Overcoming anxiety, depression, and fear

A little background

I am six (6) days away from a surgical consultation regarding my Congenital hydrocephalus. That being said, my anxiety, which is always high, is even worse now. Because of that, I began a seven day devotional reading today that addresses anxiety, depression, and fear and, more specifically, how prayer and Scripture reading can help us through those tough times.

Finding our identity

Yesterday, as I was eating lunch, I was reading an article in my TableTalk devotional magazine titled Where do you find your identity? It was talking about how some people's only identity is the wealth they possess. Basically, if they lose that, they are nobody and waste away into oblivion.

Written by Reverend Stephen Mueller, it began talking about Lazarus and the "rich man" and posed the question why Heavenly Father simply identified by what he possessed rather than calling him by name. Pastor Stephen Mueller - author of the article - suggested if was due to the fact that other than his worldly possessions, his life was totally empty and void of substance. I can't imagine such a miserable existence.

What is your true identity?

If you are born again, yo and know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, where do you draw your strength and hope? If it is anything other than Jesus Christ, you are headed down that same path of despair as the rich man. Only Christ can provide you with true and lasting identity and value. Won't you reach out to him today?

Being the hands of Christ and ministering to others

God saved you and me so that we would serve as examples to others of His love and mercy at work in and through a human life.

Many people seem to think the only reason for salvation is so that a person will go to heaven when he dies. Eternal life is part of God’s plan of forgiveness, but that’s not the sole reason for our salvation. God saved us so that we each might reflect His nature—that we might be His people on this earth, doing the kinds of works that Jesus Himself would do if He were walking in our shoes, through our world, during our lifetimes. He desires to manifest His character through our personalities and giftedness.

When we allow His Holy Spirit to work in us and through us to others, we become vessels of His love in action. We begin to reflect His compassion, love, and mercy to others. And in so doing, we become His witnesses.

God calls us to serve one another just as Jesus did. He didn’t save you or call you to service so that you might be exalted, praised, glorified, or put on a pedestal. He saved you so you could serve Him and others. When we do this, we honor Him with our lives. The most important thing you can do outside of accepting Christ as your Savior is to give your life to Him and allow Him to lead you each day.

Some mistakenly think that what we do is unimportant to God, but this is far from true. He has a plan for each one of us. When we make a decision to walk by faith, He will reveal it to us and that plan always includes service and dedication to Him and to those He brings into our lives.

God loved us so that we might love others. He blesses us so that we might bless others. That’s what the Christian life is all about.

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(Photo credit: Atlanta Journal-Constituition)

You might wonder what a newspaper photograph of a motor vehicle accident has to do with serving/ministering to others. What are the firefighters, EMTs, and tow truck operators doing? They are ministering to the driver's of the vehicles in their time of need.

As I was reading the passage at the top of the blog earlier today, and despite having been saved since I was 27, it had never occurred to me that our service to others was so intertwined with our salvation. It makes perfect since though because we are made in His likeness and what did he do? He served others.

Did you notice the emergency personnel seen impervious to the fact that the AJC photographer was making their picture? I guarantee they knew he/she was making their picture but, as the devotional told us, they weren't doing it for praise or notoriety, they were - through their service - honoring God.

Turning your life over to Christ (John 3:16)

Give Your Heart to Christ  (Read: Ephesians 2:8 & 9)

Spiritual redemption is the first key toward developing a positive self-image. People who don’t know Christ may claim they think the world of themselves, but they won’t draw that conclusion if they’re honest. Most unbelievers who state they’re self-sufficient and don’t need Christ are miserable people in crises. They’re like beautiful flowering weeds with no strong root system. They only have themselves to rely on for strength, energy, enthusiasm, and creativity. Eventually, they get to the end of themselves. They don’t have the Holy Spirit in them to build them up in Christ in a way that’s comforting and based on truth, even in times of chastisement.

Having a relationship with Jesus Christ resolves many issues that undermine emotional wholeness:

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 Feeling guilty. Guilt is created when you have unforgiven sin. When you ask for God’s forgiveness, you’re forgiven. Guilt is washed away (Rom. 8:1).

Feeling unloved. When you turn to Christ, you must accept God loves you and desires to have an eternal relationship with you (Rom. 8:38-39).

· Having a spirit of revenge against others. Once you’ve accepted God’s free gift of salvation, you should recognize that God also wants to forgive others. What God has done for you, He desires to do for all people, regardless of their past (Col. 3:13).

· Striving to earn favor with God. God’s gift of salvation to you is free. You can’t earn it, buy it, or achieve it through good works. You don’t deserve it. When you’re born anew spiritually, you must accept that any favor you have with God is based on what Christ has done (Eph. 2:8-9).

If you want to be emotionally whole today, give your life to Christ. Once you’ve accepted Christ Jesus as your personal Savior, you must follow Him as your Lord. This daily following of Christ includes confessing sins, a daily cleansing of your spirit that’s just as vital to your spiritual health as a daily bath is to your physical health. You seek God’s forgiveness first for your sin nature and then for the sins you commit as you follow Christ.

Remember, no one’s capable of following Christ perfectly. Everyone is prone to both willful and innocent errors—what some call sins of commission and sins of omission. It’s for these sins that you seek ongoing forgiveness. And when you do, your loving heavenly Father promises to extend His grace and mercy to you (Eph. 1:7).

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The family of God (The Cathedral Quarter)

I remember my salvation experience just like it was yesterday even though its been over 20 years since it happened. I woke up on a Tuesday morning and I had an empty feeling in my heart . . . not like I was sick, just like something was missing. I went on about my day, but I couldn't shake that feeling. After lunch, I called my niece, Amy, and told her about what I was experiencing and ask if she could come over to the house later that evening. She must have known in her spirit what was going on because, when I met her at the front door, she had her Bible with her. We started talking and she asked me if I knew Jesus as my Savior. I told her "no" but I thought that was the source of the emptiness had all that day. She opened her Bible to John 3:16 and let me read it, then she asked me if I wanted to pray. For the first time in my life, I couldn't get the words to come out, so she prayed with me and, that night, I turned my life around.

 

Fear Not, I Will Help You

“Those who contended with you, those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you’” (Isa. 41:12–13).

Back in the days of the Hatfields and McCoys, when you messed with one member of the family, you basically picked a fight with the whole clan. Right or wrong, your family was behind you. I believe that is God’s message here; anyone who messes with you has Me to contend with.

Don’t underestimate the value of the Lord holding your hand either. Sometimes we just need the encouragement of someone standing along beside us to give us the strength to fight the battle. “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccles. 4:12). When God is part of your cord, there is certainly no reason to fear. So what are you anxious about today? What is weighing you down? Or maybe something is weighing down your friend, your spouse, or perhaps your child. If you are a believer, then you are part of the body of Christ. You may need to be Jesus to someone today, His arms or His hands. Maybe today you will need to be the one who comes alongside someone and hold their right hand or wrap your arms around them.

Remember when you were a child and had a bad dream, and you needed someone to hold your hand or hug you and reassure you that everything would be okay? Maybe they told you, Don’t be afraid, mommy and daddy are here to protect you. Well, your Heavenly Father wants you to know the same thing:

 “Fear not, I will help you.”

If fear is venom, the anti-venom would be Psalm 91. On any day you’re feeling particularly fearful or worrisome, read this entire Psalm. “He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him” (Ps. 91:15, NIV). You can call upon God any time of any day, and you’ll never reach a busy signal. Plus, you have unlimited minutes on His calling plan. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7, NIV).

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that You are right there in the middle of the crisis, holding my hand. I will not live in fear. Help me to take my courage and share it with others when they need someone to come alongside of them. In Jesus name, amen.

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I am lucky that, besides my biological family, God has blessed me with "adopted" sisters, my Hydrocephalus family, and my fire service family (pictured in part above). If you mess with me, you are going to have to deal with them and, particularly my sister in Rhode island, is very protective when it comes to me.

We must seek to be humble (D & C 5:24; 1 Peter 5:5)

Doctrine & Covenants (D & C) 5:24

Behold, I say unto him, he exalts himself and does not humble himself sufficiently before me; but if he will bow down before me, and humble himself in mighty prayer and faith, in the sincerity of his heart, then will I grant unto him a view of the things which he desires to see.

1 Peter 5:5

Behold, I say unto him, he exalts himself and does not humble himself sufficiently before me; but if he will bow down before me, and humble himself in mighty prayer and faith, in the sincerity of his heart, then will I grant unto him a view of the things which he desires to see.

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Although not the original image I chose to go with this blog, I think it - indirectly - speaks to being humble. What is humility you might ask? It is defined as "freedom from arrogance or pride" and, in order to have a proper relationship with our Heavenly Father, it is essential. Otherwise, we tend to take credit for the blessings bestowed upon us and don't give thanks to the author and finisher of our salvation.

Fear not . . . be of good courage (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

You might wonder what a picture of firefighters battling a fire has to do with being strong and of good courage. Having done it (or, should I say, faced it) I can tell you it takes courage to face the heat and danger that results from a fire in a commercial building -- particularly large structures like a warehouse or a store. But God is there anytime there is fear and uncertainty. For example, last fall, when I was hospitalized for three weeks after my hydrocephalus became symptomatic, all I could do was turn to God. Imagine, if you will, having a headache, blurred vision, and vertigo so severe that the only option is to perform brain surgery. Just one problem: the pressure inside your head (known as intracranial pressure) is so high, that even the slightest change in it could result in a potentially fatal brain bleed. That was my situation and all I could do was ask Heavenly Father to relieve the pressure and pain and bless the doctor's with the wisdom to provide an effective, but safe, treatment. It has taken some time, but I am pretty much back to my baseline to use medical terminology.

Today's prayer

Lord, if I am fearful or uncertain, please give me your peace and remind me that you are with me always . . . even until the end of the age. Amen.