How to Defeat Fear, Anxiety and Depression

Fear, anxiety, and depression.

3 mindsets currently ravaging our culture.

But they don’t have to defeat you. And friend, I’m not simply saying that because I believe it, I tell you that because I walked through it.

In his book, “Anxious for Nothing,” Max Lucado defines anxiety as, “a meteor shower of what-ifs?”

I always assumed fear and anxiety were very similar, but they are different.

Fear sees a threat, anxiety imagines one.

Fear is that pulse pounding in your chest when your swimming in the ocean and you see a shark. Anxiety, however, is the voice that whispers, “never for the rest of your life are you going to go in the ocean!”

Fear sees a threat, anxiety imagines one and depression doesn’t see a way out.

This is a real problem. Especially in our country. Currently, the United States is the most anxious nation in the world.

In a given year, 50 million Americans will feel the effects of a panic attack, phobias, or other anxiety disorders. Our chests tighten. We feel dizzy and light headed. We’ll fear crowds and avoid people.

Stress-related ailments cost the nation $300 billion every year in medical bills and lost productivity. Anxiety disorders in the U.S. are the number one mental health problem among women and are second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men.

How is that possible when we live in one of the most blessed nations in the world?

Because researchers speculate the western world’s environment has changed more in the last 30 years than it had in the previous 300!  With the invention of the internet, smartphones and 24-hour news, changes and posing threats are imported into our lives every few seconds.

In our grandparents’ generation, news of an earthquake in Nepal would reach around world days after the fact. In our parent’s day, it was the nightly news communicating catastrophe. Now, it’s a matter of minutes before we get news from around the globe.  We’ve barely processed one crisis and we hear of another.

Beyond that, we move faster than we ever have before. Our ancestors traveled as far as a horse could take them during daylight. Us? We can be on the other side of the world in a day.

Our great grandparents had to turn down the brain sensors when the sunset. But for us, we turn on the TV, open our laptops, and stare at our smartphones up to minute we go to bed. Darn you blue light.

Then, there are the personal life challenges. You or someone you know has lost their job, fighting cancer, struggling through a divorce, or battling addiction.

That’s a LOT coming at us at once, but today,  I want to give you some hope and truth.

While the presence of anxiety is unavoidable the prison of anxiety is optional.

 Let me pause:  some individuals have legitimate chemical imbalances and their serotonin levels are off. They need to be on some kind of medication. Friend, if that’s you, never, EVER be ashamed of it. Don’t allow someone who’s never walked a mile in your shoes make you feel small or that your faith is lacking because you are taking medication for something related to mental health.

You’re not a second-rate Christian because of it.

But, I will say this… in addition to taking medicine, we still have a responsibility to do our part. Let the medicine do its job, but let’s also take responsibility to have healthy beliefs & mindsets.

And that’s where we’re landing today. How can we defeat fear, anxiety & depression?

How can we have healthy mindsets and beliefs while dealing with emotional pain and mental illness?

Here are 3 things I know work:

 1. Keep Moving Forward

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

 

When I was battling anxiety, I couldn’t see light at the end of the tunnel. Fear told me my life would never be the same; that anxiety & depression would be my new normal.

It was the darkest time in my life when Megan read this verse to me. She gently spoke the truth: God has not called me to live in the darkest valley but to walk through it.

And lying on the other side of the valley is green pastures.

Are you in middle of a valley? Valley’s can be full of pain, fear, or trauma. When you walk through a valley, you begin to wonder if you will ever be the same again.

It’s scary and full of uncertainty. It creates “what if” scenarios further adding to the vicious cycle of anxiety and depression.

When that happens, remind yourself that you are walking through the valley but you will get through it!

This is not the new normal.You don’t live in the valley, you walk through it.

How do you keep moving forward?

Control what you can control:

• Spend time in God’s word– It’s your sword against lies
• Spend time in worship – It is impossible to worry and worship at the same time.
• Talk to a therapist – Someone needs to help you identify the root cause of your fear.
•  Exercise, eat healthy, taking vitamins, stay hydrated. Eliminate some of the sugar and caffeine. These things improve confidence in your health and do wonders for your self-esteem.

Let go of what you can’t control.

• Anxiety increases as perceived control diminishes
• The most stressed out people are control freaks. They fail in the quest they most pursue.

To change the way we respond to life, we have to change what we believe about life.

We are not victims, we are sons and daughters of a sovereign God who is in control of the world.

2.  Clean out the dark places of your soul

The enemy loves to attack the dark places. But victory comes when you bring something into the light.

If you have a secret addiction, tell someone.

If you have pain, talk about it.

Get it out of the darkness and into the light.

My good friend Clint Ward always quotes this verse:

Ephesians 5:11,13

Have nothing to do with fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Everything exposed by the light becomes visible – and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

Cleaning out the dark places of your soul is painful. You have to face the things you’ve been shoving down and haven’t dealt with. But the end result is WORTH IT.

So friend, grab your journal, your favorite beverage and start to dig deep.

Cleaning:

First: the pain

• Ask God to help you remember all of the painful experiences in your life. Include life disappointments, loss, and people who have hurt you.
• List them on paper begin to journal about each one.
• As your listing these out on paper, repeat the phrase, “I choose to forgive _________” Forgiving is a major key to becoming free.

Next: the lies

• List out on paper all the lies you believe about yourself. Lies like, I am not tall enough, pretty enough, strong enough, driven enough, etc. They might not even feel like lies as much as negative thoughts, but friend, they are lies!

Finally: the fears and anxieties

• List out your fears.
• List out all of your “what if” scenarios.

Begin to pray through them.

Journal, pray and talk about it with your spouse, a friend, or a therapist.

Expose the hidden things from darkness and bring them into the light.

In some cases, you’ll need to forgive yourself for the past.  You may even need to forgive God regarding disappointments. Don’t hold back. He’s big enough to handle your pain.

Once you’ve confessed and exposed the lies, pain or sin, bringing it into the light, it loses power over you. Now, it’s time to replace it with the truth.

Replacing: Whenever you remove something, you must replace it or you will have a void.

That is why we must quickly refill the space in our spirit that this lie has vacated. The enemy will try to fill it with something if we don’t. Ask Jesus to come heal and restore this place. Ask God to replace the lies with Truth. Take a minute to write down 10 declarations about yourself that are true.

3. Keep your eyes on Christ

Max Lucado says, “Your anxiety decreases as your understanding of the Father increases.”

Psalm 16:8-11

I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure.

When we keep our eyes always on the Lord, we will not be shaken. I had to learn to trust Him again, to believe that He is good and that He would come through for me.

And He wants that for you too.

He’s good because He put breath in our lungs & gave us eternity! When our hearts are glad and our tongues sing the praise of our God, our bodies will rest more secure. The physical symptoms of anxiety and depression will decrease and peace and joy will increase as we fix our eyes on a Savior bigger than ourselves.

Our minds are very powerful. We can’t control our painful circumstances, but we can control what we choose to believe about them.

If you keep moving forward, cleaning out the darkest parts of your soul and keep your eyes on Christ, you can defeat fear, anxiety, and depression.

And once you do, the destructive behaviors you’ve fought for so long will begin to diminish and fade away.

Freedom is available to you today. We serve a good God who is all about your healing and when you forget that, like I did, He will be faithful to bring you back to truth.

For more about my journey through anxiety and the victory I found through Christ, click here.

Praying for you and believing for your total freedom.

Until next time,

Chris

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