Three Lies Anxiety Kept Telling Me
Anxiety is a liar - and if we allow it to hijack our minds it ALWAYS leads us to places we would have never chosen to go on our own.
Here are three lies anxiety told me - and - if you wrestle with anxiety, I am sure it has told you these as well.
#1 - “You Are Not Enough!”
Nearly every person I’ve met (and who has been willing to be honest wrestles with not feeling enough…
Pretty enough
Smart enough
Good enough
However, worry has a way of dominating our thinking to the point where we feel we are not enough—PERIOD. And, even though we may know Scriptures that point to the contrary…we wind up believing they are true for other people—but we can’t seem to believe they are true for us as well.
#2 - “You Are Not A Good Christian!”
The reason I suffered in silence in regards to anxiety for so long is because I feared the shame often associated with people who confess this issue.
I really did love Jesus, read my Bible everyday, prayed, worked in a church—and when that just didn’t seem to work, I dove in deeper, thinking, “do more, try harder” was the way out (when in actuality it caused me to dig myself deeper into the pit I was in.)
You really can love Jesus—and wrestle with anxiety.
Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, “Do not be anxious about anything…” Philippians 4:6
Often this is a “Bible bomb” that people drop on other people, thinking in doing so their anxiety will magically disappear; after all, it says “don’t be anxious” in the Bible…
…however…
…let’s look at this verse from a different vantage point.
Paul was writing to THE CHURCH in Philippi - so, these were people who LOVED Jesus, who were deeply committed - and he tells them not to be anxious.
if “Christians” did not wrestle with anxiety (even 2000 years ago) - then why did Paul even need to say such a thing?
This verse is not a rebuke, but rather an encouragement (and I think Paul showing empathy as well.)
Reality is—we can LOVE Jesus—AND wrestle with anxiety—period.
#3 - “I (anxiety) Will Always Cripple You.”
There was a time I literally thought fear/anxiety would dominate me for the rest of my life - and, as a result it caused me to withdraw from relationships and begin the destructive habit of self medication (just to make the pain go away.)
It took my life getting blown up for me to see anxiety may be a part of my life - but doesn’t have to define it.
I’m 47 - and can honestly say I am in the best physical, emotional and spiritual health I’ve ever experienced in my life…
...AND—I had a panic attack just yesterday (2-6-19).
I felt it coming on - I knew what triggered it and was actually able to work through it without doing anything dumb.
Will it ever go away?
I’m not sure (some of my super charismatic friends say it will - and some of my super realistic friends say it won’t!
I wish it would - however, if this is a part of my life - instead of allowing it to define and defeat me, I am learning to continually deal with it as it begins to creep up on me - and actually defeat it in the moment rather than being driven into despair.
And…if I can do it - you can too.
Which is one of the reasons I wrote, “Overcoming Anxiety.” This book is a 30 day guide (can read a chapter each day) on initiating the movement in your own life to winning the war with worry.
As I’ve said so often - it’s real, it’s raw (I self published it so I could keep my voice and say exactly what I wanted to say) - but - my hope and prayer is that in reading this book it will take your focus from you anxiety and put it on hope.
For the first order I bought 500 copies (self publishing also means you pay for all of the expenses.) AND—I am happy (and surprised) to say we have about 100 copies left before we have to reorder.
So - go here ASAP and get your copy! We are starting to ship them out today (2-7-19) - and…the eBook is actually available as soon as you purchase.
I’m super excited as I believe this book will help so many take their first step from shame towards hope - so - go here and let’s get started.