Emotional and Mental Health - Eliminating Anxiety

Life is insecure at best and terrifying at its worse. People say that bad things happen in threes, but at times in my life, I have counted five or six stressful catastrophes in a row.

I learned early on in life not to expect anything good to happen. That way, when good did happen, I was mildly pleased; but when it did not occur, I was not overly disappointed either.

As an authentic Believer, we learn to cast all of our anxious thoughts on God's strong shoulders - to leave them in His benevolent heart and to have faith in His faithfulness instead of in people (Mark 10:22; 1 Peter 5:7).

As we turn our attention away from our self and onto helping other people, we continue to heal from anxiety. This brings inner peace because we help to ease another's burdens and we find fulfillment in sharing our abilities and resources.

As we pray during each moment for God's will and direction, we acknowledge that God is in control of our life (Proverbs 3:5-6; Philippians 4:6-8). This reduces anxiety quicker than any mantra or affirmation we can repeat.

God orders our steps and gives us the grace to enter into His rest (Hebrews 13:5). His presence in our life allows Him to provide serenity in anxious situations. He helps us to set priorities and to follow them.

This habit is comforting and provides us with a routine to which we can establish and adhere. Routine limits anxious feelings and defines our responsibilities according to the will of God, rather than our own stressful agenda.

I do not hide from life any longer. I know from experience that our Daddy God is faithful, I experience security by walking in His presence and praying without ceasing, and I find fulfillment and peace in the comfort of the shadow of His wings.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that prayer is not created for us to manipulate You or to demand that You do our bidding in our way and timing. Our communication with You is for our benefit, however; and we do not need to wait for a crisis, which we can no longer control before we come to You. We wait in silence until we discover Your will for us during each moment of our day.

Thank You for giving us Your peace, which transcends any comfort the world attempts to provide for us. You are only a prayer away; and yet we fail to avail our self to the intimacy of our union with You. Thank You for abiding within us with Your presence and for filling us with Your Spirit and fruit.

Thought for the Day:

God is not our puppet to manipulate according to our will, but our Savior and King whom we willingly serve according to His will and way; He is not obligated to grant our wishes, but He chooses to give us only the best that we need to live a fulfilling life.

The Healing Journey - Part 3 - Dwelling with Understanding

Eighteen months after my marriage dissolved, God introduced me to a loving man who was also rejected by his former mate. It was not long before I fell back into my old schizophrenic habits whenever I felt fearful and insecure.

Rather than to reject me, he dwelt with me with understanding and helped me to heal from this inappropriate behavior and to learn new habits.

First, he taught me to gather all of the facts when I felt slighted, wounded or harmed by his behavior. He insisted that he would never purposely hurt me, so I needed to discuss my feelings with him right away in order to get clarification and assurance.

He asked me not to allow my feelings to build up until the last straw and then to blow up like a volcano, but to share with him as they were happening.

We soon discovered that I often did share my feelings appropriately, but he did not always take them seriously. As a man, he did not see the relevance of some of my feelings and just ignored them.

This revelation taught him to start listening to me more earnestly. Also, I learned to discern when his ears were disengaged; so rather than blow up I would jokingly say, "Are you going to pay attention, or do I have to pull out my Italian temper?"

This reminded him to help me to resolve the issues that bothered me. He realized that if they were important enough for me to communicate them, then they were important enough for his full attention.

He learned to have compassion for my concerns, even if he saw them as inconsequential. He made an effort to stop making decisions that affected my life without discussing them with me first. I felt more understood, less fearful and less insecure.

Divorce is never an option, because there is no disagreement that cannot be resolved. God brought us into a new and deeper union with one another and with Him, than we ever thought possible on this side of heaven.

We do not take one another for granted and we nurture and enjoy each other. We make a great team as mates and as co-workers in the Kingdom of God. Together, we are learning to hear and to follow the leading of God's Spirit even in the minutest details of life.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for bringing two rejected individuals together, to help one another to heal, to grow in our relationship with You and one another, and to work together as we bloom where You plant us. Teach us to continue to live in harmony, and to love and appreciate one another as our personality needs to be loved.

( http://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/ )

Thank you for using us as examples of a loving relationship to inspire other couples to lay down their life for one another and to mutually submit to one another as co-heirs with Christ (Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:7). We cherish our relationship with You now and we look forward to eternity in Your presence as well.

Thought for the Day:

As we maintain a pure heart before the Lord, He makes all thing beautiful in their time. - Ecclesiastes 3:11

Relinquishing Our Hold on This Life

 

We have no need to fear death or to cling to this life. We can relinquish our desires to succeed in this society, because it is only a vapor on a cold winter's day (James 4:14). It quickly dissipates.

Our dependence on earthly advantages leave us insecure at best. As we value our temporal life with less importance and put a higher priority on our spiritual life, our levels of stress, fear, anxiety and depression about our life on this earth diminish.

Satan's lies and negative self-talk, which comes from significant others in our life and fills our mind, attempt to rob us of our confidence in God's love.

It is important for us to reject these negative thoughts and attitudes as they pop up and replace them with God's truth (Philippians 4:8). We agree with what God says about us in His Word. http://vintagelawrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ANDERSON_WhoIAmInChrist.pdf

As we develop a habit of prayer, this proves our dependence upon God. It humbles us and glorifies God who holds all power, glory and honor in His hands.

Only as we snuggle in the palm of God's hand are we safe. He prevents life from separating us from His love (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:35-39). We are sealed in Him by His Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14).

As a child of God, Christ is in us and we are the temple of His Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). There is no need for us to belittle our self or to believe these negative lies. 

God cares about our heartaches and He bears our burdens as we share them with Him (1 Peter 5:7). He helps us in all of our troubles (Psalm 46:1). We go to God with every distress and He keeps our tears in His bottle to revenge in His way and timing (Psalm 56:8).

We can pray in our own words about the real issues which affect our life. Our needs, feelings, wounds and failings are His concern too. We can trust Him to meet all of our needs as we make His Kingdom our priority in this life (Matthew 6:33).

Prayer:

Father God, You are our God, and You save us and preserve our life as we trust in You (Psalm 86:2).  You already know the end of time from the beginning; and Your purpose will stand through it all as You carry out Your pleasure (Isaiah 46:10). As we read accounts of Your goodness throughout Your Word, it builds our faith. We sing joyfully of Your righteous choices in the affairs of our world.

You are compassionate and gracious, a good, good God; and we are loved by You. You are slow to anger and great in loving kindness and You never send judgment without first sending ample warning and time to repent. You are good to all; and we see Your tender mercies through Your works in times past, as well as today (Psalm 145:7-9).

Thought for the Day:

God is the Lord of hosts and is exalted in all the earth, our God who is holy in all of His righteous decisions; and when we pass from this life to Heaven, we go immediately into the presence of God. - Isaiah 5:16