Do you know that if you are a man and you are diagnosed with
anxiety you have a greater risk of getting a heart disease? That is right! A
study conducted in Sweden has revealed that.
So, how do you deal
with anxiety as a Christian? How do you deal with the anxiety caused by sin
and guilt so that you will find peace again? How do you deal with anxiety
Biblically?
In this article, I want to show you how to deal with anxiety
God’s way. How do you do that?
1.
Write Your Anxieties Down
Writing
down your thoughts and feelings has a therapeutic effect on your mind—it
can make you feel relieved and that can make tranquility envelope your soul and
spirit. I do this often when fears crowd into my mind, when I feel nervous because
of worries and intimidating challenges, and it makes me calm down.
So, how do you do it?
- Settle in a quiet place, a
place where you will not be disturbed.
- As you play gospel music
in the background, create three columns in your diary. Label the first column
“My Worst Fears”, label the middle column “God’s Promises To Help Me Deal
With My Anxiety” , and the last column “Why I Can Calm Down.”
- Write down the fears or
worries that torment you the most in the column created for anxieties.
- For each anxiety, write a
corresponding Bible verse that addresses that specific anxiety in the
middle column.
- For example, if you are
anxious about getting a job, you may write, “I am very anxious because I
feel I will never get a job” in the first column.
- In the middle column,
write a Bible verse such as the story of the unemployed woman in 2 Kings 4: 1—7 who God, through
Elijah, showed how to work so that she could pay her debts.
- In the third column, write
something such as, “Just as God helped this woman to find a job, He will
help me too to work.”
- If you are worried about
an exam, for example, write, “I am scared of this exam,” in the first column,
write a verse such as Deuteronomy
20: 1—4 where God told the Israelites that if they faced challenges
that scared them, He was with them and so they didn’t need to fear or
tremble for He would give them the victory, and in the third column write
something such as “God is with me and so the victory is won!”
- This exercise will help
you to build your faith, it will help you to increase your faith so that
you will see that your challenges which you feel are so great are nothing
for the God who helped David to kill Goliath and who helped Israel to
utterly destroy the sons of Anak who looked so huge and intimidating, and
that will give you peace.
Table 1: A table showing how you can write your anxieties and how
to deal with them.
My Worst Fears
|
God’s Promises To Help Me Deal With My Anxiety
|
Why I Can Calm Down
|
I am afraid of the exam I am going to write
|
Joshua 1: 9= “Be strong and of good courage; be not
frightened, neither be dismayed; for the LORD you God is with you where ever
you go.”
|
God will go with me into the exam room and He will help me
|
I am anxious about going to work today because of my boss
|
Isaiah 43: 4,5 = “Because you are precious in my eyes, and
honored, and I love you, Fear not, for I am with you.”
|
God, who is far greater than my boss, is with me. I can
relax because He will deal with my boss for me
|
I am scared I will not pass the job interview
|
Nehemiah 2: 8= “And the king granted me what I asked , for
the good hand of my God was upon me.”
|
God will grant me favor so that I will get that job
|
2.
Consider Nature
When fears and worries crowd into your mind and you feel
nervous and anxious, step outside the house, stand under a tree and listen to
bird singing, admire the beauty of flowers, look at animals walking around, or
observe birds flying in the sky.
Then ruminate upon
the fact that those flowers, animals, and birds do not have any anxiety and yet
they eat and live every day, and they move about happily because the Great
Provider, Jehovah-Jireh takes care of them.
Then, remind yourself of the bounty behind nature and trust
the love that lies behind that bounty. After that, pick up your Bible and read Psalm 42 : 5 which says, “Why are you cast down , O my soul, and why
are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my
help and my God. My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember Thee…”
When you are filled with anxieties and fears, encourage
yourself with the thought that the God who takes care of the animals and
flowers and trees will also take care of you because you were created in His
image.
3.
How To Deal With Anxiety Every Day: Read Isaiah 41:
10 And Say “Fear Not!” Every Time You Feel Anxious
Read Isaiah 41: 10
which says, “…fear not, for I am with
you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help
you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Focus on the verse
instead of thinking about your problems or focusing on the negative thoughts
running through your mind.
Read the verse aloud to yourself until it makes meaning to
you, until it sinks into your subconscious mind, and keep saying it and your
spirit will be strengthened, you will be emboldened and you will lose your fear
of what is scaring you.
Additionally, the words “Fear
not!” appear 360 times in the Bible, that is almost one “Fear not!” for
every day. In other words, God expects you to use these words every day to
battle your fears. and so when you want to deal with anxiety in school, when
you are worried about how you are going to pay your school fees or how you are
going to pass your exam, say “Fear not!” until the fear leaves your mind. Or,
if you want to deal with anxiety from work, if you fear your supervisor or you
fear you are going to lose your job, just say “Fear not!” until you can become
mentally stable again to think clearly.
4.
Remind Yourself That You Are Not Losing Anything
Sometimes we get anxious because we feel we are being left
behind in life as result of one thing or another that we have not obtained—we
feel that if we don’t get a girlfriend we will never be happy in life, if we break
up with our lover we will feel miserable, if we do not have good health we will
not enjoy life, or if our public speaking skills is poor, people will laugh at
us.
However, when you consider the big picture, when you
consider that you are a stranger and a pilgrim here on Earth, when you remind
yourself of the fact that you will die with nothing, and if you think thus to
yourself, “If I am able to do this thing, if I can get this opportunity, it
will be great, but if I lose it, it’s okay! I will not die, I will keep on
searching and new opportunities will open up to me, life goes on. After all, I
will die with nothing and so when I am disappointed, I must not let it bother
me too much,” you will feel calm when thing go wrong in your life because you
will feel that you have lost nothing and that can help you to feel relaxed.
5.
Worship Jehovah
Worship is one thing you can do to deal with anxiety as a
Christian. God created man with a living soul which longs to be in fellowship
with its Maker. As Psalm 42: 1, 2
says, “As the hart panteth after the
water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God,
for the living God.” Only God can satisfy our soul. You can never be at
peace until you fellowship with God through worship.
When you honor God, it helps you to shift your focus from
the cares and worries in your mind, it helps you to disrupt the cycle of
negative thoughts because when your mind
is filled with thoughts of God’s awesomeness, God’s majesty, God’s
magnificence, God’s glory and God’s power, you will experience peace in your
soul.
6.
Meditate
Sometimes when I feel anxious as a result of negative
thoughts bombarding my mind, I go to a quiet place, I play gospel music to
myself, I close my eyes, I recall motivational and inspiring Bible verses, I
think about these verses whenever anxiety attacks me as I go about my daily
activities, and that helps me to feel a sense of peace,
it helps me to feel composed and calm.
Therefore, you may try it too. When you are very worried
about something, and when you feel that you are losing control, go to a serene
place. As you play your favorite Christian music, close your eyes, focus your mind and try to recall the Bible verses
that encourage you the most. Say them to yourself repeatedly and reflect upon
their implication for your life, how you should respond to them. It will help
you to feel at peace and a sense of restfulness will overcome you.
7.
Pray Often
Prayer
can help you to feel hopeful when you are facing a tough challenge. So,
every morning and evening, say a prayer such as, “Dear Lord, The Great Jehovah
who takes care of over 7 billion people, the merciful and gracious God who
provides for all the animals on Earth, the works of Your hands are
marvelous—when I consider the sun, the moon, and the stars, I am amazed by Your
power. Father, I thank You for all the help you have given to me so far in
life. Lord, I have an exam to write this week. Although I have studied, I am
scared. I am afraid I will fail this exam. Lord, please help me. Teach me how
to deal with anxiety. Strengthen me and give me courage so that I can remain
calm in the exam room. Please give me peace of mind and peace of soul. And please
give me rest so that I will not feel nervous. Amen.”
Conclusion
This is how to deal
with anxiety as a Christian—use specific Bible verses to handle specific fears
and worries, remind yourself often that the God who cares for the birds and
nature will take care of your needs, read
Isaiah 41: 10 and say “Fear not!” when you feel very anxious, worship God
and you will experience peace in your soul, meditate regularly, and pray every
day.
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