Seeking God, in times of stress and anxiety

Via dolarossa said:
There are levels of hell i am sure...

Thinking back to during my worst times ( always the romantic relationships which luckily i have avoided for a long time now) i always sweated the small stuff...there was nothing i could do, no matter how hard i tried. Its obviously important to you Tery, whatever your fretting about.

General anxiety to me is those mildly annoying thoughts that float by, that dont have the strenght of the emotion of dread or terror in them. i can cope with those. Those we can do something about. but in the worst kind of hell we all cope differently. I used to go through multiple scenarios extremeley tense and agitated. Looking abck i wish i would have taken some medication...i wonder how i came across to others...hmmm
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We are going through a big change at the moment and there's not much 'control' to be had and things just keeps going wrong before going right. You do all you need to do and for the rest, all you can do is place your trust in the Lord.

Then there's the 'scenario thinking' you speak of, it's irrational, out of place and has no reason for existence, yet there's nothing you can seemingly do to stop it. I used to pace up and down muttering to myself, trying desperately to get the thoughts to leave me be but as soon as I took a breath, they'd find a way back. The medication has given me room to breath and have the presence of mind to see when things are turning into irrational fears and to actually put a stop to them. Were it not for the medication, I'd be in a seriously bad place right now.
 
Tery said:
We are going through a big change at the moment and there's not much 'control' to be had and things just keeps going wrong before going right. You do all you need to do and for the rest, all you can do is place your trust in the Lord.

Then there's the 'scenario thinking' you speak of, it's irrational, out of place and has no reason for existence, yet there's nothing you can seemingly do to stop it. I used to pace up and down muttering to myself, trying desperately to get the thoughts to leave me be but as soon as I took a breath, they'd find a way back. The medication has given me room to breath and have the presence of mind to see when things are turning into irrational fears and to actually put a stop to them. Were it not for the medication, I'd be in a seriously bad place right now.
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I shut down my mind at night, by lying in bed watching Instagram videos. A couple of times, I have actually fallen asleep and woken up y the cell phone hitting my face. My useless thoughts tend to happen when I wake up and start to get ready for the day. Getting myself in order does take a bit of an effort.
 
Tery said:
We are going through a big change at the moment and there's not much 'control' to be had and things just keeps going wrong before going right. You do all you need to do and for the rest, all you can do is place your trust in the Lord.

Then there's the 'scenario thinking' you speak of, it's irrational, out of place and has no reason for existence, yet there's nothing you can seemingly do to stop it. I used to pace up and down muttering to myself, trying desperately to get the thoughts to leave me be but as soon as I took a breath, they'd find a way back. The medication has given me room to breath and have the presence of mind to see when things are turning into irrational fears and to actually put a stop to them. Were it not for the medication, I'd be in a seriously bad place right now.
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rtm3039 said:
I shut down my mind at night, by lying in bed watching Instagram videos. A couple of times, I have actually fallen asleep and woken up y the cell phone hitting my face. My useless thoughts tend to happen when I wake up and start to get ready for the day. Getting myself in order does take a bit of an effort.
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Via dolarossa said:
There are levels of hell i am sure...

Thinking back to during my worst times ( always the romantic relationships which luckily i have avoided for a long time now) i always sweated the small stuff...there was nothing i could do, no matter how hard i tried. Its obviously important to you Tery, whatever your fretting about.

General anxiety to me is those mildly annoying thoughts that float by, that dont have the strenght of the emotion of dread or terror in them. i can cope with those. Those we can do something about. but in the worst kind of hell we all cope differently. I used to go through multiple scenarios extremeley tense and agitated. Looking abck i wish i would have taken some medication...i wonder how i came across to others...hmmm
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Hello Tery, rtm3039 and Via;

Today my wife and I had a personal business meeting this morning. We prepared our documents and presented them to the manager and staff and learned there were several red flags that were not explained to us. I brought this up to the manager. She was polite and apologized for the setbacks of the procedures and the misinformation given to us from her staff a week before driving to the meeting.

My wife and I felt God's wisdom and discernment about the red flags. We had that gut feeling and decided not to go forward and thanked the manager for her time.

On the drive home we discussed it. We were disappointed. This evening during our Bible reading we stopped and prayed, asked God to guide us through the process of the setback and thanked Him just for being there.

Had I "reacted" and scolded the manager instead of "receiving" the situation with peace and calm, my frustration would be lingering and losing sleep instead of giving God the glory in all circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

May God bless you all and His continued guidance in your lives.
 
Cast all your cares upon Him for he cares for you.
May the bless and Lord keep you in perfect peace that passeth all understanding.
Take every though captive to Christ.
 
bobinfaith said:
Had I "reacted" and scolded the manager instead of "receiving" the situation with peace and calm, my frustration would be lingering and losing sleep instead of giving God the glory in all circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

May God bless you all and His continued guidance in your lives.
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I was thinking on that just yesterday and came to the conclusion that, at least in the scenario I was in, it is about separating my 'ego self' from my 'Christian self'. All that we do, we need to do to the glory of God, not ourselves and in satisfying our 'ego self', by seeking retribution for our hurt feelings, we become blinded to the truth of the matter and unable to see it from the other's perspective. We end up losing sight of the biggest commandment of them all, to act in love and kindness.
 
I think I’m probably more naive than I first thought. After seeking the Lord, I can dislike the truth of a situation so much that I will actively ignore it and will plunge straight into the same mistakes thinking things/people will be different this time. Ouch.
 
I remember reading a poem once about a person who kept on praying with the same requests over and over again. One day they said to God "why don't you listen Lord? Why are you not helping me?" God answered "I keep on trying to help you. But you get in my way by taking the problem off me and trying to solve it yourself." It taught me to rest in the Lord in faith.

I still worry but not to the extent that I used to. If something goes wrong that I can't fix I pray about it and leave it in the Lords hands.

Singing hymns usually helps me to feel good and close to Jesus. Nature gives me a lot of comfort.
 
Cosia said:
I remember reading a poem once about a person who kept on praying with the same requests over and over again. One day they said to God "why don't you listen Lord? Why are you not helping me?" God answered "I keep on trying to help you. But you get in my way by taking the problem off me and trying to solve it yourself." It taught me to rest in the Lord in faith. I still worry but not to the extent that I used to. If something goes wrong that I can't fix I pray about it and leave it in the Lords hands. Singing hymns usually helps me to feel good and close to Jesus. Nature gives me a lot of comfort.
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Cosia said:
Sorry about the typing errors I have fixed them.
Blessings
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Hello Cosia;

In the years we have fellowshipped here at CFS I have seen more of your light and salt, especially to the Christian women. Your posts do minister to my wife and me.

I'm blessed we are in the same Army of God.

God bless you, sister, and thank you.
 
Tery said:
It seems to be the simplest things, that are the hardest. I struggle a lot with anxiety, just in general, but with going through a particularly stressful time right now, it becomes even harder to simply place my trust in God. It is a lifeline that's right there, all I have to do is grab it, yet the anxiety can become just so all-consuming and overwhelming.

6. Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
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I remember when I came down with a similar episode. I met all manner of armchair psychotherapists along the way of recovery, but you know, the fact that so many cared enough to at least try to help, that put some solidity under my feet that wasn't there before.

The Lord, on the other hand, has ALL the answers, although He sometimes gives to us in what seems like a dropper, when we feel as though we need an entire river of healing. His ways, being perfect, shows to us how we can't always handle perfection. It doesn't always bring to us what we THINK that we need.

I did as Ryrie advised, which is to read this passage in context forty times, and then pray about it all unto the Lord. Wow. What a difference it made.

Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Verses 25 through 34 are the actual context for dealing with anxieties. What I did, however, was inject my particular points of anxiety and concerns into that context and meditated upon it. One thing I can promise is that the Lord ALWAYS comes through. It may not be earth shaking, and, then, it might be. The difference is that He ALWAYS breaks through, sometimes in ways we will never understand in this life.

Now, I return you to your regularly scheduled program...

MM
 
Musicmaster said:
Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
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That is indeed another helpful passage in times like these, and so true. Tomorrow has enough of it's own problems and yesterday you can't change. The more you concern yourself with what has passed or what has not happened yet, the less you are dealing with the here and now, and it becomes the next regret.
 
Tery said:
It seems to be the simplest things, that are the hardest. I struggle a lot with anxiety, just in general, but with going through a particularly stressful time right now, it becomes even harder to simply place my trust in God. It is a lifeline that's right there, all I have to do is grab it, yet the anxiety can become just so all-consuming and overwhelming.

6. Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Click to expand...
read isiah 26:3 we all have stress we have to train our spiritual minds to have peace in the middle of the storm
 
This week has been challenging for me. I know Christ is my anchor - but do we really "know" it. I think that is where God wants to bring us through these various trials and adverisities so that we can experience His goodness, faithfulness, His unfailing love and promises. We can know in our heads but we need to know in our hearts. Having full assurance and confidence in Him.
 
In our weakness we see God's strength. When we are unable to help ourselves we can only depend on Him. We can only be filled with the Holy Spirit when we are no longer full of ourselves.
 
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