Anxiety Strikes

Scriptures: 1 Peter 5:7, Isaiah 41:10, Joshua 1:9

The Fight

In many ways life is a fight. 

We fight for our spouses, our kids, our family, our friends, and our own well-being. We want what is best for them all, but we don’t have the power to control every situation that arises. Our lack of ability to control situations leads to fearing the potential outcomes, which gives birth to anxiety. 

Anxiety is a heavy hitter. It pulls no punches and always goes for the knockout. Its goal is to back you into a corner and cut off any chance of escape. It wants to cripple you. 

But I thank God that He has made a way of escape, and a way to fight back for us. Much like a fighter backed up against the ropes, there are strategies and tools we can use to win when anxiety strikes. This battle is spiritual, mental, and physical. 

It is my prayer that the Scripture and examples in this devotional will help you grow in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then you will be overwhelmingly victorious against anxiety no matter how much it has beaten you up in the past.

Scriptures: Matthew 26:36-46, Philippians 4:6

Put Your Guard Up

It is scary when anxiety is barreling down on you. Imagine being in the ring with a big angry opponent. Your natural instinct might be to run, but there is nowhere to go! 

When anxiety strikes, you often cannot stop that initial wave of feelings and emotion coming down upon you. Much like it is difficult to stop a larger, aggressive opponent from marching forward and throwing blows. 

Fighters are taught to put their guard up. This means raising your hands/gloves up to protect your chin from being hit. Since we often can’t stop what triggers anxiety (old memories, new environments, new circumstances, certain people, etc.), we need to be aware when it is attacking and protect ourselves accordingly. 

We can see Jesus’ response to facing anxiety the night he was going to be arrested before being crucified. His response was to pray. He also asked His disciples to keep watch with Him, but they were of little help in those moments. He pretty much had to face it alone. Jesus praying was the equivalent to putting His guard up. It was protecting Him from the blows that were sure to come. Asking people close to Him to help was another way. 

What does putting your guard up look like to you? 

Spend some time in prayer and ask God. This is critical because you will not be able to stop every anxious thought from entering your mind. You have to know what to do when they get there.

Scriptures: 2 Kings 6:8-18, Philippians 4:13, Jeremiah 17:7-8

Don’t Panic – Relax

Anxiety naturally makes us panic. You’re backed up into the corner. You’ve got no way out. You’re being attacked and hit. This is not where you want to be. It’s a bad situation so there is a reason to panic. 

Just like in real life, in a fight panicking only makes it worse. It uses up a lot of energy, making you more tired, and it does nothing to get your opponent off of you. So how do we stop when everything in us wants to panic? 

Breathe and think. 

Normally when we breathe it is an automatic response we don’t have to think about. In the presence of anxiety or panic, we have to intentionally think about it and do it. This will help us to relax, clear our minds, and get oxygen to our brains and muscles to keep functioning well. 

We also need to think. Remember the times God has gotten you through situations like this before. Know that He will get you through again. Remember the strategies and techniques taught in the Bible and in this devotional to conquer anxiety. You CAN DO this because you have Jesus. Your confidence is in Him. No opponent is too big for Him. 

Once you are able to breathe and remember these truths it will help you relax further while still keeping your guard up. 

It reminds me of when an enemy army came to kill the prophet Elisha. When they got to where Elisha lived his servant was afraid, but Elisha was not. Elisha had seen God do so many miracles by that point he was able to see what his servant couldn’t. Where his servant panicked, Elisha was able to remain calm despite the attack.

Scriptures: Exodus 17:8-13, Hebrews 12:2-3, 2 Timothy 1:7

Focus

When someone throws a punch at an untrained fighter their natural reaction is to flinch and close their eyes. This may keep them safe from the first strike or two, but soon they will not be able to see where the blows are coming from. Then they will be getting hit from every angle. 

We need to see when and where anxiety is attacking us from so we can appropriately defend against it. The “how” is very important as well. Fighters are trained to keep their eyes on their opponent at all times. Each opponent and each fight can be different, so fighters must focus on and study their opponents in the ring. 

Even when we are backed up and anxiety is swinging full force, we need to be able to focus on what is going on and what we are feeling in the moment. Once we know what is going on we can then address it. 

This reminds me of Moses, Aaron, and Hur in the battle against the Amalekites. Moses was holding up the staff of God in his hand overlooking the battle on a hill. Whenever Moses’ arms became tired and he lowered his hands, Israel started losing the battle. As long as he could keep them up, Israel would prevail. The three of them noticed this and they propped up Moses and held his arms up so Israel could win. The battle was raging, but they had their eyes open to observe what was going on. 

Focus on what God is doing in your situation. When you do certain actions is it helping or hurting you? What should you be doing more of? What should you be doing less of?

Scriptures: Matthew 4:1-11, Romans 8:28, Psalms 58:6

Fight Back!

Anxiety is attacking you relentlessly. You’ve put your guard up. You’re relaxed and keeping your eyes open so you can see what is coming next. So why are you still being hit? 

Because you haven’t hit back yet! Everyone knows a bully will keep on bullying someone until they get a taste of their own medicine. It’s the same way in a fight. If your opponent never gets hit, there is nothing to stop them from attacking you without relief. 

This is why fighters learn to counter punch. A counter punch is a strike you throw after defending the blow your opponent threw at you. They are designed to strike your attacker where they are most vulnerable. 

For us to counter punch anxiety we need to hit it where it hurts the most. We need to strike it with the truth and promises of God. At its core our anxiety affects us because we are afraid that everything will not be ok. We are afraid of the nightmare outcomes and worst-case scenarios. Those things may not ever happen, but they still affect us just the same because thoughts can be really powerful. 

Knowing that the maker of the universe cares for us, loves us, and will always provide for us defeats the lies anxiety swings with. We know that God works out even bad situations for good. 

The problem is these truths are hard to remember when everything around us is falling apart. Circumstances can scream louder than our faith. We get caught up in the moment and forget how big and good God is. 

Even worse, sometimes we don’t know the truths and promises of God, making us even more vulnerable to lies. 

When Jesus was preparing to start His earthly ministry, He went out into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days and nights. This made Him super vulnerable. So the enemy came to tempt Him. Jesus fought Him off with 3 counter punches from the Scripture that knocked the enemy out. 

How committed are you to learning the Bible? If you already are, great! If you aren’t, look up some daily Bible plans in this application to help you get started. You will need the Word of God to fight back!

Scriptures: Genesis 22:1-18, Psalms 94:19, Psalms 23:4

Move

A key component to getting out of being trapped in the corner is to move. 

It sounds so simple and it really is. However, it is hard to do when the opponent is in your face and your mind is pre-occupied with staying alive. Like breathing, it is one of those quintessential things that we can easily forget. 

If the steps in the previous days are followed, it will create openings for you to move out of the corner. In a fight, once your opponent has to address the blows you are throwing back at them, it gives you an opportunity to change your position. 

Anxiety’s main goal is to paralyze you so that you give up and quit. 

It wants to prevent all of your movement so that you stay stagnant and no longer grow into who God destined you to be. 

But that is not going to happen because through Jesus we are turning the tide. 

So how do we start moving against anxiety? Start doing the thing that God had put on your heart that anxiety prevented you from doing. Take a step in that direction. Make that phone call. Go to that group. Write that song. I have no idea what that looks like for you, but you and God know. If you don’t know, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you, and pray on it. 

It reminds me of Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice his son. He had no clue why God asked him that. But he got up and got everything prepared and went anyway. He knew God would keep His promise to him even if it meant bringing his son back from the dead. Abraham did not fully understand, but he obeyed, and on faith alone he moved his feet.

Scriptures: John 14:1, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Matthew 6:22

Preparation and Training

Anxiety came up against you, but you have learned from your past mistakes and gained new techniques. Through the power of the Spirit you kicked its butt! 

You were able to fight back and move out of that corner it had trapped you in. 

But you know you will face it again in the future. The key to winning the next battle is preparation and training. Fighters don’t just show up the day of the fight and hop in the ring. They spend weeks and months training and getting prepared. This devotional is one of many tools you can use to get prepared. Staying close to God through His word, through worship, community, and through service to other people are the main other ways. These things will feed your Spirit to keep you strong for the next battle. 

You will need to feed your mind and body appropriately too. 

For your body, there are certain foods and habits that can help or hurt anxiety: 

• Stay hydrated. Dehydration can cause mood changes 
• Choose foods such as complex carbs that boost the calming brain chemical serotonin. Select whole-grain breads and whole grain cereals instead of sugary snacks or beverages 
• Eat protein at breakfast, so you have energy and your blood glucose levels stay steady 
• Limit or avoid alcohol and caffeine, which cause anxiety after consuming. Both affect your sleep and can cause edginess 
• A quick Google search will help with more specifics on foods, such as eating fatty fish, which contain high concentrations of Omega 3 and vitamin D, and may help reduce anxiety. 

For your mind, be watchful of what you take in. News media, social media, and even the shows we watch can all have a negative effect. If we surround ourselves with negative sources all day long we should not be surprised when our thought life begins to be overwhelmed. We are over stimulated with entertainment of every kind. We need to be intentional about disconnecting and spending peaceful and undisturbed alone time with God.

Scriptures: Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 14:22-33, Isaiah 40:31

Surrender

In this devotional we have truly saved the best for last. If you remember nothing else, remember this: 

Complete surrender to God disarms anxiety.

Using our fight example, this would mean taking away the opponent’s ability to hurt us at all. Like fighting a harmless fly. 

One Bible verse to cling to is Jeremiah 29:11. It may sound cliché, but God shows us that anxiety thrives off the intense desire to be in control. The more we try to control our surroundings, people and even ourselves, the more God shows us that He is the author of all things. Our lives and steps were already known long before we tried to dictate any of it. How beautiful to truly let go of all things, and trust that our God already had it all in His hands. Remember Peter walking on the water. If we look down and try to control the situation we start to drown and fear kicks in, but if we keep our eyes on the Lord we have nothing to fear.