How I’ve learned to deal with my anxieties

Are you ever going about your day, whether it’s at home or at work, and all of a sudden you get really anxious? For no apparent reason, or sometimes for a teensy reason that you know doesn’t merit any anxiety?

Over the years, I’ve started to realize when this is happening to me, and I’ve learned to take control of the anxiety by sitting down and journaling and praying. (I’ve found that writing or typing out these prayers is most effective, because it keeps my mind from wandering and on-task.)

I sit down and begin pouring out what’s going on in my life--even the littlest things that might be upsetting me, like the fact that I need to go to the FedEx office today after dinner to pick up a package or that we have to figure out our finances with the bank. I start laying them down and acknowledging that they’re bothering me and then offering them up to God, asking him to come alongside me with them. And as I talk about it with him, as I share what’s bottling up inside of me or that I’ve been ignoring or trying to deny, slowly the anxiety melts.

It’s in these moments that I remember the wisdom of Philippians 4:6-7: “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

And it’s true--after sitting down and intentionally looking at these things fretting me and praying about them, his peace does descend and calm my heart. I think it’s his way of getting me to remember that all these things are not in my control, but they’re in his control and to remember to trust him with all of it--even the itty bitty things I don’t at first think to hand over to him.