Lord, just get me through December...
Anxiety is brought on by different things for many people: a meeting, trip, crowds, everyone has a different trigger that sets off their alarm. Sweaty palms, heart palpitations, dry mouth; the symptoms vary as well. Personally, I never thought much about anxiety until lately. I know people close to me who claim to have severe anxiety, and others who are said to have mild cases so I've been intrigued about this and paying more attention to my own reaction to situations.
Shopping with crowds of people definitely make my head spin, so I avoid that at great length. Occasions and trips where I'm subject to crowds of bumping, loud and unknown people is not something I'm comfortable with. Christmas commercials in October, well, that makes my heart beat differently and my head feel light.
Not to make light of the situation, I understand people do struggle with being anxious about various things. Most of us may have heard, "Don't be anxious about anything...present your requests to God..." Philippians 4:6-7. That's what some translations use. My Bible says it a little different, and I actually like to include verse 4 because it's one of my all time favorite verses, 4 "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice". I like that verse because it reminds me that in everything, every situation, every day, we can rejoice. Yes, I understand some times it's especially difficult to find something to rejoice about, but honestly for a believer, it should come easy.
Our struggles are real and they are heavy. To us individually, they may seem so daunting that we don't even want to go on. But even in the darkest of times, God is there. I believe that He cries with us, He feels the pain just like we do and He wants you to trust Him to carry you out of the depths of that darkness. Remember what He did for us...There will be a tomorrow. It may not be sunny, but it will come.
Verses 6 and 7 KJV : "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." This tells me, there is a time to rejoice, and there is time to go to God with the things you don't feel like being joyful about. He wants to carry your cares and burdens. He already knows what they are anyway, just give them to Him, then allow Him to pass the peace that only He can give onto you while He sorts it all out.
The older we get, the more challenges we face. The way we handle them can sometimes mean life or death, but my prayer is that it means trust and strength. The more we trust Him, the stronger He makes us.
"Come, every soul by sin oppressed there's mercy with the Lord and He will surely give you rest...Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now."
