Break Free from Anxiety

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.

Proverbs 4:23

You aren’t good enough. You aren’t pretty enough. You will never accomplish what you deeply desire. You won’t get out of this situation. You are stuck. It is never going to get better.

Those words rang true in my head for many years. I suffered from depression and anxiety and it broke me. I believed those words. I believed the lies that Satan was whispering in my ear. He is, after all, the master of deceit. He longs to make us feel worthless, unloved and unlovable. And he is very good at it.

Healing from anxiety requires healthy thinking. Your challenge is not your challenge. Your challenge is the way you think about your challenge.

Max Lucado

We make the choice to think constructively or destructively. It is a CHOICE. For so long, I felt like I was under the power of something I couldn’t defeat. Those terrible thoughts whispered in my mind telling me I wasn’t good enough. I believed them and thus acted upon what I believed. I longed for the perfect body, excessively working out and depriving myself of nutrition. I longed to be loved and to belong, pleasing everyone and putting on a happy face, when deep down inside, I was hurting. I longed for everything to be perfect, knowing that I could never meet that standard, but I was going to try with all my might anyway.

Acting on these beliefs led to self doubt, depression, self-loathing, a marriage that was rocky and relationships that were torn.

Misguided thoughts easily turn into perceptions that then all to easily turn into dangerous realities. Our realities are based on runaway feelings. Toxic thoughts are so dangerous because they leave no room for truth to flourish.

Lysa TerKeurst

You see, our thoughts impact our actions. Our actions impact our relationships, our personality, our spirituality…everything that we are. A wrong thought leads to a wrong perception which leads to a false reality which leads to a crisis response: anxiety.

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.

Philippians 4:8

What would happen if we focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and praiseworthy? What would happen if we fought this spiritual warfare with God’s word and promises?

I’ll tell you what could happen. Your life could be transformed. When you begin to guard your thoughts with God’s word and promises, you start to rewire the brain.

The enemy wants nothing more than to destroy you.  He desires to plant doubts in your mind so that you begin to believe that things can’t get better, that it’s not worth the effort, that it’s to hard and you might as well quit. But God is a powerful force against Satan. He can win against this cycle of defeat. You must believe that change is possible and that God can and will fight for you.

Some prisons don’t require bars to keep people locked inside. All it takes is their perception that they belong there. A soul who believes she can’t leave…doesn’t.

Lysa TerKeurst

Our minds can become a prison of negativity. Our pain can lead to anger, bitterness and bondage to labels that break us spiritually. If we allow God to work in our lives, we can remove the labels that Satan has made us believe (worthless, unlovable, not good enough…). We can replace those labels with the God’s truth. We are worthy; we are loved; we are good enough. So good enough that Jesus died on the Cross so He can spend eternity with you. Take the label that you have given yourself and seek God’s truth on that label and replace it.

Remember who you are:

• You are a child of God.
• You are made in His image.
• You have been given gifts from the Spirit and He has purpose for you.
• You are His beloved.

God has identity changing power.

I have a favorite greek word. I know, super nerdy, right? Yada. When my son was first learning to talk, he would say “yada” in response to “I love you.” I thought it was the cutest thing and wondered how that phrase sounded anything like “i love you,” but I rolled with it. Yada in greek means “to know, a deep emotional knowing.”

This is exactly what God desires. He longs for us to yada after him. He longs to yada us. We were designed to find our identity in Him; our significance in Him; our confidence in Him.

“Ta’avah” in hebrew means “to long for, deeply desire or crave unfailing love”. It is mentioned in the bible many times and always attributed to God. He put this longing for love in us so we would ultimately, hopefully, find our way back to Him.

We will always end up empty when we find our worth in anything , but who we are in Christ.

Renee Swope

Living in the security of God’s promises is a daily process.

So just stay C.A.L.M.

Jesus knows what anxiety feels like as He experienced it in the garden shortly before His death. (Matthew 26:36-44). He understands, deeply.

Abide in Him.

 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8: 31-32

It’s time to break free from anxiety. Who defines you? The world? Or the Word?

Don’t turn to the world for answers. Turn to the one who created the world.

Max Lucado

My friends, let go of anxiety. Let Jesus define who you are. Cast your burdens on Him. Replace the lies with truth. Allow your mind to be renewed.

Ta’avah yada!