Anxiety is becoming more common in today's society. More medicine is being prescribed, more people are struggling daily, and most people have no idea how to overcome it. I, Jamie Jennings, am one of those people that struggled for the longest time with overcoming it. I pushed my thoughts and feelings aside because I felt like if I was walking so closely with the Lord, I should not be having so much of an internal battle each day.

Most people don't understand what the life of someone that has an anxiety disorder is like. The best way I can describe what anxiety feels is that it's like is trying to breathe when you feel as if there is no oxygen left. You give it all you’ve got and you still feel inadequate, unwanted, and unappreciated. This is only a small glimpse of how I am able to describe my life.

There have been times when I was physically unable to do things because I felt as if I was drowning in all that was surrounding me and within my own thoughts. In those times, I feel paralyzed and unable to push forward any longer. I am numb. People have no idea that I feel this way because I have a tendency to hide behind a mask of having my life completely together and that I am just smiling all the time. Only those who truly know me on a deep level know the days when I am struggling to find air.

As I have gotten older, I have seen the effects of anxiety become more prevalent in my life and as I've gone to college, I have seen my anxiety increase drastically. Panic attacks have kicked up, I am surrounded by negativity, I feel as if I am drowning in a constant amount of to-do lists. Because I have struggled so much in the last year, I have been able to turn my greatest weakness into my greatest strength.

I realized that anxiety was a stronghold in my life; it had begun to dominate my life.

Anxiety does not come from the Lord. I had to learn to defeat my stronghold and to find victory in that. I recently did a study by Beth Moore called Living Free (which by the way, I would 100% recommend). One of my favorite quotes in this book says that “the most effective way to live in victory over the devil is to walk in righteousness with God.” This is such a powerful statement.

But the question then becomes, how do I begin to walk in righteousness with God? Well, Beth answers that question a couple of paragraphs later when she states that “we demolish strongholds when we make our minds captive to Christ.”

It is all in the mindset that we have. We have to realize that God remains faithful even in the midst of trial.

A verse that I have been clinging to in the recent months is Philippians 2:3 and it reads, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” When we truly begin to count others as more significant than ourselves, our motives begin to change. We stop worrying so much about ourselves and our problems and we begin to focus on passionately pursuing others. We start becoming the servants that God has called us to be.

There is no answer to how anyone overcomes anxiety. Everyone copes differently. I choose to cope by replacing my negative thoughts with the Word of God (this is why scripture memorization is so important). I choose to make God my central focus. I choose God to replace my anxious heart.

My biggest encouragement is to find something that your passionate about—something that you can pursue with your entire heart. Be fearless in pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. Do things that you love with people that you love in places that you love. You will find that you can make an anxious heart very minimal by filling yourself with the things that set your soul on fire instead of filling yourself with thoughts of self hatred.

Let me just set something straight: even if I have found the thing that sets my soul on fire, I still struggle. I walk insanely close with the Lord and there are still days when I feel so overwhelmed that I can barely breathe and I lose sight of what is important. The secret to anxiety is, you will never be able to fully overcome it.

You can only find ways to make it your greatest strength.