{"id":17580,"date":"2018-01-31T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T15:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=17580"},"modified":"2018-01-31T21:36:13","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T02:36:13","slug":"worship-wednesday-anxiety-holding-on-reclaiming-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=17580","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Anxiety, Holding On, & Reclaiming Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: The Blue Diamond Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. \u2013 <\/em>2 Corinthians 10:4-5<\/a>
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In you, O Lord<\/span>, do I take refuge; <\/span><\/span>let me never be put to shame!<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nIn your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; <\/span>incline your ear to me, and save me! <\/span><\/span>Be to me a rock of refuge, <\/span>to which I may continually come; <\/span><\/span>you have given the command to save me, <\/span><\/em>for you are my rock and my fortress. \u2013 <\/span><\/span><\/em>Psalm 71:1-3<\/span><\/span><\/a>
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Throughout my career in nursing, I have cared for people in pain and crisis. That care was guided by an undergirding definition of pain<\/strong> as “whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever and wherever the person say it does” <\/strong><\/em>[Margo McCaffery<\/a>]<\/p>\n

The same can be said about anxiety…except that anxiety can spiral wildly out of control away from what may be true at the moment to the worst possible expression of that thought or reality. This makes the pain of anxiety both poignant and problematic for the one experiencing it and for those who care for that person.<\/p>\n

[I’ve written about anxiety previously here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

For any of us, anxiety can present as a dull dread or a fearful fret that robs us of sleep and solace. When unchecked (and even when we try to rein it in), anxiety can expand to full-on panic. We struggle to think clearly, bereft of our normal control. We can’t get our breath back…or our mind.<\/p>\n

Then with the comfort of a friend drawing near, speaking truth into our jumbled thoughts, or just being there with us, praying…light punctures the darkness and the fog lifts. If not altogether, some better. At times, especially in the night, God himself wraps His own arms around us and helps us recall what is true in the noise of what is not.\"Anxiety,<\/a>Photo Credit: Azzah B. A., Sketchport<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes anxiety requires clinical intervention for a season (either counseling or medication). I know what helps me, but I wouldn’t presume that what I can advise is what you need right this minute.<\/p>\n

Dave Radford<\/a>‘s piece What Would God Say to Your Anxiety?<\/a> did strike a chord for me this morning. He reminds of the importance of perspective. That said, I know how hard reclaiming perspective in the midst of panic requires incredible resolve and clarity. Hard in panic. Still, if you can, reading his counsel might prove helpful.<\/p>\n

[One caution: He seemed to be preaching to himself when he used the expression “navel-gazing”. I have not seen much navel-gazing in loved ones in the grip of anxiety or panic. Fixation on trying to get your breath or warring against destroying thoughts is NOT navel-gazing. So except for that…wise counsel:]<\/p>\n