A Secret Source of Stress

One of the reasons I wanted to write about stress is that so many people seem to suffer with it.  I certainly have and almost everyone I know has too, at least at one time or another.  In fact, this morning I thought I'd do a quick search on Google just out of curiosity to see how many hits I'd get when I typed in "Cures for Stress." I got a total of 6,600,000. Then I typed in "stress" and got an astounding 349,000,000 hits.  So there’s a lot of information out there for stress sufferers.  But what are some of the best remedies?   That’s what we need to find out!

Through the years, I have done so much research on stress and anxiety by reading scads of different books on the subject, going for counselling, faithfully attending self-help groups, and trying so many different techniques, that I considered even writing my own  book about it.  Some of the techniques I read about or heard about did work for me.  I found exercise one of the best remedies.  I also firmly believe in doing the things I enjoy (such as art).  It also helps to be involved in worthwhile projects, and it always helps to help someone else.  But after I was involved in a serious head-on car collision (I was a teenager and I was a passenger), I found myself struggling with more than just stress from overdoing things.  I started having extreme stress or panic attacks.  Out of the blue, I’d experience all the symptoms of anxiety (sweaty palms, difficulty swallowing, heart racing, shakiness and sometimes nausea).  I didn’t even have to be thinking about the accident, and I’d have a panic attack, completely unexpected!  Other stresses happened in life and at one time I had anxiety so severe that it was long-term.  It was so debilitating that I couldn’t go to work and even cooking a meal or doing the simplest thing took all my strength.  Some days I wouldn’t even be able to leave my home or go for a walk! 

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I began to understand what was behind it all.  Now please keep in mind that I have read several books on the subject of anxiety and panic attacks by qualified doctors.  I have undergone counselling by excellent trained psychologists and also Christian counsellors in hopes of finding understanding and also a cure for my anxiety.  One day while I was driving in the country on my way to the city, I had only been driving for about ten minutes or so and I began to experience an anxiety attack (which didn’t affect my driving).  I debated whether I should turn around and go back home or not.  As I was debating, something inside of me rebelled, which had never happened before.  I noticed how beautiful it was outside with the sun shining and the deep green fields, summer trees and neat looking farmyards.  It was a blue summer sky with little wisps of white clouds.  I recognized God’s handiwork everywhere and I didn’t want to go home and miss the day or the drive!  I felt angry that I was feeling this anxiety when I should have been enjoying the day that God had so graciously provided.  So I prayed, and it wasn’t a prayer of panic either.  It was a warfare prayer.  Suddenly a great truth became clear to me and I realized that the panic attack was not a physiological problem at all.  But I was being attacked by the evil one, Satan.

So I started quoting Scripture out loud in the car.  This is not something I would normally do.  I quoted the following verse because I had memorized it and knew it by heart:

2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. KJV

Then I rebuked the devil according to the authority Jesus gave me to do so (Luke 10:19), and within moments, I had no more anxiety.  I was so happy I began praising the Lord.  It was as if it was never there in the first place and I was filled with a triumphant sort of peace.  This is the first time this had happened to me during a panic attack.  Before this, I had started to believe that there was really no hope for curing anxiety attacks.  Since then I have had anxiety, but not sudden attacks like that, and never as bad as they were before.

I thought, Isn’t that clever, to make me think that the source of this (anxiety problem) is me and that I’ll likely never be free of it.  I even started to believe that I was born with it!  But Satan is a liar (John 8:44).  He lies!  That’s what he does! 

How do we know when we’re being attacked by a spirit of fear?  That’s what I wanted to find out.  I wanted to be able to discern the source of my thoughts (not necessarily my anxiety) – if it was my own thoughts or a popped-in suggestion from Satan.  So I went to the Lord and His Word for my answer.  Here’s what I discovered:

1 John 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. KJV

I had always thought that fear is strictly an emotional state.  But then this verse wouldn’t make sense.  That would mean that we all walk around without any fear, and that just isn’t the case.  Everyone has fears and God built a healthy fear into us so we wouldn’t go out and do really stupid things like walk into traffic.  It’s good to be afraid of getting hit by a car.  It’s good to listen to our senses when we feel uneasy about something or someone.  We should run from danger, not walk into it.  

Pro 22:3  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. KJV

But when fear overtakes us and immobilizes us, then we are being tormented.  I have often wondered what I John 4:18 really meant, especially when I just couldn’t seem to overcome my anxiety attacks or other fears.  After all, I am a Christian and all the promises in the Bible are mine for the taking.  Then why was I still struggling with fear and this debilitating anxiety?  I also wondered that if God loves me (which I believe with all my heart that He does), then why would He allow me to suffer so?  Well, again, one day the light went on and I discovered that I had been lied to yet again by Satan.  Satan wants us to do things on our own without the help of God because he knows that if we do, we will keep failing and then we’ll get discouraged.  If we get discouraged, we’ll want to give up and eventually we will give up and just live with despair.  So one day I realized that there’s nothing I can do to not be tormented by this fear.  It is something that only Jesus can do, because He is the perfect love mentioned in I John 4:18.  When Jesus is in control, fear must leave.  And when I quote 2 Timothy 1:7, Jesus honors His Word and Satan must obey.

This is a powerful truth!  Yet, how many of us struggle along trying to use our own limited resources to get the big results we long for?  We are no match for the likes of Satan, but even the mention of the name of Jesus makes Him tremble!  Fear is probably the greatest stronghold there is, so much so, that according to I John 4:18 it literally has to be cast out.  Sometimes it just isn’t enough to resolve to not think fearful thoughts.  I was attacked with fear in such a way that it debilitated me in every way (psychologically and physically).  Only Jesus could take that away and bring peace to my heart and soul.  I’d like to talk more about this in the next blog. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a victorious day!