I’m a Christian. Should I Be Struggling with Anxiety?
One of the most hurtful and damaging things that was said to me in my journey with anxiety and depression is that Christians should not struggle with it.
A wise, God-fearing counselor helped me to see how warped that was. Anxiety was a result of the fall, this broken world, this earth-bound place I’m walking right now.
What I do with anxiety, that is for me to manage, Christ within me gives me power to face it.
We all battle fleeting anxious moments— a test we have to take, a conversation we need to have, a doctor’s appointment on the horizon. But then there’s lasting, underlying anxiety. Unknowns ahead, change stirring, traumatic events, chronic issues never faced, world pandemics out our doors, relationships in turmoil…and that anxiety spills into our body.
We physically manifest it in racing hearts, restless sleep, headaches, stumbled words, queasy stomachs, joint pain…the list goes on. Have you ever been there?
In Romans 7, Paul talks about how even when our inner being, our spirit, delights in the law of God…there’s a war waging against the restless law of our members (our body) that suffers because of the shattered nature of sin.
So…anxiety, sadness, fear, doubt, worry…it pulls at our humanness. It is real, for every human. What can we do with it?
Engage the thoughts. Don’t allow them to run wild. Pay attention to your body, it’s kind to us in its warning signs. Steady your mind in the Bible, take time to slow down, gift yourself with counseling, sit in nature, paint, take a walk, eat those nourishing foods.
But also face it. Acknowledge it. Name it. And then surrender it to anxiety’s Victor and ground in the spirit within you that is alive & winning 
I’m bride to a calming, pushing-my-buttons, reasoned kind of man. And together we’re raising two little men, with a little one on the way. They are all things wild, sweet, mellow and giggly. I’m a lover of many things, but have a hard time squaring away on the few. I dream of a yellow house with wide open spaces. And I’m a big fan of words, the woods, bare feet, the experience of a latte and long talks around a burning fire. I believe prayer presses promise and that our eyes should always fix higher. Join me in the daily miracles?
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