Yes you know her, she sits on your chest, she mangles up your stomach, she whispers in your ear your special brand of torture and on occasion, she takes your breath away…..
I am so SICK of that B*****, haha she has ruined her fair share of nights, waking me up for no reason, I’m sick of you gurl! Go back to where you came from and don’t bother passing Go and collecting $200, just LEAVE.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, consider yourself one of the lucky chosen ones who doesn’t suffer from a version of anxiety in this fast-paced, uncertain, recession-impending, layoff-having, post-pandemic, grief-stricken 2022…..wooosh, can you tell I’m sick of it?!
I promise I’m done yelling, just needed to get this off my chest “LITERALLY”. Anxiety has robbed me for the LAST time, and I refuse to partner with that spirit any more. ** patience has for her has left the chat**.
I’m pretty open on this blog and on social media about new revelations I’m getting from God, new transitions I’m going through, and just growing up but I don’t think I've ever really spoken about this topic of anxiety and mental health. As human beings, we are all living with minimal amounts of stress and anxiety. Psychologists will even tell you that little doses of stress and anxiety are helpful because it gives us the energy to run from the “sabertooth tiger”. Historically when humans were the prey of saber tooth tigers, blood would get diverted from their brains and executive function when under attack to trigger a fight, flight, or freeze response. All the energy would then go to your limbs and you can RUN and hide or shoot the saber tooth tiger; but what happens when the saber tooth tiger is inflation? Or the rising housing costs? Or layoffs? Or worse, body dysmorphia, abandonment issues, boundary problems in relationships, or death?! Where the hell do you run to?
Can anyone relate to what I’m saying? Or am I the only one here having panic attacks because nothing has been “REAL” since March 2020?! Like one day, things were substantial and structured and existed and the next day even economists are legit like “your guess is as good as any”. ***laughs in crypto*** Should we be saving because a recession is coming, or should we be spending because we can’t afford anything anyways…should we work on ourselves and plan for the future because we want to break generational curses or should we just YOLO because life is short?! Should we build a career we care about or should we just all be “stay-at-home adults because outside is HARD? I’m legit asking…..these and more are the questions I have been screaming into the abyss for the past several months. I haven’t told many people this but I want to write a book one day; I joined an IG live on understanding the publishing industry a few days ago and basically, you have to have a “following” to have a “successful” book. Like the actual content doesn’t really matter just the following of people that will buy….like nothing is REAL.
All of this to say, I decided to take this all to God because at this point, he is the ONLY thing that is real to me. His word says he will never leave me nor forsake me and wow no truer words have been spoken. I’ve gone to friends, family, social media, therapy, doctors, books, health coaches, and the gym to try and “cure” anxiety, and ultimately everyone just gives you coping mechanisms. God is the only one that can provide PEACE, so instead of reading another IG post or listening to yet another podcast, I went to the BIBLE.
What does the bible say about anxiety? Well if you are an OG Christian you should automatically think of Phillipians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. I have prayed this prayer a MILLION and one time but this last week, I got a new revelation while listening to a sermon by Elevation Church. Ps. Steven Furtick talked about this idea of “the promise and the process”. He explained that God gives good promises but they often come with a process and this is true of anyone in the bible that has waited on anything. In the old testament, there was a promise of rain and the process was building the ark. With Joseph the promise was leadership but the process was slavery, prison, and then leadership. Anyway, there is a process involved, and it usually involves waiting, sacrifice, and then a breakthrough. So what’s the promise and the process when it comes to dealing with anxiety?
PROMISE - 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
PROCESS - 6 Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God AND then there is vs. 8 -9 that people often forget which says 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you
As you can see, there are multiple steps to this promise of peace, you have to pray, ask, and then Thank God and then you have to change your thoughts!
I have not figured it out, but what has worked is asking the holy spirit for help….speaking in TONGUES has been a game changer! When my heart starts to race, my stomach starts to turn and my head starts to spin, I put on worship music and speak in tongues and it dissipates. I have also started asking the holy spirit for better thoughts by inviting him in on a daily, hourly, and minute basis into my situation. And then lastly asking him to reveal certain things to me; a huge part of the anxiety I experience comes from uncertainty, so I just ask the holy spirit, should I worry about this? Is this going to work out? Etc.
Honestly, it's been a JOURNEY and a half but I’m sick of it; I refuse to partner with the spirit of anxiety and I choose to put on the peace of God that passes all understanding on. So these days, I feel like the “I am fine dog meme” except I truly feel it; I call it weird peace because it doesn’t make sense and I’m trying my best not to question it.
I pray for anyone reading this that suffers from the anxiety that you will be delivered and radically healed and that you will receive peace from God.
Till next time;
Your friendly neighborhood encourager
Ibiyemi
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