I heard a story from a preacher last Sunday about his problems with anxiety. He said he used to lay awake at night with a dark cloud over his head, in a cold sweat, every thought being amplified ten fold blasting in his head. He said to combat the cloud he would worship God, he created a song to sing just during the cloud. Every night when 2:30 am came, he would sing "Let faith arise....Let faith arise....Be still there is a healer, His love is deeper then the sea, His mercy is unfailing, His arms a fortress for the weak." He would sing this over and over. He said it still went on and still lasted. He said wouldn't it be great if he woke up the next morning and God had completely healed him? Well that didn't happen. He said the miracle isn't that God jumps when we say jump. It is not that God heals right when we ask him to. No, the miracle is that through it all, through all the hardships we sustain ourselves and still worship God at the end of the day. Isn't that powerful? So he then said that it became at night Cloud...Song...Cloud....Song... But before long he started singing the song even before the cloud came. He said it was Song.....Song...Cloud......Song....Song....Song....Cloud. It became gradually longer until he rarely gets them any longer. So who is this pastor?
His name is Louie Giglio. He is the leader of Passion City Church and the Passion movement. The worship leader Chris Tomlin made the song "Let Faith Arise" out of Louie's song he sang every night while he laid awake having anxiety attacks. So, if a pastor and leader of hundreds of Christians struggles with anxiety like every other human, does that show you your not alone?
I am blessed to not be an outward worrier. I don't fret and stress about things, but on the inside I am eat up with it. It affects my digestion and stomach. It also affects my skin with breakouts. I know I am being vulnerable here and some of this stuff you don't want to hear, but I need you to realize that your not alone. I want you to know these two things to start with:
You are NOT crazy.
Your are NOT alone.
When you lay up at night stressing out, when you go to the hospital with anxiety attacks, or when you overly stress about anything just know you are not alone. Maybe our situation wasn't as bad as Louie Giglio's where he would go to every doctor because he suffered and they could never tell him what was wrong. But we all experience anxiety on some level. So this is what I really want you to get from this:
You may struggle with anxiety but God is BIGGER than anxiety.
We are told to lay all of our burdens on Him. That is what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to give Him all of our burdens and walk away joyful. That is hard though isn't it? It is extremely hard to give up our burdens and exchange them for joy. But that is exactly what we are called to do though.
Also, know that God is YOUR God.
"Do not fear, for I am with you;Guess what? God isn't just God, he is YOUR God. He loves YOU. So when your stressed out and freaking out, He knows you! He knows exactly what your going through! He knows it, He just wants you to acknowledge it and give it up to Him personally. So, from this post I want you to get three things in conclusion.
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am YOUR God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
1. If your stressed, your not alone and your not crazy.
2. God is bigger than your anxiety and stress, all you have to do is give your burdens up and Believe!
3. God is YOUR God, He is here for YOU. Just embrace that and live it, and your on your way to becoming a warrior for the word. Combat fear with worship.
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