How To Have Victory Over Anxiety

No one is born an anxious person. For many, anxiety became a part of their life because they learned at a young age to respond to life events by worrying or nervousness.

Anxiety is a thief. It steals our joy, kills peace within and destroys the ability to enjoy life to its’ fullest. Recently, my friend Julie said something very wise about my struggle with anxiety. She said, that I may never completely get rid of my anxious responses to life’s circumstances, but that by the grace of God, I could have victory over anxiety by learning how to manage it well.

In 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 the Apostle Paul talks about a “thorn in the flesh” that he struggled with. Although we aren’t told what exactly his suffering is, Paul says, “So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.” There are many speculations as to what was ailing this great man of God, but no one knows for sure what it was.

This passage of Scripture gives me great encouragement because I’ve come to realize that I too have a thorn in my flesh that I can’t seem to get rid of. And like the Apostle Paul, this disorder keeps me on my knees, humble before the Lord

The thorn in my flesh is my battle with anxiety.

I have struggled with feelings of fear, worry and angst for most of my life. Recently I decided to seek therapy in order to find healing in this area. I have learned that my anxiety comes from patterns of coping behaviors that I developed due to trauma in my life. It helps to understand that there is a reason why I’m an anxious person. I have to remember to give myself extra measures of grace when life feels overwhelming and I feel powerless over my anxious thoughts.

Nevertheless, I still desire to live in freedom from a life burdened with constant apprehension. So I felt hopeful when Julie said to me, “Tweeny, maybe you need to simply accept that you may never get rid of your anxiety completely, but that you can learn to not entertain it.” This perspective was new to me and it gave me hope that with the grace of God, and the loving support of friends and family, I can have victory over anxiety, by learning how to manage it well.

Your anxious thoughts may be a thorn in your flesh but victory from anxiety comes from learning how to manage it well.

Here’s how I’m trying to regulate my anxiety. May these tips help you too.

1.Pay attention to your physical symptoms

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I don’t even realize that I’m anxious. One way I find out that something is not right with me emotionally is that I will have physical symptoms, such as stomach pain, back pain, headaches, etc. It’s true that our mind and body are connected, and therefore, a physical ailment can let us know that something is not right emotionally as well. I have learned to identify that when my chest gets tight and I get a headache, these are warming signs for me that I’m feeling anxious.

Since our minds and bodies are so intertwined, it’s important to pay attention to any physical symptoms to recognize anxiety in your life.

2. Catch the feeling and the thoughts

Growing up in an alcoholic home, I learned to live with a lot of instability. In fact, I became comfortable with feelings of fear and worry. Consequently, I became an adult whose first thought to any given situation is negative. I automatically think of the worse case scenarios. Today, as an attempt to manage my anxiety, I have to grab the negative, fearful thoughts and surrender them to God. I literally say out loud “Please take this from me Lord. ” The reality is that the anxious thoughts will come, but what matters is how we respond to them in the moment.

Be aware of your feelings, thoughts and what you are allowing yourself to believe.

I’m also working very hard to focus on the facts instead of letting my emotions control me. Most of what we fret about never actually happen. Train yourself to ask yourself questions like “Is this thought worth entertaining? and “Is this a fact?”

Reminding myself that God is in control and focusing on His good plans for my life helps me control my anxious thoughts. Sometimes I have to literally speak the truth about God to myself out loud. I may say something like this: “God is a good God and He loves you Tweeny. Has He ever let you down before?” And then I reflect on times where I have experienced God’s goodness. It takes a lot of rehearsing of the truth over and over again to turn my doubts into belief and trust in God.

3. Take it day by day, moment by moment

As I mentioned, no one is born an anxious person. There are reasons why you struggle with anxiety. Therefore, try not to be too hard on yourself. Give yourself tons of grace as you work through learning how to rewire your responses to your circumstances. It takes practice renewing your thought processes. It’s important to have faith to believe that one day you will learn how to manage the hold anxiety has over you.

Start advocating for yourself by training yourself to live one incident at a time, one day at a time, one moment at a time.

So, when you recognize that you are responding to a situation with angst, pause, put your hand on your heart, take a few deep breaths and give yourself a pep talk on what’s really going on in this moment. Then remind yourself of who God is. It would be helpful to have some Scriptures memorized. One of my favorites is 2 Timothy 1:7 which says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Click here to read some more of my favorite Bible verses for when life feels overwhelming.

4. Fight like a Christian

As followers of Christ, we are consistently in a spiritual battle. Anxiety is an enemy and our anxious thoughts keep us in bondage. One of the definitions for bondage is “anything that keeps us from being fully submitted to the lordship and power of Jesus Christ.”

The truth is, when I am anxious I am not allowing the lordship and power of Jesus Christ to lead me.

As long as I give anxiety a foothold in my life, I am submitting to the enemy of my soul, satan. I am not living in the freedom that Christ died for me to have. Romans 6:16 tells us, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”

Anxiety can lead to disobedience to God when it creates a pattern in our life of not trusting Him. When we are living in fear and trembling, we are basically saying to God that we won’t trust Him. This is a common response when life events and people have disappointed us. We tend to believe God will let us down too. Anxiety becomes a habitual pattern of behavior and a part of who we are. However, it doesn’t need to be. This is where the change has to come, and no one can regulate your anxious thoughts for you. You have to do the hard work of rewiring your responses to the stresses of life.

We can manage our anxious way of living by fighting spiritually like we are told to do by God in Ephesians 6:10-18. I encourage you to find a seasoned Christian to help you understand spiritual warfare better. Meanwhile you can click here to read a helpful blog by Debbie McDaniel (iBelieve Contributing Writer).

5. Pray specific prayers to fight off anxious thoughts

I cannot emphasize the importance of prayer. There is power in our prayers. Great power. Mountain moving power. Moreover, we have been given clear directions by the Lord to handle our anxiety by staying in communication with Him. He tells us in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Anxiety is a bondage.

Pray and ask God to revive you from negative thoughts, fears and worry. Make a declaration as often as you need to to resist the enemy. “Submit yourselves to the one true God and fight against the devil and his schemes. If you do, he will run away in failure” (James 4:7).

Anxiety may be a thorn in our flesh, but God still wants you and I to live in freedom from the bondage of it. He wants us to lean on His grace and power to get through our challenges. After the Apostle Paul talked about his thorn in his flesh, he added, “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

With Jesus’s help we can adjust our perspective on what freedom from our anxious thoughts looks like. We can, like the Apostle Paul, surrender our anxiety to God and accept our desperate need for a savior. And as my dear friend Julie said, we can learn to not entertain the anxious thoughts but begin advocating for ourselves against the enemy of our soul. With Jesus on our side, victory is certain.*

“God met me more than halfway, he freed me from my anxious fears.” ~ Psalm 34:4 (The Message)

*Please note: I am not a licensed therapist and this blog post is my own personal experience. If you struggle with chronic anxiety I would encourage you to seek out a licensed therapist as well. You can go to Psychology Today to find a counselor near you.

Photos by Anne Frantzen