Many times we hear how everyone needs therapy for anxiety, but is that what we really need? Is therapy a good idea? Is therapy a dark hole that consumes us? Your opinion matters.
Recently I have been looking into this matter a bit deeper, it actually started on a Monday morning at Sam’s Place in our wisdom study… Proverbs…
Pr 14:23
In all labor there is profit,
But mere talk leads only to poverty
Talking non stop about our problems can keep us so focused on our problems that we can never get past our problems… I am a very “feely” guy, I can empathize with almost anyone and it’s almost like I can feel the pain they feel, BUT… There also comes a time when sympathy is counter productive. Talk is cheap. Speak with your actions. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps…
You absolutely can not change the past, but you can direct your future… to be stuck in the past, looping over and over and never moving ahead is a deadly trap of anxiety and depression.
The bible says to take every thought captive. So ask yourself this question: Do you want your thoughts to control you? Or do you want to control your thoughts? Anxiety has two basic components 1- thoughts and 2-feelings… Can you change your thoughts? Can you change your feelings? If the answer is no to either of these questions, you believe a lie… the answer is definitely yes. You can change thoughts and feelings. Are all thoughts good? Productive? Positive? Are all feelings good? Productive? Positive? This answer is absolutely NO.
God gives us such a clear direction in this area of “WORRY” or “ANXIETY” ohh I know, you have been told “It’s not your fault that you have anxiety.” Please ask yourself this question: Can you have anxiety when you have positive & productive thoughts?
But maybe, you have been told anxiety is a chemical imbalance …. But it can not be measured? so how much “imballance”.
Has anyone ever said that anxiety will just go away by continuing to entertain negative thoughts about what might happen? Or is the focus always “Take a pill and call me in the morning”… Is the “cure” to anxiety thought control?
Don’t get me wrong, I truly believe there is a place for the little pill, but I have yet to see anyone “cure” anxiety by taking a pill. I have seen the pills destroy lives, numb emotions and make people so dependent on big pharma that they will never get off the pills… but I have personally had success helping others, I have personally seen others have success and I am currently seeing myself experience success by believing in GODS word… and especially one small verse… This changed my life. I was on the edge of the cliff, literally anxiety was ending my earthly life and God revealed one verse to me…
“and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” in this verse we are not talking about anxiety directly but rather it is about spiritual war fare, it talks about the power of war that is not physical but rather in the spiritual world… but the command is still… “TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE” so, controlling thoughts is reasonably assumed as attainable? YES! And if we are capable of taking crazy, run away, overwhelming thoughts captive… Well, I believed God’s word! I did it… this was and still is not easy, it takes days, weeks, months and years of discipline at the minute and hourly level.
I know it’s not easy, but neither is eating an elephant, if you decide to eat it in one bite! So take it one day, one minute, or maybe one decision at a time. Make that effort once, and repeat… have you ever noticed that one person that is always a joy to be around? Do they only think about themselves? NO… A wise man once said “It is impossible to be anxious unless you are thinking about yourself” so does that mean the answer is to not think about yourself? No, that is not the answer, let me explain with a self exercise:
Please close your eyes for 10 seconds or so and think about an elephant, big grey, long tusks, standing in the corner of the room, ears waving, kicking up dust… now close your eyes and picture it, get as many details as you can in 10-30 seconds with your eyes closed, do it now, don’t open your eyes, just picture your elephant, I will wait, please don’t read the next paragraph until you have done this simple request, don’t cheat yourself on this….
Ok, you did that? Now picture the elephant again, but this time when you close your eyes… dont think about your elephant, dont think about anything else, just stop thinking about the elephant for 5 seconds, remember, don’t think about the elephant, close your eyes and force yourself to not think about the elephant… 5 seconds only and then continue to read my post… ok go!
It’s impossible to “not think about the elephant” but if you are good at controlling your thoughts, you know the trick! The trick to not thinking about the elephant is not will power, it’s simply thinking about something else, try it! Need an object to think about? Think about a giraffe, or pick anything… Ready? Think!…
See, you did it! Replace your “self thought” that creates anxiety with “thinking about others”
Today? Take that thought captive, just once, ask how it felt, and then repeat! Repeat this until you make it a habit. You may need some help from others, find a good Christian friend that understands this concept and practices it and they will help you learn the secret to overcome anxiety… It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
Meanwhile, I will pray you find success, like I have… not perfectly but maybe just a little bit and then “REPEAT”
In service to the KING! C.
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