I struggle with anxiety like most Americans today do. If you couldn’t tell before, I’m a bit of an introverted/socially awkward person. Crowds give me anxiety. So do thoughts of my kids getting hurt, Cancer, my job, and usually singing in front of people on Sunday mornings. It’s a character defect that I wish I didn’t have. It causes a lot of problems in my life. I figured out it had too much control over me when I ended up at the doctors office a few years ago with chest pains and heart Palpitations and I honestly thought I was having a heart attack.
After the costly chest x-ray, EKG and blood-work, it was determined I was having an anxiety attack.
And the thing that really bothered me about the whole thing is I didn’t feel anxious or know why I would be anxious. There was nothing in my life that I could recall going differently that would cause it.
So the doctor prescribed me medicine that gradually made my heart palpitations worse and made me feel extremely nervous and anxious ALL THE TIME……so I stopped taking them and immediately felt better. It amazed me that the one pill that was supposed to make me feel less anxious, made me feel way worse. I think because everyone is looking for that quick fix all the time, doctors are all to quick to prescribe medicine that most of us don’t really need. Not saying that some of us don’t need those pills. I think modern day medicine is good as long as it helps. It just didn’t in my case. I needed something else; exercise and more importantly prayer! I started working out 3 times a week and doing A LOT more praying. It amazed me at how quickly my anxiety dissipated once I had been praying about what worried me. Not to say that when I allow the thoughts back in my head, that the anxious feeling doesn’t come back. But when we allow the thoughts to overtake our mind, they will always come back.
I wondered for the longest time why God would allow me to have anxiety knowing how much I worry about everything and then I realized something; If I didn’t have it, would I really rely on God as much as I do? Would I have an issue big enough that would cause me to fall on my face as often and lean on him to get me through? And if I’m being honest, I don’t think so. My worry makes me go to God with my problems. It gets me to a place where I know I need him. Worry I know is something we aren’t supposed to carry but God knows we all struggle with it and give us tools to overcome it. That’s why there are so many bible verses about the subject. Cast your cares onto Him. Dont’ worry, instead pray. Don’t worry about tomorrow, for it brings it own worries. Worry weighs a person down…..and on and on.
Turn from Your Worry to His Glory!
Jesus knows we are going to worry. But He wants us to turn our thoughts from our worry to his glory! Don’t let the enemy rob you of your joy by sitting in your own fears and thoughts, turn to God’s truth. Allow God to show you what He says instead of what the world says. Know that tomorrow is a new day, a fresh start. We can choose to sit in the thoughts of the wicked or swim in the praises of our Father. We can dwell on our struggles or celebrate our successes.
You choose……….I choose joy!
“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”Romans 8:18 NLT
Lets make a pack today that if we see someone who looks like they have lost their joy and are struggling with their day, lets pick them up instead of tearing the down. Give them a hug, send an encouraging word and let them know they aren’t alone.
4 thoughts to “From Worry to Glory”
What a powerful, encouraging and timely word Kari! Thank you for being transparent and sharing what The Lord lays on your heart!!
Thanks Julie!! Sometimes it’s hard to be transparent but I truly believe that God works the best when we are vulnerable to what he is working in.
Good word Kari! Just beginning to understand what anxiety looks and feels like, and how it can steal so much of a person’s life. Thanks for sharing and always showing me more Jesus!
Thanks for the encouraging words. I’m still learning it myself. Anxiety looks/feels differently for everyone and combating it is a daily battle that we must give over to Christ. We won’t win the fight without Him! I pray that God shows us daily how he can remove that bondage over our life and live the purpose set out for us.