

• To make my requests known to God with a thankful heart. So God wants to hear from us in our quiet times and our prayers. This intimate act is inviting God in a space that he already knows. It's showing that we not only want to talk with Him and spend time with Him, but that we also want to hear from Him. This rejuvenates you, and glorifies Him. Not only that, but going to Him with "thanksgiving", makes us do the opposite of what Anxiety wants and that's thanking Him for everything that God has already blessed uswith! For me that's my life, graduating from college this year, my family, my friends, the ministries I'm connected to, and God allowing things to strengthen my relationship with Him! He wants to hear from us! Be honest with Him! 

 

• His peace will guard my heart from my own understanding or of those around me. Let's be real, we have made some wrong turns in life because either we were led by our feelings or we followed the advice of someone else that wasn't led by the Spirit. But when we tell God what we want with thankful hearts, He will guard our hearts from going down paths that are not beneficial for us or that are outside of His will! So for me that's usually a guy. God will either end it or reveal to me that I need to end it. And the times that I stepped out on my own will, I'm still healing from those wounds. We have to allow ourselves to be led by God's peace. Because, if we don't feel peace about a situation we don't need to be in it! 

 

Meditate on that when you feel anxious! I've come to find that meditating on scriptures and worshiping God despite how I "feel" not only gives you a foothold over anxiety, but the enemy as well! Find freedom from anxiety and encouragement today! 

 

About the Author: Daphne Benford-Smith is a recent graduate from the University of North Texas. A single woman that lives by "If you're not living for the Lord, I'm not your Ruth so take your Boaz somewhere else!" Avid writer for her blog "Confessions of a Christian Woman" or daphnemariahandjc.blogspot.com as a hobby. She's an  educator because it's her passion and purpose. And is ultimately a woman that is seeking the Lord with all her heart because He's all she's got! Although she's not perfect in that walk and has painful or funny stories she shares with the world  through writing as a result."