What I did when anxiety kept coming at me.

I chose to stand up in faith and fight like my life depended on it, because it did. I am someone who battles anxiety due to years of trauma. In the past, it has been so severe that it was disabling at times.

I come to you now, not “cured” in the sense that humans often define it, because my brain will always have some whack-a-doo wiring in there. But I come to you stronger, healthier, happier, and both renewed and in the process of renewal.

During a horrible season, I found and focused everything I had on Philippians 4:6–7.

It was my bridge, my hope, my lifeline during that time.

“In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”

I had that verse written and taped up everywhere! I focused on those words, and in the process, my mind started to become renewed; pathways that were incorrect for years started to correct themselves. My mind started to heal. During this period, I also learned about Neuroplasticity and the connection between that and the bible.

I came to learn and understand that God gave us the ability to heal our brains. He gave us this gift, He knew what this world would become; He knew there was going to be hurt, pain, and trauma many would experience.

Our brain is something else! It learns from patterns, or as I say it, practice. My practicing faith, reading scripture, prayer, expressing thanksgiving and joy. Those are all patterns I established for myself; those patterns (practices) became habits for me, habits that have become so natural now that I don’t have to think about doing them anymore. They just are.

That practice is the act of Neuroplasticity. I gave my brain a chance to grow in a new way, and my practices reshaped, altered, and molded a new and better mind. That’s not to say my anxiety is 100% gone, but the difference even from a couple of years ago to now is astounding; I don’t recognize who I was then.

Romans 12:2 is a profound verse in the Bible. It tells us we can change our brains. Science is just now catching up to something God already knew, and He gave us the tools we need; we just need faith, trust, patience, and practice.

“Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

How beautiful is that?

© Jane Isley

Verses from: Public Domain Bibles

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