Have No Anxiety

I've mentioned before that when life gets tough, God is always there to hold my hand and help me through this journey. Today I'd like to elaborate on that a bit.

In our busy world, stress and anxiety are rampant. Whether you are dealing with school, work, relationships, or anything else, the Enemy will try to use stress and doubt to discourage you on your journey to Heaven. If you've ever been swarmed with thoughts such as "I'm not good enough," "I may as well give up," "I'm not a good person," or "I don't deserve love," please hear me when I say that I've been there. Many times. And I know it's very important that you don't give into despair. So here are some ways to push through this type of unhelpful thinking.

1. Recognize the voice. Feelings of shame, despair, and general negativity are not from God. He will never tell you that you're not good enough. He will never say that you can't achieve holiness. So whose voice is telling you these things? Satan's. It sounds weird and scary, I know. But once you recognize his hold on you, it's easy to shake him off. Why? Because Satan always lies, or twists the truth somehow. Once you know that those negative thoughts are lies (or twisted half-truths), you can let them go. So the next time you feel like you're not good enough, take a moment to remember that this thought is a lie. You are good enough. You are smart enough. You are beautiful enough. Don't believe me? Ask your Heavenly Father. He'll back me up.
2. Bring your fears to the Lord. I'm sure that throughout your life, many people have told you to turn to God in prayer. You may be tired of hearing this advice, but the reason you keep hearing it is because it truly works. Ask God for peace and protection. He will grant it. If you have trouble praying, try keeping a prayer journal. This really helps me because I'm very scatterbrained, and it's hard for me to focus when I pray. But when I write God a letter, it's so much easier for me to organize my thoughts and offer them to our Lord.
3. Keep your Bible close. God's word has so many beautiful verses about anxiety and fears. It could not be more clear that God wants us to give our worries to Him, rather than letting them bog us down. One of the wonderful things about God's love is that He chose to take on a physical body and experience the daily sufferings, trials, and temptations of being human. There is no suffering we can experience that Jesus has not already felt. And because of this, there is no suffering that He won't understand. No trial, inconvenience, or bit of stress is to small to bring to God. If you're looking for Bible verses that deal with anxiety and you don't know where to start, try reading 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 91:9-11, Matthew 6:25, Psalm 46: 1-2, 10-11, and Philippians 4:6-7 (my personal favorite).

To finish up, I'd like to share a quick story about a time that the Lord came to me in a time of need. About 18 months ago, I was struggling with religious scrupulosity. I was afraid of being a bad person,  afraid especially of the idea that I might be a bad person and not even realize it. So one day I was in Mass, debating whether or not to receive holy Communion. (If you are not Catholic Christian, you may not be familiar with this. As Catholics believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, we may not receive Him into our bodies if we have turned away from Him or renounced Him in some way. In other words, we do not receive the Eucharist when/if we are in a state of mortal sin). I couldn't remember doing anything very wrong, but I continued to worry. What if I was in a state of mortal sin and didn't know? (Just to clarify, this is not possible. You can't freely and willingly reject God's love without being aware that you're doing it. But anxiety is not rational, so I worried anyway). I ended up receiving the Eucharist, but continued to feel uneasy. At the end of Mass, I realized that I hadn't heard the readings, because I'd been so distracted and confused. So I opened the missal and flipped to that day's page. This is what I saw:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you," (Philippians 4:4-9).

 Immediately a weight was lifted from my shoulders, because I knew that God was with me and I knew He had sent me this verse. I wasn't a bad person. And everything was going to be okay. 

Have you ever felt God comfort you in a time of need? Do you have any advice on dealing with stress and anxiety? Feel free to comment below!

Peace and Blessings,

Julia