Anxiety has had a grip on me in more than one way in my life. It comes on sudden and unexpectedly.
Right when I feel like I have overcome one obstacle of anxiety, I seem to encounter another.
As my daughter approached turning one last week, fears started to rise and these horrible visual scenarios played out in my mind.
My heart felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest.
I was taking every thought captive and processing through it by prayer to the best of my abilities. But after a few days, I knew I couldn’t walk this out by praying on my own. So, I finally shared it with my husband and he immediately prayed over me.
The following morning I awoke in complete peace.
The burden had been lifted! In my praise of thankfulness I began to wonder, could this anxiety play a role in my destiny? Is it possible that God was bringing me through this for a greater purpose? Were the fears I was experiencing part of an invisible wall I was supposed to walk through? And then, I came upon this scripture:
“God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden in me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting ways-the path that brings me back to you.” -Psalm 139:23-24
Suddenly, it became clear to me that fear is a breeding ground for the anxiety we experience.
Fear is the most acceptable sin in the church right now. We are drowning in it. Either medicating or making excuses for it to disappear. Yet, it still tangles us up . The enemy will stir up our feelings to steer us away from walking straight into our destiny. And it always seems to happen right when God is going to do His biggest work in our lives.
Often the reason we experience anxiety is because we are headed in the right direction.
As we come into our destiny we don’t get rid of the fear, instead, I think we end up learning to embrace courage.
And for me, embracing courage was surrendering. Piece by piece I was stripped down to pure vulnerability. Not only allowing God to lead me through this, but even being able to share it with my Husband.
When we encounter fear in our lives, we have to choose not to isolate ourselves to avoid the truths that are meant to assist us in the breakthrough. Fear keeps us holding onto things we don’t need and God always wants to give us something better.
“Do not let evil be an excuse for you to feel defeated, rather seize the opportunity to turn the situation into a victory for good.”- Romans 12:21
The enemy may put a giant in your life, but because of God, He activates the courage within you to break through! Allow your faith to override your comprehension and rely on God’s true and deep love for you.
Walk through the invisible wall of fear and step into your destiny.
~ Stefanie Rodriguez
