…Do not ignore my cry for help! Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.
My heart is in anguish. The terror of death overpowers me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me. I can’t stop shaking.
Morning, noon and night I plead aloud in my distress…
Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
Get up! Do not reject us forever.
Why do you look the other way?
Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?
We collapse in the dust, lying face down in the dirt.
For troubles surround me – too many to count! They pile up so high I can’t see my way out.
They are more numerous than the hairs on my head. I have lost all my courage.
I am by no means a professional in the medical field nor I am implying a medical advise. Always seek professional help from trained medical professional and your clergy.
We all have all our fears. Depending on one’s perspective it could be either destructive or constructive. I would like to talk about the first. Fear is a natural human response. It is wired to us to ensure our survival but at the same time this very human trait could also mean our demise. It could mean either a springboard for our success or total annihilation of our humanity resulting to undesirable feelings. Stress to anxiety, anxiety to depression, depression to helplessness, and the most unfortunate of them all, the extinguishing of one’s life.
Regardless of the degree of what we are currently facing and what we’ve been through, you are not the only one. We like to camouflage our outside appearance with a smile, saying we are fine even though we are not. We look at other people, our neighbor, the wealthy individual and start to compare ourselves to them. A voice inside us saying , “They’ve made it and here I am trying to go through another day, just surviving.” What do we know when we always assume things. Maybe they’re thinking the same thing like you do, maybe they’re worse than what you think.
It’s been almost a year now since I got divorced. I admit I didn’t know what to do. It’s like the world stops and fear just engulf me. It dragged me down into the pits of the abyss, kept me chained up day in day out. In spite of the hopelessness and despair that accompany me there, there is one thing that shine a light, and that is the word of God.
Regardless of what you believe in. I hope that I’ll be able to help from what I’ve learned.
1. Control Your Thoughts
– Most important step. You need gain control of your mind. Shut out all the voices that keeps hammering you with negative ones. Read books that inspire and encourage. Read it until those negative thoughts we’ll be drowned by it. Your mind controls everything. Do not let it control you. Take control of it. When you’re able to do this, everything becomes easier. Write a quote that you most like on a post it note and place it where you could see it all the time. I did it and I still have them but I seldom read them now.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2Cor. 10:5)
2. What You See is What You Get
– This is all about perception. Now that you have your mind in control, a physical manifestation must occur. Regardless how hard or easy a life is, if you look at life as a hardship it’ll always be hard. You need to have clear vision by analyzing what cause the fear the first place. You don’t need a big solution right away. Gradually tackle it even in small ways, the goal is not how fast to overcome it but how to get to that goal or solution you have set. You have to maintain that pace no matter how small, don’t stop.
The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. (Matt. 6:22 NASB)
3. Face It Head On
– Did you just sink in fear again? I can hear your throat gulping and your heart pumping. It’s okay I felt the same way too. Running from your fear will not resolve anything unless you’re in danger. You can get drunk all you want, immerse yourself in entertainment, take all the drugs, ignore it all you want it’s still going to be there. I can’t tell you enough how fearful I was but I had no choice but to press on forward. Because that is where the future is. You can’t just stop there because once you stop, fear will keep you push back until you reach that wall that you can’t breathe anymore.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. (2Timothy 1:7)
4. Keep On Facing It
– Now that you got yourself on the starting line. Everything else becomes easy. Do not quit no matter how hard or heartbreaking it is. If you want to cry, cry. I cried and I am a guy nothing wrong with that. Do not become complacent, do not compromise. The one that is victorious are the ones that never quit. Focus on the reward not the hardship. Then one day you’ll tell yourself, “Did I do that?” You”ll laugh and then laugh more how silly you made yourself out of fear and here you are, you did it, you conquered it.
Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is anything too difficult for me? (Jer. 32:27 NLT)
..Do not be afraid any longer, only believe – Jesus Christ (Mark 5:36NLT)
What about you? What is keeping you up at night? How did you conquer your fear?
Water and Fire 