When God Uses You

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NeverQuit
Posts: 162
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:22 pm

When God Uses You

Post by NeverQuit » Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:32 pm

Hey all,
I have battled anxiety for about three years now, and have gotten much better over the last year. I have finished the program about three times, and worked with a coach from StressCenter this last time through. I finished with her about a year ago.

My big struggle has always been obsessive thinking. I am a highly analytical person, and I struggle with putting the thoughts to rest and focusing on productive tasks. But my prayer daily is that God would help me to focus on whatever task is before me for that day and that He would show me His purpose for me.

Last year I was going through an anxious time after ending a relationship (although in reality I was doing much better and was strong enough to stand up for myself). Shortly after I volunteered at a Christian youth camp. It was really hard for me to get there. I was going through a lot of anxious, obsessive thoughts. The person I road with was driving 90 and texting to top it all off! But I survived and God actually used me to bless the group of highschool girls I was in charge of. It was an amazing experience.

This year I went back again, and although I am doing much better and am much stronger than last year, I was still struggling before leaving with the obsessive thinking. But I talked to my mom, who also went through the program, and she helped me to get my focus back on what is REALLY important. I was able to lay the thoughts aside and say to myself, "I am going to this camp, and the Enemy may want to keep me from focusing and getting ready to minister to these girls, but I am NOT going to allow that to happen. I am going to enjoy this and focus on what God is bringing before me." A few times during the camp I felt those obsessive thoughts coming again, but I was able to say, "No, this is silly," and move on and let them go.

There was a girl at the camp who was struggling with an eating disorder (anxiety!). A friend of mine asked if I would be willing to talk to her. I hadn't shared anything about my anxiety with this friend, but God must have known that I could help her. I started to have second thoughts before talking to the girl, feeling nervous and having what-if thoughts, "What if I can't handle it? What if I can't help her the right way?" (perfectionism).

I prayed about it and decided that I was just going to share what I knew from the program about obsessive, anxious thinking, and had a chart of scripture verses to send her. It ended up going really well when I talked to her, and she seemed to be excited to see the Scripture chart and have someone to talk to. I gave her some good tips about putting up the mental STOP sign. I told her how it's hard to do, but once you push through that anxiety a few times and put up that STOP sign, you will begin to see the anxious thoughts for what they are. She seemed encouraged by that.

That was just one way that I found God using me to bless others that weekend. I wanted to share this with everyone to encourage us all to continue to press forward in spite of our anxiety. God is able to use you to bless others and fulfill His purposes, even when you feel like you are stuck in your own head and are of no use to anyone! He is ready to minister to you through others. I know He spoke to me this past weekend.

Hope that encourages someone!! Keep pressing forward! Don't let anxiety hold you back anymore.

God bless!

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