Debilitating Anxiety

This morning I was reading the same scripture I have been stuck on all week (2 Corinthians 4:7-9). I can never seem to get past it during this study I am going through. Mainly, because my quiet time has been a little rushed this week so I haven’t been able to share all that God keeps placing on my heart about it. However, this morning, I have to share all that this scripture holds for me and you. I’ve shared this before but it needs to be shared again for the sake of today’s devotion. I have suffered from debilitating anxiety and fear since I was about 6 years old. I have always been keenly aware of the dangers lurking all around and too perceptive for my own good. Unfortunately, I knew my parents couldn’t protect me from all the evils in the world. Especially at night while they slept...so I didn’t. I would stay awake, locked in the bathroom rocking back and forth because the fear and anxiety were so overwhelming. Thankfully, my Aunt Bonnie prayed and prayed for me! I knew this and clung to her faith until finally her faith became my own faith. Yes, it took a very long time for my own personal faith in God to develop and strengthen enough to rid me of my anxiety! Once I truly trusted God was in control and that this physical life was temporary, I was finally set free from the fears and anxieties! Yes, they still like to revisit every once and a while...lurking like a roaring lion, waiting to devour me. However, now in fear, I run straight to God like a scared little girl. To be honest, I wouldn’t trade those times for anything. The bitter sweet times when I truly sense my Daddy God comforting me and filling me with renewed peace and joy! So I want to encourage you and plea with you! If you suffer from anxiety or depression, please know God can and will deliver you from its power!! It takes time, diligence and faith but it is worth the hard work of renewing your mind and realizing the door to the prison you have been trapped in was never really locked. And if by chance it was locked...God has the key! Go to Him, pray to Him, cry out for Him, talk to Him and most of all get into His Word! The Bible is alive and active!! It has power! Open it and read it aloud! “For the word of God is alive and powerful.” Hebrews 4:12a “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-9