ANXIETY AND FEAR

How to beat them

Twice as many women suffer Anxiety than men

Witnessing Anxiety Attacks close up, with a loved one, is very nerve-racking. It is not only an occasion for all parties involved to panic, but an occasion for selfdiagnosis and if there ever was a time when people are not only wound up tight but completely stressed out it is now! I like how the British Broadcasting Service defines Anxiety and then distinguishes it from what Panic and Phobias are. The BBC says Anxiety is the feeling of fear we all experience when faced with threatening or difficult situations. It helps us to avoid dangerous situations, makes us alert and motivates us to deal with problems . In my opinion, this may be classified as the good kind of anxiety This is actually more profound in word independence than say, Anticipation.

The good part of anxiety shows up when we eagerly await the birth of an infant, while pacing the hospital floor .or the posting of the Graduation List on the College website, to see if you re graduating or not! But there is the bad type of anxiety. It is the one causing stress, heartburn and sleepless nights to many in our current circumstance.

TYPES OF ANXIETY There are several types of anxiety and they all are capable of causing serious damage. The most common one is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). This affects almost 7 million American adults according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Twice as many women than men suffer from GAD. GAD is the product of incessant worry worry about gas prices worry about food prices worry about cost of a college education for little James worry about getting passed over for promotion for someone younger and less committed worry about declining health worry about parents growing old and needing more attention worry about layoff, the bad economy and even worse politicians! Then there is the OCD orObsessive Compulsive Disorder where a person cannot make it through a day without a daily ritual of hand washing; certain kinds of thoughts and actions and anything that reoccurs. Other types of Anxiety Disorders are Panic Disorders; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Social Anxiety Disorder (or SAD). The Panic Disorder is the next common one. Having witnessed a couple, I vouch for the following symptoms stomach upheaval; nausea; chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and dizziness.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has become increasingly problematic to U.S. servicemen and women returning from the Combat Zones if Iraq and Afghanistan. The NIMH gives the official definition a disorder developed due to exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat . Our dear soldiers are under so much stress these days with long tours of duty in an unending war on Terrorism and broken families back at the base that the incidences of suicides and divorce have skyrocketed. Drug abuse has also increased. Finally Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a sort of fear of having to perform public speaking or singing to the point of developing into a phobia!

ARE THERE CURES? Medication All of these five disorders have to be diagnosed and treated individually and with a different approach, in the natural realm. America and the western world have attempted to limit the resulting behavior of these disorders by prescribing medication. At one point in the past years, Prozac was the most purchased drug in America! Xanax and other antidepressants abound. Beta-blockers are serious heart condition drugs (like Inderal). Yet some doctors administer this to those suffering with SAD, who may have a problem with public speaking for their job or something similar! Psychotherapy

Even the above drugs can never treat an Anxiety Disorder. There is no treatment for this but something called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is increasingly used to attempt to combat Anxiety. Some surface success can be had by hours or up to 12 weeks of CBT with patients from any of the five anxiety disorders. This can range from Group Therapy for social phobias to intensive counseling facing up to flashbacks from the combat zone. The problem with every single man-made cure here: from medication to psychotherapy; is this they all address the wrong symptom!

LACK OF FAITH Every single Anxiety disorder comes from an uneasy soul .a spirit which does not live in rest or which does not abide in the Lord. For us believers, it will be those who are not walking in the Light of Christ! It is my contention that Worry and Fear stems from a lack of Faith even if the person says they believe and trust in the Lord. The great Mark Twain once said "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear". Therefore, does it mean that Fear is a lack of courage? Believe it or not, Jesus thought and said so in Mark 4:40 (NASB) "And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" To grasp this fully, let's look at the two original Greek words Jesus used: "AFRAID" (Delios) means to be timid, even cowardly! It is the negative kind of fear...not the positive way we are supposed to "FEAR THE LORD"! Then Jesus said His disciples had no FAITH (Pistis). This is not just faith or Trust but also a lack of confidence! It recalls when Moses sent out a spy party of 12 men to scout the Promised Land Canaan. Sure enough, they came back with proof of the Faithfulness of God and even called it "A land flowing with milk and honey".....but then 10 of them

wimped out about they fear they had of the size of the giants occupying that territory. God had promised them that Land. He allowed them safe passage in to get the fruit and take it back as evidence to Moses and Aaron. But they grew timid and lost their trust and confidence in the Promisesof God. Have YOU lost that same total confidence you had in Him? Have YOU let Human Reasoning replace the Loving Trust and opened shiny-faced trust you had in Him before? Have YOU allowed Fear, of so many well...fearful things...in today's world...so overtake you, that it ROBS you of the POWER Christ gave you....to DEFEAT THAT SAME FEAR???!!! This is the kind of humanistic thinking and surrendering to the flesh which brings on these mind disorders.

FEAR NO EVIL On the surface, modern life appears more like vaulting through the valley of despair than the standing on the Peaks of Possibility! In fact, sometimes it seems that everytime we have a "mountain top" experience, where we really connect with God and Christ and our Faith, the very next day - something really stupid happens! But in this life, it is a given that we spend most our lives down in the valley. Like Moses, the mountain is where we receive Encouragement, Exhortation and the Examples to live by, from God. Also like Moses, we then have to come down from the top of the Mountain of God and live among the people.....and the thing about down here folks is - down here we have hate, greed, poverty, crime, pornography, vile acts, drugs, devastation, destruction and despair! The laws of God - His Moral Laws - are written on our very consciousness. We have a spiritual heart which MUST connect with our Creator in order to live the Life He call us to. His Life is laid out for us in a Plan. He said so in Jeremiah 29:11

(MOFFATT)" For I keep in mind my purpose for you, a purpose of weal (prosperity or happiness), not of woe, to let you have hope for the future However, we can choose to deviate from this God Ordained Plan and make things harder on ourselves if we so wish! And we do this all the time. It is now time to return to the Blueprint! Sure we can LIVE in the Valley while on earth, because we have no choice. But we do not have to participate in its filth and darkness. It is now HIGH TIME to realize that while we were once part of the Dominion of Darkness, now we are co-inheritants of the Kingdom of Christ. Now is the time to realize that the Valley of the Shadow of a disgusting DYING world is just a training ground. Now is the time to realize we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Now is the time to realize - FEAR NO EVIL for He is with you and I - He promised it! Now - FEAR NO EVIL BECAUSE AS THE NEW LIVING TRANSLATION SAID - WE LET HIM, HE WILL BE RIGHT BESIDE US...TWO SETS OF FOOTSTEPS...NOW, ISN'T THAT A COMFORTING THOUGHT?!! Think of all the phobias and panic attacks we can do away with, if we just trust and obey His Word!

ANSWERS IN GENESIS-PSALMS ETC. The only answer for the fears, cares and tears of the day is GOD! There is NO OTHER WAY! Your Creator and mine know exactly what we need, how and when. He knows our troubles, how we got there and how we can get out. Therefore there are several prescribed ways in Scripture which when done according to His Word, by a person who trusts Christ as Savior, will led to true Peace, Joy and Contentment! There is no doubt. These steps are PRAYER, FASTING and BIBLE STUDY!

You can do all three right now (after reading this piece) by a simple fast (before you get serious about skipping meals and more). We can fast watching TV or sweets or soda pop for a week and read the Bible more even if we have all these worries and phobias. But someone in the church or a more mature Christian HAS to be able to recognize a problem and either preach it from the pulpit or approach the victim in love, just as the Body of Christ should. So now you are fasting TV and popcorn. Now grab your Bibles, in the Old Testament and turn to Psalm 86 and then PRAY the verses back to GOD!! Believe it or not, God loves the Return, in prayer and praise, of His Holy and Precious Word Whom Bible tells us is the Lord Jesus! Just read the following verses back to God and thank Him while doing so. Then, while you are reading, say a prayer (in earnest and humility) to the Lord when you come across a verse which the Lord caused to stand out! So here is your exercise for Bible study and prayer combined, because once you are reading and praying Scripture back to Jesus and the Father, He gives Revelation to His beloved who approach Him with a willing and broken heart! Remember, our God is a compassionate, loving and merciful beyond compare! HERE is
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PSALM 86 (NLT)

Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. 2 Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God. 3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly. 4 Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you. 5 O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. 6 Listen closely to my prayer, O LORD; hear my urgent cry. 7 I will call to you whenever Im in trouble, and you will answer me.

No pagan god is like you, O Lord. None can do what you do! 9 All the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord; they will praise your holy name. 10 For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God.
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Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. 12 With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever, 13 for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death. [A]
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O God, insolent people rise up against me; a violent gang is trying to kill me. You mean nothing to them. 15 But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. 16 Look down and have mercy on me. Give your strength to your servant; save me, the son of your servant. 17 Send me a sign of your favor. Then those who hate me will be put to shame, for you, O LORD, help and comfort me.
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BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING Some will say that it is easy for us to speak like this or topic, but at the same time it is! If Jesus is the Author and Perfector of the Faith in our hearts, minds bodies and souls, we have already won the Battle. A fictional creature from Star Wars named Yoda has a quote which says Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to

suffering. While the Star Wars creator George Lucas is not a Christian, this quote is not too far off from the Truth of Scripture. The Bible gives several directions - which ALL WORK - about how to live in the land of plenty and plentiful FEAR. I recommend we always go to the Source of all Life - Jesus. He said: Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25 ESV) The word Jesus uses for "ANXIOUS" here is "merimn ". What He actually means (by this word) is "dear child of Mine, do not let the troubles of this present age pull you apart on the insides, rip you to shreds with joy-killing worry, or distract you"! How about that! This one word used by Jesus carries a lot more weight than first thought! Not just that, but when He said "pull you apart" He actually means (from His text) to NOT DIVIDE your attention away from what is truly important....which is Prayer, Praise and Proper positioning in the Kingdom of God....because if you do all these things as He just show us (by this ONE WORD)....we will be alright! Therefore, refuse to settle. Go on offence, read the Word and claim the Promises of Christ to never leave or forsake us! Amen!

Credits: Images by Google Bibles used: English Standard Version New American Standard Bible New Living Translation.