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Someone you don't know - Wednesday, October 27, 2010 @ 7:29 AM
My friend posted this, and I don't live there in WA. I read it and wanted to say how great this is to hear. Years ago I struggled with awful, all consuming anxiety! Like you I suffered all those same symptoms and felt like I was going crazy. Fear would overtake me and my thoughts would run rampant out of control. I was afraid of everything. I would think of something worrisome, and it would turn to fear, then panic, then I couldn't breath, pins and needles would run up and down my body, the world would start closing in, sound would become muffled, I would get dizzy, and have this overwhelming sense of needing to run, but running didn't help. Another thing, I couldn't cry, I couldn't feel anything, nothing at all except for all consuming fear. I tried to go to a doctor and was given meds, which didn't help. No one knew how to help me. But God knew. Some of the things that plagued me were, Maybe I was going mental, maybe I wasn't really saved, maybe I would kill myself, maybe my marriage would fall apart (it was in a really bad state), maybe medication to help me would make me worse, maybe God left me, etc etc. All these thoughts that would reel out of control when I was in a panicked state, and it was 5 or 6 times a day for an hour at a time, and at night it was so much worse, I hardly slept. In between panic attacks I only had a numb depression. You know, the fear I had made me afraid of even people's advice to me. I didn't trust what people were telling me was the truth. I didn't believe the doctor could help, I didn't think the meds could help (and actually they couldn't help, like you they made it worse), I didn't think the many people who were telling me to try this and that could help. I was afraid of life, afraid to hear people's advice. I didn't want anything but the truth. One day it hit me, these people may or may not know the truth, but I know where the truth can be found, for sure God's Word is the truth!! Like you I began to saturate myself in God's word (I had long ago even stopped even trying to take meds). I wanted the truth and that's where it could be found. Like you my prayers consisted of mostly "God help me!". I realized all my fears were NOT the truth. Intellectually, for example, if I feared my daughter would fall into some danger, that wasn't the truth, but emotionally that thought would have carried me away. All my fears were lies, maybe sine people were telling me lies in some of their advice, but in contrast God's Word is pure truth. I was able to read it and sometimes it didn't feel like it was helping, but it was as His word would come back into my thoughts later when I needed them. Every answer I needed was there. Like you it was a long hard working process, and the fear slowly melted away. The panic attacks were coming less often and less severe. When I had them, I would run indeed, straight for my Bible. My prayers to God increased. I learned the incredible power and ability of God through all that. I was completely delivered from those panic attacks and from that fear. I went through that for about a year, and when it ended it never returned. I was truly healed. And I was drawn even closer to the Lord than I had ever been in the past. I realized how dependent on Him I was. I have not since forgotten the love and faithfulness of God nor of Jesus Christ's power to save. I'm SO glad to see a church website that allows for this type of honesty and realism. Sometimes churches avoid this sort of thing because they want the Christian life to be something that looks like it's from Leave it to Beaver land. But inside their church there may be people struggling through some real tough spiritual battles similar to this and are totally lost. By the church covering their eyes and ears and walking in denial, or telling people they aren't Christians if they struggle through stuff like this, they are not fixing anything. They are given an ability to help walk someone through these things, to the other side; victory in Christ, but they want to pretend this doesn't really happen to Christians. On the flip side there are some churches that don't help in the opposite way. They just tell people to follow the worlds answers to these types of problems. It's good to know there are churches out there that are able to acknowldedge the issue, and point people to the truth to find their answers, and walk with them through the struggle. Thank you for posting this. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Erik Buchta - Friday, March 5, 2010 @ 8:32 PM
Wonderful testimony, i'm myself going through steep learning curve on how to give my worries to the Lord and yeild fully to his will, my ugly ego gets in the way but thats ok cause He will prevail ;)

Rickey Ashley - Wednesday, March 3, 2010 @ 11:29 AM
What a glorious testimony to our loving Father and perfector of our faith. I have gone through a similar time very recently and this article is a great reinforcement to what I've discovered through submission to Lord in the area of anxiety. It got so bad for me that I was dealing with IBS on a daily basis. I want to give credit to my loving wife as well for her submission to the Lord in regards to my problem. Together we have have been seeking his word each morning together and bringing our desires to heal and grow through this time. Also, studying Job and Phillipians at Calvary Fellowship has been a great blessing spiritually. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sad down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2-3