Stress Center Peer Support

mom of 6,
WAs there time in you anxitey when you felt so inadaquate and sure that God was punishing you for something and all you wanted to do was run away? Was there a particular thing that just wrapped itself around your everythought that made you just cringe because you were certain God wanted you to give it up or be anxious forever? I know that God loves me only because the bible says so but at times he feels so far away and so demanding that i can't imagin that he cares becasue if he did this struggle would be non exsistant. I am NOT trying to be negative I am trying to find something to hold on to

Thanks cornflower! to lael, i would just like to offer you some hope. I did feel like God was punishing me in the beginning when all my anxiety started last year but those are LIES from satan. God can feel very far away at times but when you call upon Him he is compassionate to answer maybe not in our own timing but in his and thats the hard thing to understand. why? why if He's such a loving God would he let me go through this? I said all these things but I began to really DIG into the word of God and seek scriptures that pertained to my situation! and His word began to break down the liesof the enemy and bring peace into my heart. God will bring verses to you that can only make sense to you at the time and it can bring so much comfort. some verses that have helped me is in Isiah 54 and the whole chaptrer is jsut really liberating if you let it speak to you.

I pray you be blessed!

Charity

I just got my Attacking Anxiety CD set and I listened to it for the first session last night. I have been dealing with this problem for 2 years now, but it has become worse in the last 6 months. I was beginning to think that God was punishing me. Everyday I read my Bible and pray for God to take this away, and it hasn't gone away yet. I would sit and analyze over and over what I had done wrong and what God could be punishing me for. But slowly I am beginning to realize that He loves me, He isn't punishing me. He is allowing me to come closer to Him through this and I am really having to trust Him. It is really encouraging to come on here and read your messages because I can relate and I feel that God has answered my prayers by going through this program and seeing that I am not alone. And I think God is trying to teach me, and maybe some of you, that it isn't about our life here on earth and all of our feelings. It is about God and the eternal life we will spend with Him in heaven. He is made strong in our weakness. It is hard for me to realize that in the midst of anxiety, but I always read this verse below when I feel hopeless.
Romans 15: 13-14
So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. I am fully convinced, dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things.

charity,
thank you so much for your words and the verse i just keep thinking that this is convition and not anxity i do pray and read the bible and yet God still feels so far away. Please pray for me.

Hi Lael, I pray for you my friend Yes, to answer your question, I too have felt that God had abandoned me and that he was so far way. But as I grew in "the word", I realize that God doesn't always answer our prayers immediately. It's in HIS perfect planning. There are things to learn in our "valleys" and when we obtain and understand the lesson, per say, that is when we reach our mountain tops. God is all loving and merciful, remember, he will "never give you more than you can handle" and that is with a promise. I like to think that we that are afflicted with anxiety, etc. are pretty tough cookies(although we may not feel like it)..I would like to share a few verses, for comfort in knowing that he DOES love us and he has a purpose for our lives. Everything is for a reason. HE knows the big picture, and that comforts me

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint". Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him, do not fret" Psalm 37:7


"These things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue A SINGLE DAY!" Habakkuk 2:3 LB

"I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised". Psalm 130:5 LB

"I am the Lord; no one who waits for my help will be disappointed" Isaiah 49:23 GNT


"God makes EVERYTHING hppen at the right time".
Ecc 3:11 CEV

"Entrust your ways to the Lord. Trust him,and he will act on your behalf. Psalm 37:5 GWT

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Saviour;my God will hear me"
Micah 7:7


Take time to study these verses, I am confident that they will bring you peace of mind

God bless you and keep up the good work,
God knows your heart, he loves you



"I'm not who I think I am and I'm not who YOU think I am, I am who God KNOWS I am" John Hagee

Thank you mom of six i will think on those verses. Thank you very much.

Mom of 6
Thanks once again for those insightful reflections you have posted. I copy them and keep them with my attacting program.

I too have often felt that God was punishing me for all my mistakes in the past and for my anxiety. I have come to realize through the tools of this program that God wants us to move forward. He does not want us to be stuck in fear and despair. God wants us to live in faith and courage.

Now each night before bed I thank God for having had my situations/ opportunities to practice my skills on a daily basis. Since I changed my thinking to see every anxious moment as a learning experience, I am coping with my daily anxiety with a healthier mindset.

So please keep the little affirmations/ reflections coming. Thanks. Good luck and God Bless.

Mom of 6 I really love your positive upbeat attitude and the way you put everything in perspective! I have been dealing with anxiety for 3 years now, and found that it increased somewhat when I adopted my husband's sister's 3 children, bringing our family count to 9 including my husband and myself. I discovered about 2 years ago, that it is easier for us as human beings to learn those things we need to learn when we have a contrite heart. For most of us it seems we hear the still small voice of the holy spirit mostly when we are in a time of trial. In reality we only mostly LISTEN to the still small voice during those trials, but it is ALWAYS there. Good luck to all of us who struggle daily with anxiety and/or depression, and just remember that we WILL all become the strong confident people that we want to be!!