Two Christmases ago, I would have looked at those four words and laughed. For me, the school year of 2016-2017 was the epitome of anxiety. There were lots of things I dealt with that year, but one of the biggest was anxiety. Every morning was a daily struggle. The last thing I wanted to do was go to school (which I’m betting is quite relatable). Numerous reasons triggered this: First of all, it was middle school (do I need to say more?). It was only my second year there. I feared my friends didn’t care about me, and the previous year, an incident occurred that, in my mind, negatively stained my reputation there. Looking back, that school year doesn’t seem like the hell on earth I made it out to be. Maybe that’s what anxiety does to us; it dramatizes even the smallest things, convincing us it’s too big to handle. It can persuade us that the only way to handle it is to let our anxiety consume us.
To put it bluntly, this is ridiculous. We weren’t created to let the things of this world trap us in a cage of anxiety, yet the enemy can wield this one simple tool to control almost an entire generation. Anxiety can be a real struggle, and whether you’ve been clinically diagnosed or not, it is a real thing that’s not easy to overcome. However, something not being easy doesn’t equal it being impossible.
When Christmas break drew to a close, my anxiety reached its peak. The thought of doing another 5 months of school terrified me. Because I didn’t choose to fully let God help me break off from it, it only continued to manifest. However that summer, when He intervened, and I completely trusted Him with my fears and worries; I began to rest in His peace. This past school year was my first year of high school, and while I still had bits of anxiety here and there, it wasn’t nearly as overbearing as when I had previously let it consume me. Now life did not become sunshine and rainbows, but I learned to turn to God and let Him calm my fear, no matter how big or how small the trigger was.
Whether your life is one big ball of stress, or there’s just that one thing that makes you nervous, you can overcome anxiety. Grasp onto Jesus, and He will console you. Again, that does not equal complete elimination of stress or stressful things, but He won’t let you drown in it if you’ll let Him help you. This verse has really helped me in that: “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy”. (Psalm 94:19 NIV)
Don’t let anxiety dampen the joys God puts in your life. God doesn’t just promise you peace, He promises you joy as well. When you find peace in Him, you can also find joy in Him. In my experience, joy can be a powerful weapon against anxiety– use it!
Taking it one day at a time,
Janelle
