Through this series on the subject of anxiety and how to deal with it before it deals with you, I have offered practical steps you can take to eliminate anxiety from your life. Altogether are eight points, and today we are considering the last three.
They are:
- Eliminate Griping from Your Life
Griping and complaining are the same. Many of us know one or two people who are professional gripers. They bellyache about anything and everything. Some are the chief complainant in the house, while others are the chief judge. Nothing is just good enough!
Gripers are expert at picking out problems in solutions, and they hardly see solutions for problems. Meanwhile, they have no tangible solutions they offer.
Griping can make you mark time in one station in life. It hampers spiritual and personal growth. Griping harms relationships.
It was griping that kept the people of Israel in the wilderness for forty years. They complained about what they did not have and about what they had. They grumbled about what God gave them. When He gave them manna, their response was, “What is this?”
When God gave Israel anything, it was more than enough. However, for them, it was never enough. They even griped about what they wished they had. Thank God you do not do any of these!
Griping is a manifestation of unbelief. It is a manifestation of ingratitude. Be grateful for what you have instead of complaining about what you do not have.
When you believe God, you will anticipate His blessings, and when you are grateful, your heart automatically switches from what to be anxious about to rejoicing in the Lord always.
Have you been a griper? See what it has done to your life and your relationships! Well, God can help you change it if you repent. Make a u-turn. Believe God can change anything in your life for your good. Let gratitude be your attitude. Anxiety will thrive where there is always complaining, but it cannot reside where there is gratitude. Anxiety or worry will flee from a consistently grateful heart.
- Talk with Someone
You do not have to face your fears and anxieties alone. Do not die in silence. Seek support. When believers offer each other a helping hand, they are fulfilling the law of Christ, which is the Law of Love.
You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand -Galatians 6:2, CEV.
Have a believing friend or two you can trust. Develop great friendships with serious-minded believers. Your goal is not to have someone to whom you can run to solve all your problems. They definitely cannot solve all your problems, but they can sure be a shoulder you can lean on, and you can be a shoulder they can lean on also. It is about mutual interdependence. Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).
Did you know that simply talking about a burden with someone can lighten the load in your heart? Unfortunately, many of us believers do not have some trusted brother or sister we can lean on or with whom we can talk.
It is true, many have gotten fingers, arms and legs all burnt by sharing their troubles with others, but the truth remains: we are stronger together. Talk with someone! God did not call you into the Body of Christ to be a loner.
And more importantly, take opportunities God brings your way to help others by way of encouragement. You will be sowing seeds that would bear fruit of comfort and encouragement in your own life.
It may be time for you to start offering others a helping hand or a shoulder to cry. You would be amazed how it could lift your spirits.
One of the causes of depression is consistent self-focus or self-centredness. Rather than being worried about your issues, think of others and how you can be a blessing to them. If you are thinking about problems, let it be that you are thinking and planning solutions rather than rolling them over and over in your thoughts. Critical thinking and worry are not the same.
- Seek First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness
Finally, Jesus gives us the master-key that opens the door to freedom from anxiety. It is where we place our priorities. We either prioritize our lives and needs, or we prioritize the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
As I said earlier, Jesus came that we might have life to the full. Anxiety will rob you of that fullness if you allow it. But it does not have to. You have a choice.
God knows and is concerned about our lives and the issues we face. He knows the future and has good thoughts concerning us (Jeremiah 29:11). He has promised to take care of every area of our lives, but He wants you to permit Him to do it His way (1 Peter 5:6-7).
God has asked us to prioritize having Him reign in our lives and everything about us. The prayer, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, must have practical relevance and priority. The will of our Father in Heaven must be first and foremost in our considerations and decisions.
With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment. Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow -Proverbs 3:5-6, CEV.
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7, THE MESSAGE.
Friend, is anxiety at the centre of your life? Allow Christ to displace it.
Thank you. Do not forget to keep living, loving and learning.
