Shake That Mama Anxiety
Hi! I just spoke with a dear friend of mine who is going through a very hard time and battling, among other things, some anxiety. I wrote this a while back to encourage another dear friend who was having panic attacks due to what I call Mama Anxiety. If you’re a dude, please stick around! This will give you some insight and tools to help those ladies in your life who may struggle with this. Here’s some fresh strawberry lemonade my daughter just made for us, let’s go for a walk while we talk about this.
I suffered with anxiety early in our marriage. Thoughts of Brad not returning form one of his trips, or some accident happening to him bombarded me. It’s almost like the devil found a weak spot and jabbed as hard as he could. Mercilessly. Constantly. Brutally. I felt unconditionally loved and accepted by Brad and the fear of losing him crippled me.
These thoughts plagued me off and on until about 3 years ago! That’s 15 years too long! The Lord showed me that I was looking to Brad for my sense of identity, security and love.
He showed me that although Brad will be an important part of these things for me, he shouldn’t be my source, only God can be that in a perfect way.
It would hit me even worse right after I would have a baby. Post-partum emotions are already a mess anyway! They magnify any weaknesses in our thinking times 10,000!
The Turning Point: I know this is hard to believe, but we are CHOOSING our thoughts. It’s not really about fearing the circumstance (abandonment, rejection, illness, death of a loved one, etc) but the twisted “reward” we get by thinking this way.
You know what God started dealing with me about? How much He loved me.
I wanted to hear God promise me that nothing would ever happen to Brad. But instead, He showed me that, even if something happened to Brad, God loves me so much, He would take care of me in the most loving way possible. That my kids and I would be just fine because He is my God.
NOT WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR! Ahem! But… He shows us things in such a loving way, it melts away all our walls, our stubbornness AND our fears. So I chose to believe HIM and HIS LOVE. Now I can tell you I am free from the oppression this thought pattern brought.
These thoughts sometimes still come across my path (i.e. when someone else loses their husband or a loved one), but now I choose to remember the TRUTH about His love for me, and that has set me free.
Friend, God loves you so much and has such a huge potential inside of you and your precious family that you’re scaring the devil spitless and he’s throwing everything he can at you to take you out of the game. Don’t put up with him. He’s a liar.
So, if you’re in any way dealing with anxiety, think about these verses and their immediate context and really take them in. It’s time you dug up some evidence of God’s perfect and fathomless love for you, for only then can you roll these cares over onto Him.
Ephesians 3:19
Romans 8:35
1 Peter 5:7
Psalm 55:22
Here’s an awesome song to remind us of God’s remaining presence even when we’re blinded by fear and anxiety.
[reminder]What is the verse of Scripture you go to when fear and anxiety come knocking on your door? [/reminder]
Good stuff! Thanks!