The Anxiety Cycle

Anxiety

Avoidance/Obsession

Short-Term Relief

Long-term Anxiety Growth

Over and Over….

 

This happens whether you are a Christian or Not

But we should think of anxiety differently than the rest of the world

 

The Bible Has a lot to say about Anxiety and how we should face it

 

Some people struggle more than others

We have patience and sympathy for those who do struggle

Make sure you see a professional if your anxiety goes to far

 

Let’s start by looking at anxiety as an ACTION

It’s something we do

But the answer isn’t “JUST STOP WORRYING ALL THE TIME”

 

To STOP the action of anxiety, we must START another action

3 Counter actions to stop the Cycle of Anxiety

 

1: Throwing When You Want To Hold

 

Some of us are “ANXIETY HOARDERS”

We stockpile things to worry about

 

This is an effort to CONTROL

They are YOUR anxieties

They are YOUR worries

 

What does Scripture say

1 Peter 5

6 Humble yourselves….

 

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.

 

Casting means throwing

For how much we hate our anxieties, we love to hold on to them…

We love to HOARD them

 

You can’t throw if you…

Want to keep it

Want to hold onto it

Want to fix it

Want to manipulate it

Want to control it

 

Where did Peter get that idea…

It’s been around for a LONG time

From David…

 

Psalms 55:22

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Who are the righteous?

Those who live under God’s right rule

 

The lie we believe is that controlling our anxieties equals freedom. However, true freedom lies in entrusting them to God.

 

Practical Application:

When having a worried/anxious thought, we CHOOSE to take it to GOD because it belongs on His shoulders and not in our mind

Healthy, Active Prayer life

Cast your care immediately to Him

 

2: Thanking When You Want To Worry

 

For years, I did not value the practice of thankfulness

Did it out of obligations (was supposed to)

Not I do it because I see its true value

 

“During active appreciation, the threatening messages from your amygdala [fear center of the brain] and the anxious instincts of your brainstem are cut off, suddenly and surely, from access to your brain’s neocortex, where they can fester, replicate themselves, and turn your stream of thoughts into a cold river of dread. It is a fact of neurology that the brain cannot be in a state of appreciation and a state of fear at the same time. The two states may alternate but are mutually exclusive.” ~ Dan Baker, What Happy People Know

 

Philippians 4:6

6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

 

Thankfulness is the secret ingredient in prayer

It shifts your…

Outlook

Your faith

Your determination

View of God

 

Gratitude is the practice that can change your life like no other

Why do you think atheists and others keep gratitude journals?

Because God made us to be grateful, not worrisome

 

Being thankful is a LEARNED SKILL

You get better the more you do it

 

Learn to be thankful for MORE THAN just the OBVIOUS things

The seasons

The lessons

The people

The small miracles

 

Practical Application:

Turn to thankfulness and watch anxiety disappear

Keep a list of things you are really thankful for and return to them when worry creeps in

Practice Thankfulness everyday

3: Taking When You Are Being Taken By

 

Worry/anxiety holds us captive

To a past event

In a future possibility

 

It’s a prison that we lock ourselves into

We are trapped but hold the key

The key is our own mind and what we allow in there

 

2 Corinthians 10:5

We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

 

Arguments:

Anxiety/worry/fear are “ARGUMENTS” raised up against the knowledge of God

Only HE knows the Future

Only HE can bring out what he desires

 

Proud Things:

Trying to take ownership of what we can NEVER OWN

Only God has ownership over us, not our fears, sin, or ourselves

 

Take Every Thought Captive:

We are not PASSIVE, but ACTIVE in forming our minds around the things of God

We make our minds SUBMIT to GOD’S TRUTH

Not Anxieties VERSION of the truth

Don’t play around with Anxiety

Take it out!

 

What you are worried about is HOPELESS unless you have some help

And We DO!

The Holy Spirit

 

We ask for the strength/discernment of the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts

 

We believe that it is possible to take control of our thoughts, not our thoughts controlling us

We never believe the lie that we are captive to our thoughts

 

Underneath everything is a belief in the goodness of God

This changes the cycle of worry and anxiety

 

Practical Application:

Fight with Prayer and Scripture

Memorize scripture that can bring you hope and clarity

 

Psalm 121

The Lord Our Protector

1 I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?

2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.

4 Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.

5 The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side.

6 The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night.

7 The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life.

8 The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.

 

 

Stop the Cycle of Anxiety in your life

 

Instead, be full of:

Faith

Hope

Wonder

Excitement

 

Anxiety robs us of all those things