Anxiety could be described as a fly in a room full of large mosquitoes with you trapped in the room with them unable to get out. While it can be aggravating to be trapped in a room with a fly, chances are they may not bite you or inject a life threatening disease into your bloodstream, but in order to keep your life and avoid sickness or disease from a fly bite, you have to quickly learn how to navigate around it to keep from being bit.

In this informational article we  are going to  take a quick look at Jane for the purpose of setting an example so that you can see a picture of how the condition of anxiety might be recognized.  Jane is an anxiety queen, she is anxious and has anxiety attacks quite frequently.

Jane has been waiting for months for  highly anticipated concert tickets to go on sale for a group that she likes. She showed up to get tickets early and is fifth in line. Waiting is making her both very restless and slightly bored, she is tired and doesn’t want to wait and just wants to get tickets. Standing, she shifts her weight from side to side.  As she anticipates the big moment of being able to get the tickets that she wants, Jane feels a slight tightening in her chest. Her breathing quickens. She feels that weird, somewhat exhilarating, combination of excitement and growing anxiety.  She tries to relax, telling herself it is only another concert but the tension continues to intensify. Finally, tickets go on sale and the anxiety is almost unbearable, she feels like screaming but manages to suppress the urge.  She is literally sick with anticipation.  The number three person in the line is not moving fast enough leading her to another wave of dizzying anxiety and worry.  What if there are not good seats left she asks herself?  What if she doesn’t get what she wants? Then she is at the ticket window. The moment of truth has come. Pleasantly surprised she receives even better tickets than she thought due to a power outage at other ticket outlets. Her anxiety fades as her breathing and heart rate quickly return to normal. What is going on with Jane, you might wonder? Jane suffers from being anxious stemming from the impatience of wanting what she wants now without having to wait.  Can You relate to that? Have you ever been anxious? Are you anxious now? Do you know any “Jane’s” in your life that are anxious?

Jane isn’t sick, she has no mental problems and the Law is not looking for her, she’s just anxious. She is not having a nervous meltdown, and she obviously isn’t going nuts, she’s just anxious.  But for Jane, being anxious and having anxiety attacks happen all the time, in fact they are a normal function of her everyday life events, which is Not how God wants it or intended for it to be.  What about you? Is Your life like Jane in any way? Anxiety comes in many different forms.  Anxiety can happen as you wait for meetings.  Anxiety can happen as you wait to speak if you do public speaking.  Anxiety can happen as you interview for a job,  anxiety can happen in any and all situations.  But what happens when anxiety such as Jane’s rules your life and becomes the new every day “Norm” instead of a very infrequent occurrence?  What happens when anxiety tries to “Rule” everyday life? If anxiety such as what Jane experiences become a dominating factor in life, it is vitally important to seek God for help to change the conditions surrounding how anxiety is processed in the mind, thought process and heart of someone like Jane.  Anxiety, when it becomes out of control or improperly managed causes undue stress, unnecessary emotional outbursts and  sometimes inappropriate life choice manifestations that can take a person as well as take God a long time to undo and “fix”.

Let’s take a quick look at what anxiety means. The root of the word anxiety is Latin and means to strangle or choke. A sense of choking or tightening in the throat or chest is a common symptom of anxiety. Also, anxiety attacks can present other symptoms such as accelerated heartbeat, nausea, the shakes, and excessive perspiration; anxiety may also be connected with fears – fear of heights, fear of bugs, fear of illness, fear of losing control or even the fear of dying. Additionally, those with more intense types of anxiety avoid public places and social interactions.

There are seven major categories of anxiety disorders.

Generalized anxiety disorder
Panic disorders
Social phobia
Agoraphobia
Specific Phobia
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

In summary, anxiety comes in many different packages ranging from mild to severe. It is likely that only a mental health professional can identify for certain what type of anxiety disorder you may have if you think you may have the disorder due to the complexity of the conditions themselves combined with their similarities to other medical conditions.

If your life is like Jane’s or if you have ever felt or if you are feeling anxious now, you don’t have to travel the road of life alone being anxious, God wants to help you deal with whatever or whoever is making you anxious. God created you and He knows you much better than anyone else ever will. He knows what sets you off, He knows what makes you anxious, He knows what “tweaks” Or “adjustments” may need to be made in your life to help you better able to deal with anxiety. We have found that most people are anxious because of  heavy burdens and worries that results from worrying about things, issues and people that either can’t be changed or there is no control over what has happened or what is happening.  So, Since Heavy Burdens and worry are two of the biggest reasons that anxiety exists, doesn’t it make sense to turn to God who is able to change what you can’t, and help you with what you can’t control?  Anxiety doesn’t have to be the new king or queen of your block and it doesn’t have to be the fly in a room with you and you can’t get rid of it.  Turn to God.  Turn to God and ask Him to help you deal with, defeat, manage and process effectively your anxiety.  Let God do what you can’t.  Let God change what has been unchangeable.  Give the reigns of your anxiety to God and watch Him transform it and you into something beautiful.  Don’t stay anxious another moment.  Step forward right now and let God meet you at your point of anxiousness!

Are you ready for what God can do with Your anxiety? If so, join us in this simple prayer;
Dear God, Thank you for this very timely article in which you have helped me to be able to see and better understand anxiety and how it manifests. I am coming before you and would like to ask you for your help in dealing with my anxiety and what is making me anxious. Gracious and Merciful God that you are, I humbly ask you to help me transform what is making me anxious. Create in me a clean heart, and renew in me a right spirit, cast me not from your presence, when I have placed all of my hope and trust in you, dear God I ask and Pray. Come swiftly to my aid, I ask and sweep my emotions and my thoughts clean. Grant unto me the joy of your presence and your salvation, and help me change and make beautiful the anxiety that has taken root in my life. Pluck my anxiety at it’s root, and use your divine tools to help me deal with and defeat my anxiousness, in Jesus’s name I ask and pray – Amen!

R. Haws & “The WIN International Ministries Team”