When the night moves at a snail’s pace while your mind is running at quantum speed, counting sheep will not lull you to sleep. Anxiety is a beast that sheep cannot keep up with.
Anxiety is rooted in fear. Fear of the unknown and what is unknown is the future. Fear that arises from headlines reporting on stories we have zero control or influence. We don’t know what is going to happen in the next minute or the next day, week, month or year and we certainly cannot fix the problems of the world.
What do we do when the beast of anxiety is unrelenting in its attack? How are we to respond to the things that are in the future? How are we to respond to the things we have no control over?
How can you slay the beast of anxiety when it fights from the unknown? You learn how to fight from victory where the strategy has been given to us to implement. The strategy to implement is to take your thoughts captive.
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Take Every Thought Captive
Journaling is one method within this strategy of taking your thoughts captive that is highly effective. Its effectiveness is that writing forces your heart-rate to slow down. A slowing heart-rate reduces the level of toxic stress that is coursing through your body and gives space for your mind to think.
The beauty of writing in a journal is that it allows you to see your thoughts on paper from an external point of view. As you reread, reflect on the thought you wrote about, it is ready for you to challenge and present to the Lord for His input. A simple prayer request such as, “Lord God, this is how I’m thinking about this issue right now. How do you think about it?” Then write down His response and practice what He said.
Learning God’s way is where the Beast of Anxiety is defeated. If you want to learn how to do this in detail contact us and we can coach you in the process.
