How To Deal With ANXIETY

•                                                            HOW TO DEAL WITH
•                                                                        ANXIETY 
•                                                                           Part 1
•                                                              by  April Watanabe
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          Anxiety has always been a curse to humanity. It has brought havoc to people from all walks of life. Many people are on anxiety medications to help alleviate their turmoil. However, even though this may help curb anxiety through its ebbs and valleys, it just puts a band-aid on the real problem, Why are we conflicted in the first place? 

       As I was reading Psalm 119:71, King David writes, "It is GOOD FOR ME that I am afflicted, that I may learn your statutes." 

    What do you mean King David? How can being afflicted, having the pain of anxiety, and being dizzy and breathless from anxiety, be good for me?

      Anxiety is defined as a fear and/or apprehension of one's future. One can worry that one will not have enough money to meet one's expenses. We can be worried about our health - especially if we have family members who have had certain health conditions such as stroke, heart attacks, cancer, dementia,  Parkinson's, etc. 

    If we are somewhat introverted, as I am, one can put these thoughts into a perpetual loop of fearful thoughts that can be referred to as a spookhouse of terrible imagined future events. We then become hyper-vigilant about taking care of our health, and try all kinds of ways of making more money to pay for massages and therapies, but we still are chased by this horrible bully called anxiety. We are worried about what could happen in the future. We could sing, as Doris Day in her signature song,  "Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be." Being fatalistic, however, might bring some relief, but then we are not prepared for the future, bringing sometimes tragic endings to our laziness.

    On the other hand, vigilant Christians drink in whatever God tells that person, through the Bible and through circumstances, and to prepare that person for whatever God allows to be put in our way...and give thanks for the circumstances, no matter what?  "In EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you."--1 Thessalonians 5:18. God can do miraculous things in the most uncomfortable times, often more, than the "good times." In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, a young man named Joseph who had almost been killed by his brothers and then sold to Egyptian traders went through years and years of trouble as a slave in Egypt. However, he did not falter in his trust in his Creator God. 

   Jesus Christ, in his famous 'Sermon on the Mount', tells us that we are not to worry about tomorrow. We are to be concerned for today only. We can plan for tomorrow, but we need to be in the present to be in peace, and learn what needs to be learned from the day we are in now. We learn from the past, and prepare for the future, but live in the now.

    If you do not know God, meaning God is not real to you, simply call out, yes, you read me correctly, call out to God, ask God to make Himself known to you. Find out what God says to you in the Bible. Read online or in book form the New Testament first, then the Old Testament will make sense to you because all the Old Testament is God's attempts for you to get back in relationship with Himself.

     Being right with God puts you into God's hands to be what you were created to be. We cannot live the Christian spiritual life without reliance on the Holy Spirit, which guides us through our lives and helps us turn from what hurts our lives such as: lying, blaspheming, stealing, hatred, jealousy, confusion, laziness, gossiping, overeating, drugs, fornication, fear, anxiety, ahhh, the list goes on. All these behaviors seriously hurt us. 1 Timothy 1:7 states that "God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control."  Who does not want power, love, and self-control?

     God came down to be one of us and die for our trespasses and negative behaviors. If we walk through this life with Him faithfully, we will find out what we are created for. 

     Try doing what I did, call out to God, and ask if Jesus is The Way, the only way to Him (God). As Jesus Christ stated in the Gospel (Good News), in Mathew 7:13-14, "Enter in by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and THE WAY is broad that leads to destruction, and MANY ENTER IN by it. How the gate is narrow and THE WAY is restricted that leads to LIFE! Few find it." Remember, there is only ONE WAY that we all entered into this world designed by God, and there is only ONE WAY that one can be in a relationship with our Creator God.  We must be born again spiritually through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just call out to Jesus Christ to bring you into a relationship with God The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Let Him make you what you were intended to be. God is available to all who put their trust in Jesus Christ!

In time, I guarantee, if you really want to know God, He will make Himself known to you in some way. It may be not an audible voice. He might make Himself known in a circumstance, a dream, a person, a book, a blog, or you can see Him in His orderly and beautiful universe. NOTE: I am NOT talking about religion. True Christianity differs considerably from the world religions, because, we can actually KNOW the God who formed us in our mother's womb. Knowing God and walking with God is the way we find out our true selves. When we are at peace with God, we are at peace with everything.

   I will write another post on Anxiety soon. "Anxiety in a man's (or woman's) heart weighs him, (or her) down, but a kind word makes it glad."--Proverbs 12:25. One way to get God's words inside of you is seeing them every day. This helps us meditate and memorize key scriptures. I do believe that one should always know the context of these verses to not be led astray by wicked people who pose like ministers of God, but twist God's words to benefit the teacher (I pray that they stop this evil). Such as what the Apostle Peter states in  2 Peter 3:16, " as also in all of his (Apostle Paul's) letters, speaking in them of these things (ways of God). In those, some things are hard to understand, which ignorant and unsettled (teachers) twist, as they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus."--Philippians 4:5-7. 

     In my next post, I will give some practical advice on how to handle the thoughts and feelings of anxiety with proven results. Please, ask me questions, I only ask that you be kind, and I will answer as many questions as I can. I want us all to be Truly Wholistic Now with Health Unlimited!!!