Finding An Anchor In Our AnxietySýnishorn

Three types of Anxiety

Chemical Anxiety – there is a chemical imbalance in the neuro transmitters in your mind, the way your body is wired. There is help for that. Your body could be going through a stage of puberty and your chemicals are firing in different places but things will settle down eventually. Maybe it’s later on in life and you might require some medication.

Reactive Anxiety – if a person has been in a state of constant stress for an extended period of time, the brain may not be able to shut off the anxious response on its own. Anxiety has become the new normal. So you have been in a constant state of stress, going, going, going, and your mind now is unable to shut it off. Let me just be the chief of sinners here, this is the one I struggle with. We don’t have time to rest and recover from the event we just went to, because we have to prepare for the event we are going to. We’ve been in a constant state of anxiety and stress, and now when it’s time to shut it off, we can’t.

When you become a parent, you begin worrying for nine months for this child. That is part of being a parent, but worry is not the lead story in parenting. We have to trust that God loves our kids more than we love them. The Lord can deliver us from the fear of what is going to happen to the safety of our loved ones.

Traumatic Anxiety – If the stimulus is sufficient to overwhelm the individual’s coping mechanisms, the person experiences psychological trauma, which is basically an extreme form of arousal. It’s what has happened in Houston lately after Hurricane Harvey, whether your house was flooded or not. Trauma happened in our life and in our city, and we are so overwhelmed. We saw all the water rising, then we saw all of our belongings on the curb, our coping mechanisms are overwhelmed. When we look at all the things happening in our city, society,  and world, we say, "what do we do now?" People end up going out looking for places to cope. And this leads perfectly to the message of the Gospel because God wants your overwhelming feelings to draw you to Him. Jesus Christ was never overwhelmed, even by the grave, He rose again! When you place your faith and trust in Jesus for living your life, you put your faith in the strongest One there ever was, and ever will be. It’s the good news that Jesus loves you even in the traumatic experience.