The Highs and Lows of Anxiety...

In this week's blog post, I want to talk about the ups and downs of anxiety. My first blog post was about my anxiety journey, and in this blog I want to expand on this.

From my experience, anxiety hasn't been a straightforward journey... My anxiety journey has been a mixture of highs and lows. At the beginning of my journey, it was mostly low points until I learnt how to manage my anxiety. Anxiety can feel like we are climbing a mountain, but there is hope, we can keep going, we can keep climbing! Even if we have to take a break and then rise up again then this is still a good way to cope. We can get to the top of the mountain, and today I want to share with you what has helped me to rise up and keep going in my anxiety journey.

When my anxiety first started, I was constantly trying and failing. I would feel anxious, which resulted in physical symptoms, then I would try and do better but then feel anxious again. It was a vicious circle. It was throughout these low points at the start of my journey, that the concept of "falling and arising" really encouraged me.

We can see this concept in Proverbs 24:16 where we read:

"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again..."

Also, in Micah 7:8 we see the same idea -

"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise..."

In both of these verses, we learn a valuable lesson. The most important thing when we fall down and fail is to focus on rising up and trying again. If we keep doing this, then we are doing the right thing. Although we may feel down and guilty about falling down, as long as we don't stay where we are, but we keep getting up and trying again then this is the main thing. God is pleased when we keep trying again to do better. We only really fail if we stop trying to manage and overcome anxiety...

However, in Micah 7:8 we see that God doesn't just encourage us to keep trying to do better in our lives... He gives us help to do this! How? The second part of this verse in Micah says: "when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me." When we are in dark, sad places, God can be a light to us! How can he be a light to us - by us praying to him and reading his word the Bible.

Also, in Psalm 119:105 we read: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Here we see that the Bible is a lamp and a light to us, if we let it guide our steps by reading it and following the guidance contained in it.

So we see that God helps us when we fall, by providing us with encouraging Bible verses to give us comfort. Also, he gives us examples in the Bible of how faithful characters dealt with struggling and falling down, to encourage us too.

Micah 7:8 and Proverbs 24:16 are two Bible verses which encourage and inspire me to keep trying whenever I fail. What Bible verses encourage you to keep trying again to do better each day?

To help us to remember the Bible verses which encourage us to rise up from our failings, I have created The Bible Verse Writing Journal. This book has a simple concept and layout consisting of sections to write out Bible verses, and sections to write out the encouragement you gain from these verses. The journal is designed for you to complete with a variety of encouraging Bible verses, for you to look through and read whenever you need a boost!

If you are looking for a book to read, then my anxiety self-help books - "Casting all your care upon him..." are perfect. The two aspects of falling and arising which we have looked at today, are covered in more detail throughout both of these books. In particular, on day 64 in book 1, I have included a poem on "Falling and Arising", which was the inspiration behind this post.

Also, in book 2 on day 194, I have talked about both aspects of God's help when we are struggling. This section focuses on encouraging Bible verses, and an example of Abraham - a faithful Bible character, who never gave up hope!

For more information or details on how to buy my anxiety self-help books or my NEW journal, please visit the "Self-Help books" and the "Journals" sections on this website. If you have any questions or queries, feel free to contact me using the details on the "Contact" page.

Keep an eye out for next week's blog, where we will look at another way God can help us in our lives...