Dealing with Anxiety
Anxiety is not a malfunction of the mind.
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The Story of Elijah
(1 Kings 19:1-4 NIV) Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
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(1 Kings 19:5-8 NIV) Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
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“We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, socially isolated, fast-food laden, sleep-deprived, frenzied pace of modern life.” ~Stephen Ilardi – Author, The Depression Cure
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1.
Find the
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(Ecclesiastes 4:6 NIV) Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
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(1 Kings 19:9-12 NIV) There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
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2.
Cultivate the
in my life.
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(Psalm 73:16-17 NIV) When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God.
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All’s well that
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The First 15
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5 minutes in the
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5 minutes in
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5 minutes in
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(1 Kings 19:13-14 NIV) When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
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: the focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress as opposed to its solutions.
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(The Anti-Psalm 23) “I’m on my own. No one looks out for me or protects me. I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing’s quite right. I’m always restless. I’m easily frustrated and often disappointed. It’s a jungle—I feel overwhelmed. It’s a desert—I’m thirsty. My soul feels broken, twisted, and stuck. I can’t fix myself. I stumble down some dark paths. Still, I insist: I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want. But life’s confusing. Why don’t things ever really work out? I’m haunted by emptiness and futility—shadows of death. I fear the big hurt and final loss. I spend my life protecting myself. Bad things can happen. I find no lasting comfort. I’m alone, facing everything that could hurt me. Are my friends really friends? I can’t really trust anyone. No one has my back. No one is really for me—except me. My cup is never quite full enough. I’m left empty. Surely disappointment follows me all the days of my life and I will be forever free-falling into void.”
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“95% of your emotions are determined by the way you talk to yourself.” ~Brian Tracy
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3.
Let
about myself come from God’s Word.
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God wants me to give Him my anxiety. 1 Peter 5:7 NIV
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God is with me. Joshua 1:9 NIV
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God is fighting for me. Isaiah 35:4 BSB
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Anxiety doesn’t get to win. Isaiah 54:17 NLT
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God is greater than my anxiety. 1 John 4:4 NIV
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There will be peace in my life. Philippians 4:6-9
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There will be victory. Deuteronomy 20:3-4 NIV
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(1 Kings 19:15-18 NIV) The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
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4.
Find or renew
in life.
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“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” ~Victor Frankl
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(2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NIV) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
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(2 Corinthians 4:16-18) Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
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(1 Kings 19:19 NIV) So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
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5.
Maintain my life with
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(Ecclesiastes 4:8-12 NIV) There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil… Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up… Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
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“Don’t be you. Don’t be yourself. Be us, be we. Be part of a group.” ~Johan Hari
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All scripture is from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
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