God Is Walking Me Through It
I am feeling pretty okay right now. God is really helping remind me when I start putting too much of the future on my own shoulders vs. trusting He sees, He knows, & I don’t have to figure it all out on my own… & that it will not, in fact, be the end of the world if everything doesn’t work out exactly the way I think it’s supposed to.
But, because this is a season–in our moving from Guam back stateside to Florida–that has much room for anxiety to come in & take over, I thought it would be great timing to make some reminders to myself, as well as share them with you who are reading this.
This blog post today is taken from my notes that I typed up for Prison Ministry this Thursday. I will be teaching the lesson this week & next, so prayers are much appreciated! God’s wisdom, challenge, & encouragement for them is my goal—all to His glory!
With all the preparations & planning & leaving my home & selling my home & moving & goodbyes & being displaced while we home-search & then home-searching in general… well, there are opportunities galore for anxiety galore.
Whenever I do feel that anxiety creeping in, God has been gracious in reminding me with a little gentle nudge on my heart: “This is showing an area of which you don’t quite trust Me all the way.”
So, let’s talk through some practical ways that we can remind our hearts to stay calm, draw in peace, & look to Him versus feeling the spiral take control.
Read Your Bible
I hope you read last week’s post, & if you didn’t, please take a moment to go do so, because this is one I know seems so incredibly cliché, but is one of THE most important things you can do. (“Reading the Bible Is Way More Important Than We Make It out to Be”)
God’s Word, the Bible, is not just a collection of “wise words” or just a “life instruction manual.” God’s Word is living & active. It interacts with us. It is God-breathed. It is nourishment that our strained, restless souls are often MUCH more starved of than we realize. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 2:2)
Aside from that, reading the Bible allows us to get to know God. He wants us to know Him. Why does that help you? Because it teaches you, word by word, how small you are & how incredibly great & awesome & infinite & eternal & powerful & gracious & kind HE IS.
And the more you know your God, the more you begin to settle into Him & put less pressure on yourself… not to be lazy, but to be at peace in this life. Seeing Him more fully puts all of life in clearer perspective, where it isn’t all up to you, but Him.
You NEED it.
Memorize it, too. You will begin to be surprised when you pray & a verse you memorized years ago floats across your heart as the exact thing you needed to hear or be reminded of right specifically in that moment. It is AMAZING when that happens! (John 14:26)
But you can’t just READ it, deceiving yourself… you must DO it. (James 1:22) Like having an instruction manual for a complicated piece of furniture… just reading the steps doesn’t do anything… you have to actually do what the steps tell you to do.
Examples of Doing Vs. Just Reading/Hearing God’s Word
Ie. Don’t just say, “Praise God!” but take some time to ACTUALLY praise Him—“God, You are so wise, so wonderful. You are in control, You are seated on Your throne. You gave Your all for me through Jesus on that tree! Thank You, God for loving me so much! Thank You that I can rely on You in ANY storm! You are wonderful & so greatly to be praised!” PRAISE HIM!
“Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.” Do you actually take a moment to take stock of what is stressing you out & pray over each one? “God, You are better equipped for this than me. Help me to trust You with this. Please give me the wisdom that I need. Provide me with Your peace. Guide me through. AMEN.” CAST YOUR CARES ON HIM! (1 Peter 5:6-7)
AND, with reading your Bible consistently, you begin to see a pattern. All of these “heroes of the faith” are not heroes because they always knew what to do & did it, never failing… but because through each season, they came back to God for help, let Him lead, trusted His power, & came back to Him when they screwed it all up. God is the Hero in their stories, not them. He is the Hero in our stories as well! Take heart!
If you are determining to live for His Kingdom & His glory, you can trust Him to come through for you. If you are not, it’s as simple as humbling yourself, apologizing for wrong motivations/focus… & asking Him to shift that in you… to live for Him & not for you.
In Everything, PRAY
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God….” (Philippians 4:6)
This verse is not written to shame you for feeling overwhelmed. It is an invitation. There is actually hope, is what it’s saying. It’s a reminder that you indeed are not in control, but there is One Who is.
Take the burden off yourself to solve or fix or come up with a path forward… & ask the One Who already knows how & can help you. Praise Him & thank Him for Who He is… & ask for His help.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
He wants you to learn the practice of resting in His Godhead… letting Him be God. I heard a quote recently that said, “if God brought you to something, He doesn’t expect you to become God to do it… trust HIM.” Wow & yes & AMEN. PRAY ABOUT IT. Cast those cares on Him!
Sing Praises to our LORD!
“Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” (Psalm 47:6)
What will you take time to praise Him for right now?
When we take the time, right in the middle of our chaos & whirlwind, to sing praises to Him, you would be surprised how you can go from feeling like everything is hopeless & falling apart, to remembering Who is seated on His throne right now.
He doesn’t let one little single thing slip through His fingers. Yes, He allows hard, but He doesn’t make us go through it alone or be the one to figure it all out & make it right… He asks us to trust HIM in all of that.
He wants us to learn, without a shadow of a doubt, that He CAN when can feels incredibly impossible. Give Him a chance to show His glory in the midst of your hardest circumstances.
And praise Him in expectation for that glory & that help.
“Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!” (Psalm 150:1-2)
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6)
“O Lord, You are my God.
I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
For You have done wonderful things;
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” (Isaiah 25:1)
Remember All That the Lord Has Done
There are several instances in the Bible where God encourages the people to set up spaces or memorials that remind them of what God has done for them, & even as a testimony to others who come after them.
When the anxiety seems to swallow you whole, as you pray to & praise God for all He is, take some time to praise Him for all He has done for you in the past… all the ways & times that He has come through for you or has used your hardships faced for your good. He knows what He is doing & we can trust Him… so take some time to remember all that the Lord has done. (Joshua 4:6; 1 Samual 12:24)
Going along with this topic of remembering, God has given me a useful tool that is tangible & helps ground me when I feel unexplainable restlessness or unsettledness… when I just feel ick that I can’t escape because I just feel anxiety enveloping me….
Taking a hot bath or a hot shower is fantastic. No phone, dim the lights, let the warm water soothe your tension away. And in that space, pour your whole heart out to Him, even if you don’t know how to say it or know how to pretty it up, start there: “God, I don’t know why I can’t feel okay. I feel so unsettled & restless & anxious like my mind is going everywhere & I don’t know how to stop it. Please help me!”
Speak Truth over Your Anxieties
And for me, especially having glass on our shower wall, I will write it out in cursive, my concerns or worries or fears & then I will write as if God’s truth is speaking in response to it.
“I don’t know what to do….” “I do know.”
“I can’t do this….” “I can.”
“I feel so alone….” “I am always with you.”
“I can’t figure this out…” “You were never meant to.”
“I am too weak for this….” “I will be your strength.”
“I’m scared of the unknown….” “I am already there.”
“I don’t want to face this….” “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Do you see where I am going with this? Taking time to speak His truth back at my hurting & worrying & weakness & fear. Reminding myself of His presence. Grounding myself in His presence. It works wonders & just letting the water running over me wash over me like a soothing blanket, as if He is holding me steady & comforting me when I feel like I’m falling apart.
(1 Peter 5:6-7; Psalm 63:6; Genesis 16:13; Romans 8:32)
My Worst-Case Scenario Notebook Is Not What You Think
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us….” (Ephesians 3:20)
Sometimes all my mind can see is everything going horribly wrong… sometimes it’s because I have seen it go horribly wrong already & the trauma is rooted in very real memory. And because of this, sometimes I cannot seem to get my mind to see hope.
So, God encouraged me to start a Worst-Case Scenario journal. I treat it like how I see many Psalms, where there is no holding back, no sugar-coating, no trying to sound more okay with it than I am… no faking it to try to sound better than I am in that moment… God already knows.
I pour out every bit of it that scares me or worries me sort of in a chart.
First column is what scares me or what is happening that causes me anxiety.
Second column is the absolute worst that could come of it if everything really did blow up in my face & fall apart. (This could be: loss of a loved one, loss of a job, being betrayed by a loved one, divorce, rumors turning into a ruined reputation or loss of friendships, etc.)
Third column is “But, God” to the tune of, “if that really did happen as the worst it could possibly be, is that beyond the scope of what God can turn beautiful or work through for my good? Is that too much for Him? Is He not capable of walking me through that successfully & sustaining me through it?”
And once I walk through that last column, the reality of Who God is begins to wash away the fears–sort of putting them in their place. Like, ‘right… so why AM I so worried about that?‘ God’s got me & He is not letting go… He is greater & more powerful than anything that can try to knock me down. He’s got me. He sees me. I will be okay. (Proverbs 16:9; Psalm 139:16; Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11)
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us….” (Ephesians 3:20)
Dealing with Anxiety–Practical Ways to Live Biblical Truths When Anxiety Hits /Hard
Are you dealing with anxiety as I often do? Do you fear it doesn’t honor God, so you try to stuff it, cover it up, pretend it isn’t there, or sugar coat what you’re actually going through because you don’t want to offend Him? God sees it. He already knows. He offers you a way out of it–His presence.
Basically, what it all boils down to is this… in God’s presence is fullness of joy. If you want to get out of your anxiety chaotic whirlwind, you need to step into His presence. Read your Bible, pray/talk to Him, sing praises to Him, remember all He has done for you & in eternity past when all hope seemed gone—He always made a way.
“You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
What are you struggling with right now? What is helping you? What ways has God taught you to help you remember to look to Him & to step into His presence through His Word, prayer, praise, & remembering?
He’s got you. He’s got me. And because of that, come what may, even in the hard… we’re going to be okay. God will turn into something beautiful & He will not waste a single bit of it. What a wonderful God we serve!
Shine HOPE by drawing close to Him when the world seems to scream threats in your face that everything is going to crumble down around you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He’s got you! (Hebrews 13:5)
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
***He is waiting for you… will you come?:***
***(Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9-10; John 14:6)***
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Mosaic Jewelry Set-Golden-Handmade in India!
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