Holding onto God’s truth when anxiety knocks on your door

I can sense when anxiety and worry tries to creep into my morning and take over my day. It’s like a suffocating sweater that comes all the way to my neck and won’t let me breath. You get the picture. In a season where I’m gearing up for a long winter that’s packed in holiday events and family gatherings, office parties to attend and people to visit, I feel unprepared and sometimes even overwhelmed.  Some seasons are like this where I think of my not so full calendar and still feel like I need a break and space from my routines. Even worse is when I think of the things we think we “need” but can’t afford at the moment or when I think of unachieved dream, passions, and plans that need attention. I sense the overwhelming amount of stress that wants to get a hold of my day.
But then I am reminded of the thing that helps me the most when I’m in this cycle. I need to say words out loud so my soul can hear it. I need to stop and say “Hey stress,  I refuse to let you in today! No! You’re not welcome.” Then I say it again and again until my ears can hear it loud and clear and then the words will start to sink in and the truth of these words will start to take over. This might sound like some silly thing that you just wanna roll your eyes and say that doesn’t work but it has been  my experience that it works! It is how I fight my enemies like fear, stress and anxiety. Proclaiming the truth of God’s word into my life until there is no space for anything else to grow.
Recently I have also been reminded by so many in my life that gratitude is a medicine for a hurting soul. You see if we are thankful for the things we have that we didn’t work for like God’s Grace, new mercy for every single day, salvation, life, love, nature, and people in our life; then we’ll begin to see how rich life is and it will open our eyes to see that the things we lack are actually less than what we already have. Just because we don’t have what we think we “want” at this moment, we have things in our todo list waiting to be ticked off and done, we feel like every life’s shelf is unorganized and unlabeled yet, we should not let these things hold us from living a grateful and joyful life that we have right now. Let’s not live life from a place of ‘I don’t have the things I want’ but from a place of trust where we say ‘I have a God who holds my life and He won’t let my world to crash down’.
I want us to live today as if it’s the ONLY day we have in this world. Tomorrow is not ours in a sense it’s not here and we have no control over it.  But we have TODAY! And it’s here. So let’s choose to be joyful! Let us not wait until all the pieces of our life fall into place. So for you my friend who’s reading this and feeling like you’re in the same boat, if you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed, just take a moment to think about what TODAY means to you and reflect on what a gift it is. Rest in the assurance that God made today and gifted it to you so you can live and be joyful in the midst of the noise and the chaos. Look into the places of your life where gratitude can grow and flourish instead of negativity. But first and foremost look in to God’s promises and hold tight to them. God says “Rest in me you who are weary, tired and stressed and hold on to my word because I am God who holds your days”. The world will not fall apart and your small world will not crumble. So my friend rest in this truth, trust your God and breath because the one who holds you is unshakable and He has never let anyone down.
Here are a couple of truths to hold onto.
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24