During the month of March 2022, the Rocks Before Sand blog will be focused on mental health. The topics discussed will include: anxiety, burnout, serious mental health disorders, and suicide. Our goal in discussing these difficult topics is to make sure that our readers know that they are not alone in their struggles with mental health.  There is a GREAT GOD and loving community that knows and feels your hurt, and we are here to support you through it. If you or your family members are suffering with any mental health issues please reach out to us, our partners, or professionals for support. 

National Alliance on Mental Illness - 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or [email protected] https://www.nami.org/Home 
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1-800-273-TALK (8255) https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 
Rocks Before Sand - [email protected] 
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Mental Health Topic #1: Anxiety
Finding Freedom from Anxiety & Panic Attacks

6 minute read
By Bethany Rees

One Friday afternoon on a weekend getaway with my family, I thought I was going to die. A heart attack at the ripe old age of 39…how could this be? I couldn’t find my breath and felt like I was choking. My heart was pounding, my chest hurt, my throat was closing, and tears were running uncontrollably down my face. 

This wasn’t a heart attack but a panic attack. There is no better way to explain a panic attack than to say it literally feels like you are having a heart attack and dying. 

You see, my anxiety built up so much that it came to a head on a family road trip to Dallas. We left our house as soon as school was out to have a fun weekend with extended family, and yet I couldn’t separate myself from my anxious thoughts within so many situations I was experiencing at work. 

I couldn’t stop my toxic thoughts that were spiraling out of control with dread and worry about situations at work, and my body started to have a physical reaction. So much so, I felt like I was having a heart attack. 

My worrisome thoughts led to my body shutting down. How can this be? 

As pastor Max Lucado explains in his book Anxious for Nothing,

“Anxiety takes our breath, for sure. If only that were all it took. It also takes our sleep. Our energy. Our well-being…Harm to our necks, jaws, backs, and bowels. Anxiety can twist us into emotional pretzels. It can make our eyes twitch, blood pressure rise, heads ache, and armpits sweat.” 

Check. Check. Check. I experienced every one of those physical sensations prior to my panic attack. 

Anxiety is the feeling of uneasiness, nervousness, or fear about an impending event or situation with an uncertain outcome. It has always existed for humans because we are thinking and feeling creatures, but it is growing at an alarming rate for Americans. According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, “anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.”

Jennie Allen exposes the root cause of our anxious feelings in her book Get Out of Your Head, “Our emotions are a by-product of the way we think.” She goes on to explain that “the greatest spiritual battle of our generation is being fought between our ears.”

Anxiety is a feeling that is bred from our thought life and Americans are developing terrible thought habits. And as we think, so we feel, and so we become. Our thoughts are often the drivers of how we experience life because they affect our feelings, beliefs, behaviors, habits, and culture.

So if as goes our thoughts, goes everything else, how can we stop the toxicity that has us spiraling down? 

We stop the toxic spirals of our thoughts by taking our thoughts captive to obey Christ. 

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. ~2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Going back to Jennie Allen’s book Get Out of Your Head, she says that we have to stop walking around, and acting like we are victims that have no power. We in fact have the power to make a choice in our thought life, and we have the power of Christ. When a thought comes into our minds, we can CHOOSE what to do with it. We can let it run wild and free and spiral out of control with anxiety, fear, and all kinds of emotions, OR we can shift our minds back to what we know is true about God.

When an anxious thought comes into your mind, you can interrupt that thought by saying “I have a choice.” By inserting the reminder “I have a choice” it slows the quick toxic spiral, and allows you to shift your mind. Allen then gives examples for various situations: 

When we’re spiraling in noise or distractedness, we have a choice to shift our minds back to God through stillness.

When we’re spiraling in isolation, we have a choice to shift our minds back to God through community.

When we’re spiraling in anxiety, we have a choice to shift our minds back to God through trust in His good and sovereign purposes. 

When we’re spiraling in cynicism, we have a choice to shift our minds back to God through worship.

When we’re spiraling in self-importance, we have a choice to shift our minds back to God through humility. 

When we’re spiraling into victimhood, we have a choice to shift our minds back to God through gratitude. 

When we’re spiraling in complacency, we have a choice to shift our minds back to God through serving Him and others. 

As a thought creeps into our minds, we have a choice where it goes from there. Remind yourself that you have a choice. You can choose to remain CALM and experience Philippians 4:7: 

“the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

In his book Anxious for Nothing, Max Lucado explains how we can stay CALM as we internalize God’s guidance from Philippians 4:4-8:

In looking at God’s words in Philippians, Lucado breaks down this powerful scripture by creating an easy to remember acronym to help us take our thoughts captive and make a choice to stay CALM. 

While everyone’s level and frequency of anxious thoughts differ from one another, we can all seek a closer relationship with God…and this close relationship will change EVERYTHING for EVERYONE. Pastor A.W. Tozer says it best in his book The Pursuit of God: if God is “exalted...a thousand minor problems will be solved at once.” 

In growing closer to God, my panic attacks have gone away and my anxiety has faded greatly. To God be the glory for transforming my mind with reminders of His goodness and strength. While a chaotic situation can still jump start my toxic thoughts, God reminds me immediately that I have a choice and He is in control. 

If you are struggling with anxiety, know that you are not alone. And definitely do not add the feeling of guilt on top of it; anxiety is a feeling that everyone experiences, even Christians that have Philippians 4:4-8 memorized!

Pray continuously and when the toxic spiral of anxious thoughts tries to begin, remind yourself that you have a choice. You can choose to take your thoughts captive, and remain CALM because God is bigger than your anxiety. 

Jesus, help me reject the lies of the enemy. Help me to remember that I have a choice in responding to those lies, and I choose to remember what is true...You are the all powerful God and I am your beloved child!  Help me fully trust that You are in control of every situation. Help me to overcome my anxious heart and mind. Help me believe that the Spirit who raised You from the dead dwells in me. Free me from the bondage of my anxious thoughts. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Do not suffer with your anxiety in silence. Talk to God and share with your friends and family. They too can lift you up in prayer. If you are struggling with debilitating anxiety, please see a doctor and again don’t feel guilt or shame. Seeking help shows your strength!

May God slow your thoughts and give you the strength to take every thought captive to Christ. God bless!

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Be Anxious for Nothing.

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

~Philippians 4:4-8

Theme Song: 

Need You Now (lyrics) by Plumb

References Used:

• Lucado, Max (2017). Anxious for Nothing. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 
• Anxiety & Depression Association of America website found at https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics 
• Allen, Jennie (2020). Get Out of Your Head. US: WaterBrook.
• A.W.Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1982), 103.
• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. https://www.biblegateway.com