Tag: anxiety

healing

National Mental Health Awareness Week

The Kedge Anchor

Recently I have been posting some funny National days in May. This week, I know it’s Friday, but May 10th is National Mental Health Awareness Week according to nationaldays.com.

I want to take the time to acknowledge this who are battling a mental health disorder. Depression and anxiety are very common. 6.8 million adults are affected by GAD – Generalized Anxiety Disorder, less than half are receiving treatment.

You are not alone. There is hope. It’s ok to reach out and ask for help. Click the link for resources https://tinyurl.com/bdd43aza.

Remember there is hope and someone is praying for you.

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Casting Your Cares

The Kedge Anchor

It always seems like Christmas flies by. The holiday’s prep, planning and shopping is enough to create anxiety. Add that to the anxieties you’re already facing and, well if you’re like me you could be a hot mess. If there is one thing I want to do this year is not carry them into the New Year. Tomorrow, the New Year has its own worries I don’t want to carry more.

Matthew 6:34 – “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (NLT) So what do I do with today’s worries?”

1 Peter 5:7 – “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

This is what always has me stumped. It’s so easy to say this to someone who is struggling and facing anxiety. I know I have been guilty of this. And when someone reminds me of this verse, honestly, I am only half comforted. I always need more. I don’t consider myself a needy person per se, but I need to know why and how. That’s just how I am wired.

I worked as a Surgical Technologist for over a decade. And in my learning and training when I was being taught procedures and protocols I would always ask why, especially when it seemed like it didn’t make sense. And there was always rational behind it. If it made sense I was likely to remember why I was doing it.

So casting our cares, what does that look like? Other than praying, what else is there? For me it’s knowing why. So why? Because of Matthew 6:34, tomorrow has enough of it’s own troubles don’t go borrowing any by worrying about tomorrow. Why? Because of 1 Peter 5:7 “… because He cares for you.” God cares. He cares about the details. If He knows the number of hairs on my head, as it says in Luke 2:7, then He cares about the details and the worries in my life.

Recently, I came across this article from Desiring God by John Piper that helped me understand what casting my anxieties meant. By casting our anxieties we are humbling ourselves. Verse 5 of 1 Peter 5 says “ … you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Casting our cares is something we do to humble ourselves, not something we do after we cast our cares. I encourage you to read this article, John Piper does a much better job than I do.

Piper offers more insight with Luke 19:35, – “And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.” The word “cast” means the same in 1 Peter. The way the garment was cast or tossed onto the donkey is the way we ought to cat our anxieties. Piper says to lay a specific anxiety on God, trust Him specifically, Job 42:2. Please click on the link above and read the article, there is so much more.

But here is something else that helps me. When I remember God’s sovereignty, Jeremiah 32-:17 – “O Sovereign LORD! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” When I remember He is bigger than any problem or anxiety I may have and that He knows the outcomes, He is there in the future and with me in the present and nothing takes Him by surprise. I recall times in the past when God came through for me, for His people.

For me, I want to start 2024 with casting my cares and anxieties on Him. And He knows what I am already carrying and He is already in 2024! God saved us from the biggest anxiety we could have, the debt we can never pay back and that is the debt of sin.

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When You Can’t Find Comfort, Even in Scripture.

The Kedge Anchor
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Has this happened to you? You have been so distraught nothing is comforting? You try everything, listening to Christian music, worship music, listening to a podcast or a sermon online and nothing seems to stick. Not even just reading scripture? It’s ok it happens. We are human.

If there was ever a person who knew anxiety it was Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane – Matthew 26:36-36 – Jesus was about to be crucified, on a cross, separated from His Father in Heaven, v.38 – “My anguish is so great that I feel as if I’m dying. Wait here, and stay awake with me.” He knows anxiety. He experienced every emotion we, His creation has felt, feels and will feel. But noticed He asked for His friends to be stay with Him. (there’s more on that).

So what is one to do? Well first, for myself, I try to realize that God sees my heart and nothing goes unnoticed by Him. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:13. Whether or not I feel this or believe it at the time, this is truth. It’s in the Bible, the Bible is infallible, it’s timeless and I know I can trust it. I can choose to believe it or not, I can have the faith of a mustard seed or not but the fact remains, God sees me, I am known by Him. “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” – Like 12:7. He created me and formed me in my mother’s womb, – Psalm 139:13. He will never leave me nor forsake me, – Deuteronomy 31:6. Truth!

It also helps me if I can count my blessings, I know that can sound so cliché. There are days I am thankful for being able to get out of bed and put my two feet on the floor. Some days I am just thankful for being able to hold a pencil. Joni Eareckson Tada, she is paralyzed from the neck down and paints with a paintbrush between her teeth. She has an incredible story and ministry that God works through. Sometimes it helps to see how God has worked in other people’s lives. Bethany Hamilton survived a shark attack when she was 13. She’s not thankful she is missing her left arm, but she is thankful for where God has brought her spiritually. And as an athlete, she still surfs and competes with one arm. God had given her an amazing ministry encouraging others who are physically disabled. That difficult time in her life, God used for His glory. If you haven’t seen Soul Surfer, I highly recommend it. Nick Vujicic is another inspiration. He was born without limbs and God has worked amazing things in his life. The Bible tells us to give thanks in all things. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “give thanks IN all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” We don’t necessarily have to be thankful FOR all things but thankful IN all things

Another thing I do is reach out to others for prayer. This is very humbling for me because it makes me feel weak. Know what? I am. I need God’s help. God sometimes provides that for us through friends. Jesus had His disciples/friends with Him in the Garden and in Exodus 17:12 – God provided Aaron and Hur to stand beside him with stones to put under his arms to keep them lifted up. We weren’t meant to do life alone. God has provided community through our churches, friends, family, support groups, we just need to reach out. Jesus had community, He had His disciples, followers, and His family.  

God still loves us even on the hard days when scripture doesn’t seem to be working. Remember to go with what you know, recall how God has provided in the past. Reach out to a friend for prayer. God is still in control, He sees you, He sees your heart. Be strong and courageous.

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Resolving – Living Life on Purpose

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Alexandra Karnasopoulos on Pexels.com

Could resolving to live life on purpose reduce anxiety? Could it reduce the fear of the mountains we face? Who isn’t experiencing anxiety these days? We are all experiencing it on different levels at different times. From making simple decisions as to what will I wear today to what’s our world gonna look like in six months?

What’s causing anxiety and stress for you today? Do you feel like you have no choices? Too many choices? Last week we saw Daniel resolving or choosing not to eat the choice foods from the king’s table. Where do you think he was experiencing anxiety? Was it being true to God or in refusing to eat the king’s food? There were consequences to either choice. What or who do you think he was more anxious about?

God had a purpose for Daniel and Daniel chose to live that life on purpose for God. Daniel feared God more than King Nebuchadnezzer. Daniel knew the consequences of not continuing to remain faithful to God. Resolving or choosing to remain faithful to God eliminated the fear and consequences of that choice. What did Daniel have to fear if he knew he was remaining faithful to God?

King Nebuchadnezzer couldn’t deny Daniel and his three friends were in better health after the ten day trial – Daniel 1:17-21. Daniel resolved not to defile himself, to remain true to God- Daniel 1:8. So what if we applied resolving to how we do things, how we live life? Would that help reduce anxiety in your life. What helps you remain faithful, what have you resolved to do in your walk with God?

From resolving how we handle ourselves in situations to how we choose to remain faithful to God can help us live lives of integrity and amidst anxiety and in chaos. Taking a test causes anxiety for many students. But the student who is diligent in their studies and in some cases seeks a tutor for those difficult subjects will have more confidence in passing a test. The student has resolved or planned to pass by choosing to take the steps needed to pass. The same can be applied to our walk with God. What do you need to do to ensure you are being anchored in God’s Word? Does an app help you, joining a small group at church or an accountability partner? What helps you keep on track with any New Year resolution, fitness trackers, a workout partner, joining gym? What keeps you on track with how you live life, controlling anger and emotions, behaviors, how you share and live out your faith?

There will be challenges this year that will threaten your resolutions. Your walk with God will be challenged. There will situations that will arise and cause you anxiety. What can you do to help limit or eliminate the anxiety and set you up for a victory? What will you resolve to do this year to anchor in Hope, anchor in God’s Word and share your faith? Will you choose resolve and live a life of integrity?

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Happy New Year! 2020

The Kedge Anchor

AHOY! Welcome to the Kedge Anchor.

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Jeremiah 29:11 ” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)

Happy New Year! WOW the year 2020. Sounds so futuristic. Then there’s all the 2020 jokes, 20/20 vision in the new year. LOL The future can be exciting. And it can be scary. Simply because we don’t know what the future holds.

But it doesn’t have to be scary. The Bible tells us “be anxious for nothing.” Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” (NIV) You can ask God anything. He already knows what’s on your mind and heart. So why ask, you may be thinking. Because he loves you, he wants to hear from you. Just like you want to hear your spouse, your parents, your friends or those you love to say “I love you.” You know it, but you want to hear it. Jesus is the same way.

Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (NIV) Sometimes this is easier said than done.

But when you think about it, like verse 27 says, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Worry isn’t changing anything. It’s just stealing your peace.

We can have confidence in the future. Confident that God knows all, he is omniscient. Psalm 139:1-4 “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.” Job 28:24 ” for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.” He knows us in the past, Psalm 139:13 “For you created me my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” He knows us in the present ” Matthew 10:30 ” And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” And we shed hair constantly, don’t we? So, he knows at any given time how many hairs on our heads, even the gray ones. And he knows our future, Jeremiah 29:11 “ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD…”

“Worry is assuming responsibilities that God never intended for you to handle, …” I’m not sure where this quote originated, other than Facebook, but that’s exactly what we are doing when we worry. It’s hard NOT to worry, I’ve been there, but I have also been there in total surrender to God and HE HAS ALWAYS COME THROUGH!!! YAY!! VICTORY! WHo doesn’t want that? Sometimes things turned out totally different than how I planned, but it always turned out for the best. Sometimes I was in a holding pattern and for a reason. Usually to transform me and grow me and time for him to just do his work. Because, 1 Corinthians 2:9 “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him. (NIV).

Every time a hard situation comes up, try to let go and give it to God. And fill that void of no worry with praise and prayer. Reach out to someone in need and watch those plans he has for you unfold. The future doesn’t have to be scary. Not when you know who holds it. It’s hard, I know, but trust, little by little that trust will grow and VICTORY will be yours!
Happy New Year! 

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