Expert: Rev C.Brian Ross - 6/8/2010

Question
Hello Reverend, how are you? My name is Laura and I am 25 years old. I need help. For over 15 years I have suffered from extreme anxiety, fear, and occasional depression. I have a happy, good life and people who love me, but I cannot stop my fright from controlling my life. I cry every day and work myself into such fits of worry that it seems like my heart will explode. This shouldn't be happening. I love God and I know He loves me, but I don't know how to ask Him for peace. I pray every day but I don't know what else to do. I have tried doctors, medicines, even checked myself into a psychiatric unit, but my condition always returns with a vengeance to strike terrible fear in me and make me sad. I have an amazing family, friends, and wonderful soon-to-be-husband. Why then does everything scare me so bad? Bible quotes seriously lift me, maybe you have the right one to give my heart some peace. I feel like I am wronging God by being so sad and afraid despite all His blessings, but I cannot change it. If you were to offer me some peaceful words I would be deeply grateful....thank you so much.

Answer
Dear Laura,

This is not my area, as I believe that you would be better off with some personal Christian counselling from a mature, Bible-soaked, believer.  However, something of your pain comes through and so I am happy to share some Biblical precepts that, I trust, will indeed lift your spirit.

I would encourage you to read, and keep reading, the Book of Psalms.  It is full of situations of anxiety and fear, but also of God’s positive response to such situations!  For example, In Ps. 6:6-7 we read these words of David: “ I am worn out from sobbing.  All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears.  My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.” (NLT)  Does this sound familiar to you?   Again, in Ps. 69, he pours out his heart with these words: “Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck.  Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can't find a foothold.  I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me.   I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched.  My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me.” (vs 1-3)

However, David knew where to find help.  He knew that Father God, Who loves us with an everlasting love (Jer.31:3).  In Ps.13, he rejoices: “But I trust in Your unfailing love. I will rejoice because You have rescued me.  I will sing to the Lord because He is good to me.” (vs.5-6).   Then, in Ps.18, he proclaims: “You have given me Your shield of victory.  Your right hand supports me; Your help has made me great.   You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.” (vs. 35-36).

Anxiety and fear are a form of bondage – but the God of the Bible, Who revealed Himself in the Persona of the Son (Please check out my audio message on The Doctrine of the Trinity at www.revcbross.blogspot.com in order to understand that I have not made a typing error just now!), is the God Who desires our freedom.  Paul writes to the Galatian believers: “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. ... For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” (vs.1,13-14)

John also writes “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.  But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.  This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.  No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.  And God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live in Him and He in us.  Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world.  All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.  We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love.  God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.  And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.  Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.  We love each other because He loved us first.”  (1 John 4:7-19).  Did you notice that – “perfect love expels all fear.”  Going back to the Psalms, we read: “Come, let us tell of YHWH's greatness; let us exalt His Name together.  I prayed to YHWH, and He answered me.  He freed me from all my fears.  Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.  In my desperation I prayed, and YHWH listened; He saved me from all my troubles.  For the angel of YHWH is a guard; He surrounds and defends all who fear Him.” (Ps 34:3-7).  There it is again: “He freed me from all my fears”.

May I make one suggestion – from personal experience?  Praise!  I’ve discovered that when I am praising the Lord, then other things tend to be placed in perspective.  I may not always feel like praising – but that’s when I have to make a personal decision.  It becomes a matter of my will – am I going to allow the devil to rob me of my inheritance; or am I going to press through?
I trust that some of the above will prove to be of help to you, but I would again encourage you to seek the sort of personal input that I mentioned at the beginning.

May you know the Lord’s rich blessing; His “peace that passes all human understanding” (Phil.4:7; see also Jn.14:27); and the glorious freedom that is the inheritance of all who have confessed their sinfulness, and placed their trust in His sacrificial death.

Blessings

C. Brian Ross (Rev)