Like everyone else, I struggle with anxiety. Ways I feel anxious are mainly through uncertainty. This feeling stems mostly from other people's thoughts and actions. As someone who obsessively needed to know what others thought about me so that I could control my environment, one screw out of place felt like my life would come crashing down. I was afraid of standing out and being my own person. Thankfully, I have found lasting peace and no longer feel tied down to my negative intrusive thoughts.
The first thing you need to realize is anxiety can destroy your life. It separates you from your friends and family, it discourages you from pursuing goals, and it removes all peace. I, personally, had been dealing with anxiety for so long, I didn't know anything else. I completely forgot about who I was and made my anxious ideas my identity. I hid it of course. Growing up, I had never met a Christian that openly talked about their worries and doubts because Christians are called to a life of peace and should be totally content with anything that's thrown their way!!! *sarcasm*. I was under the impression anxiety was just a puberty thing I would grow out of and one day. I thought I would wake up and feel like myself again. That was a fricking lie, and when I realized it I spiraled. I went looking for things to help, but it just made my anxiety worse. In reality, all I needed was God's presence. Here's what I discovered: you will always battle discontentment until you let Christ be all that you need. You can chase after everything you've ever wanted and it still won't be enough.
The reason anxiety exists is because we aren't worried about God's Kingdom, we're worried about ours. I had to understand that I'm not going to get everything I want in life. I can't stop people from making assumptions and I can't go back and change the past. The world is so clever at making us think we have control over our lives when in reality we can't do anything.
And if you're thinking "Oh shit, well what am I supposed to do now?"
Understand this, seek out God's righteousness and God will provide you with what you need. That doesn't mean you won't face hardships, but you will be better equipped to handle them. Philippians 4:7 says, "Peace of God will guard your heart and mind as you live in Christ Jesus." So any worrying thoughts or fear won't interrupt your life. Learn how to be content with whatever you have. The more we focus on ourselves, the less satisfied we feel. Why? Because you were created for way more than what is on this Earth. Don't do God's job at exalting yourself because He will do your job at humbling you.
