How to address anxiety?

Youth MInistry

Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling which has been common among every human being at some point of their life. Feeling restless or tense at a particular time period or at a particular incident is a preventive response from our brain as you can be more alert and ready for action. Researchers have found that people with anxiety are actually better at responding to threats than people without anxiety, since their brains process threats more efficiently. This has positive effects: As one study showed, people who have anxiety actually do avoid fatal accidents more than people without anxiety.1

It is true that anxiety has one common trigger to help us to be alert in situations, but at the same time, over anxiety can lead you to low-self esteem and poor self confidence.

Putting people in anxiety and keeping them to continue to be in worries is a great plot by Satan. Satan keeps people worrying and makes them too anxious. Understand, the “Present” is the precious gift from God where you should be joyous for His grace. Anxiety takes out the present and forces us to live in a troubled past or expected future where we don’t have any control.

Practically it may not be possible to keep our cool in all situations, but as a child of God we can put anxiety under control with just simple thought as “God (our father in Heaven) is in control”. Most of the time anxiety will occur when we expect some terrible things on our future road.

One day Jesus Christ along with His disciples were sailing through the sea of Galilee when they went into an unexpected storm. All disciples were panicked and anxious, but Jesus was sleeping. Completely two different approaches while facing the same storm. Most of them were panicking, but Jesus was facing it calmly. Reason is very simple: Jesus knows that He is the Son of God and that He is yet to finish His ministry. Others forget about who they are and with whom they are sailing.

The Bible reminds us not to be anxious:

Be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:6).
Fear not (Isaiah 41:10). The Bible actually has 365 verses with the words “fear not”.
Let not your hearts be troubled (John 14:1).
Do not be dismayed (Joshua 1:9).

As Christian, we too face storms, challenges and uncertainties on our way. But remember, God who created the whole universe with His single word is with us and we are His Children. We are safe under His wings. Nothing can happen without His permission and there He keeps a provision to overcome the situation

Scriptures Empowers us to overcome the anxiety;

Prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. (1 Peter 1:13)
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)
Set your minds on things above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2)
Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8)

Here are few tips to handle anxiety;

Identifying the triggers for anxiety: It is important to know triggers for anxiety,once you identify it, it is easy to handle it.
Change: You can change your thinking by becoming more aware of the circumstances that trigger your anxiety. You can acknowledge your feelings and make intentional choices to shift your focus to Christ. Acknowledge that He is sufficient to help you and free you from whatever makes you feel anxious.
Talk: Talk to your parents or companion about the issue which is worrying you.
Pray: Take that burden to the feet of Jesus as in 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for us”. Remember we have a good father, friend and companion where we can instantly approach and find the rest.

Nothing can happen without God’s permission as we travel along life’s journey. This is grounded in scripture. Study the life of Job and his experiences. Satan, himself, is shown to be limited only to what God gives him ‘permission’ to do (Job 1:6,12; 2:6). Another example of this is in John 19:11 where Jesus tells Pilate, “You would have no authority against me, if it were not having been given you from above….”.

Nobody in authority, or ruler of any country, can carry out any decision or policy they have made unless God gives them ‘permission’ to do so. “Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word” (Proverbs 16:1). Whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in, God not only allowed it, but also engineered it for his divine purpose.!!2

References

1. https://www.talkspace.com/mental-health/conditions/articles/unexpected-positive-attributes-anxiety/#:~:text=Researchers%20have%20found%20that%20people,more%20than%20people%20without%20anxiety.

2.https://theanguillian.com/2016/05/positive-living-nothing-can-happen-without-gods-permission/

Youth MInistry

Anxiety

Scriptures Empowers us to overcome the anxiety;

Here are few tips to handle anxiety;

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