The Gift You Never Asked For
How God uses anxiety to protect, redirect, and restore you
Did you know that anxiety is a warning sign from God? Do you struggle to feel blessed by it? You’re not alone!
When we are experiencing anxiety, our body is responding to a perceived threat. Your amygdala gets activated to focus on the threat and your nervous system sends out adrenaline and cortisol which allows us the strength to either feel up to fighting or up to running away! Your heart and lungs will pump blood out to our muscles to help them to respond to our reaction and everything else in our bodies slow down. And yes, it feels awful! And it can be really hard to convince our brains that we are ok. That is why God gave us a way to work through anxiety.
It starts with focusing in on our bodies and helping ourselves to feel safe. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7, ESV). When we cast something, like in fishing, we throw all in. We are not meant to fight this battle alone. We are not meant to take control and when we do, our anxiety tends to get far worse. God gave us our senses to alert us to danger and that means we can uses our senses to help us realize that we are safe!
Try to focus on 5 things that you can see, 4 things that you can hear, 3 things that you can touch, 2 things that you can smell, 1 thing that you can taste, and breathe fully in and out as you do this, your body will start to calm down. And you can sit and spend time in prayer and ask God to help you identify what triggered the anxious thoughts. What were you telling yourself? What should you be telling yourself instead?
“Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith. I don’t agree at all. They are afflictions, not sins. Like all afflictions, they are, if we can so take them, our share in the Passion of Christ.” (C. S. Lewis, 1964).
About the Author
Kelly Reza, MA, LMFT, BCPCC
In Him Christian Wellness Clinician
Kelly walks alongside clients to support growth and healing in a judgment-free space, combining evidence-based interventions with a sound theological approach to address emotional, relational, and spiritual challenges.
Comments