Intense anxiety, panic attacks
and adrenaline jolts mess with both our body and soul - our emotions, thoughts
and choices. We often equate these times with a lack of spirituality and
belittle our self because of them.
Studies estimate that one in
eight people in America experience frequent anxiety - some of which is actually
debilitating. We often feel anxious, because we also feel trapped, out of
control and unsafe.
Like an animal caught in a trap,
we struggle to get free of whatever is causing us pain. This increases our
pain, because we are attempting to get what we want during a hopeless
situation.
We feel vulnerable and
defenseless. Our emotions take on feelings that are disproportionate to our
circumstances. Our imagination plays tricks on us and Satan whispers lies that
compound our fear.
We can circumvent these issues by
trusting in God alone. He has a perfect plan, including giving us a way to
escape our negative issues. As we take inventory of our needs, emotions and
fears, and give them to the Lord, we receive His empathy and wisdom, which
calms our anxiety.
We live in the moment and do not
worry about the past or fear the future. We stop collecting negative emotions
and storing little fears that creep into our life all day every day.
We pay attention to our body,
soul and spirit and take an inventory throughout the day. It helps to write in
a journal any issues, which come into our awareness. Then we can offer these up
to God in prayer.
As we cast our cares on Him, we
know without a doubt that we are safe, because He absolutely cares about every
aspect of our life and has a perfect plan for us in them, or in spite of them
(Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28).
Prayer:
Father God, please help us to
realize that stress and anxiety take a negative toll on the health of our body,
soul and spirit. Do not allow us to suppress our primary emotions, which spiral
out of control in our mind and cause a panic attack. You have a perfect plan
for any stress, struggles, challenges, abuse or busyness, which inflict
themselves on the peace and joy of our day.
Help us to stop denying our
feelings, fearing that they indicate a lack of spirituality in us. Remind us
that we are human beings, and that is okay; because that is how You made us.
You want us to reach a state of brokenness and come to the end of our self and
our human resources, so that we will trust completely in You alone.
Thought for the Day:
When we feel hopeless, with no
way out of our circumstances, we often take our eyes off Jesus and keep them
focused on the negative issues in our life instead; seeing God's empathy and
wisdom in our circumstances help us to realize that we have power through
Christ over all things.
