Anxious for What?

I saw a friend this week who asked me what I was doing for spring break. I told her I was heading to Cozumel to go diving. She asked who I was going with and I told her that I was going alone. To that she replied, “Wow, I could never do that. I’m too scared.”  It reminded me of a recent sermon series from church entitled, Anxious For Nothing. 

For most of my life, I’ve never really understood anxiety or feeling so anxious I was paralyzed. It was a foreign emotion. However, I’ve recently experienced a significant amount of anxiety. All of my anxiety surrounds one simple issue. Traveling alone and doing life alone. On the flip side, traveling and diving brings me more peace than just about anything I’ve experienced.  I struggle with balancing those two.  

I do realize that my anxiety is grounded in fear. I also realize that it comes from Satan. However, the thought of doing life alone now or spending the rest of my alone without my best friend, causes me a significant amount of anxiety. Sometimes that anxiety feels paralyzing.

How do we overcome anxiety? Author Max Lucado says, “The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional.”  Here are a few things that helped me begin to break free from anxiety.  

1.  Just move – As hard as it is to deal with whatever causes you anxiety, just keep moving anyways.  I assure you I don’t want to travel alone or do life alone but I refuse to stop living. I have to just book the trip, go on the dive and keep living.  Whatever is causing you anxiety, simply set some small goals and force yourself to just move through it anyways. For me that’s booking the next trip.  We can’t let anxiety paralyze us and keep us from moving. Max Lucado is right, if we allow it, our anxiety can imprison us and hold us captive.

2.  Commit it to prayer – The reality is that the more I pray, the more I am able to release my fears to God.  I am stubborn and frequently take my worries back from God to worry a little more, but I’m working on it. Commit whatever is causing your anxiousness to prayer.  Day in and day out, even when you don’t see God moving, keep praying. I pray about my future daily.  The alternative to prayer is worry and that ultimately gets nothing but ulcers, high blood pressure and more anxiety.

3.  Read and study – I frequently read success stories of others.  I ready motivational books, I read my Bible, I read articles, I simply read about the life I want and overcoming fear.  There are hundreds of success stories of others who have gone before us. Commit to readinging about others who have struggled and walked a similar path.  Learn from their mistakes and seek good guidance and council. I read every day about overcoming grief, growing my faith, living life on a sailboat, how to be a great spouse, how to love my best friend, etc…  

4.  Think on good things – The often catch myself engaging in negative self talk regarding my future.  It’s awful. This is one of Satan’s greatest tools. He constantly convinces us we just aren’t good enough.  I have to continually shut this negativity down and remind myself to focus on the good and quit telling myself lies about my future.  It seems a little crazy, yet we ALL do it. God tells us to focus on what is true. Instead of focusing on what is causing you the anxiety, focus on truth.  Often those two are in contradiction.    

No matter what is causing you anxiety (a job, your kids, a future, money, health), just keep moving, commit it to payer, read & study, and dwell on the truth.  

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Psalms 139:23

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guide your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.  Philipians 4:6-8

What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?  Ecclesiastes 2:22

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