028: Answering Anxiety: Creating your Path To Peace

Anxiety!!! AHHHH!
No doubt, you've experienced even more anxiety lately. And it's no wonder with everything going on in the world! In chaotic times, it can seem near impossible to find the peace we crave. Yet we know, as believers, that true peace comes only from God.

But then we have to break through the noise, the distraction and the chaos, to find our quite place with God. Isolation has never sounded so good! Nevertheless, in the midst of our struggle, God makes a way for us to meet with Him.

Today, I'm sharing my steps I take to get my mind ready to meet with God, when anxiety tries to take over. I call it the Path to Peace. I created a guide and worksheet to help you work through the jumble and find that place of clarity and rest with God. I pray that this tool blesses you richly!
Grab yours here: https://michelleremington.com/path-to-peace/

Be sure to leave a review and subscribe if this podcast has been a blessing to you. And to find more tools for your journey to deepen your faith, emotional mastery, and thriving on purpose, visit https://www.michelleremington.com

If you enjoy worth it, consider joining the worth it squad Facebook group, we're a squad of fellow prayer warriors and thought conquerors, we pray together, we celebrate each other. And through all that's going on in life, we grow together, we encourage and keep each other accountable. There's no judgment here, no shame, we understand that life can be overwhelming, but you don't have to battle it alone, we can make it worth it together. So take a moment, look up Worth It Squad on Facebook, grab your sword warrior, and join your squad today.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/worthitsquad

Be sure to leave a review and subscribe if this podcast has been a blessing to you. And to find more tools for your journey to deepen your faith, emotional mastery, and thriving on purpose, visit https://www.michelleremington.com

If you enjoy worth it, consider joining the worth it squad Facebook group, we're a squad of fellow prayer warriors and thought conquerors, we pray together, we celebrate each other. And through all that's going on in life, we grow together, we encourage and keep each other accountable. There's no judgment here, no shame, we understand that life can be overwhelming, but you don't have to battle it alone, we can make it worth it together. So take a moment, look up Worth It Squad on Facebook, grab your sword warrior, and join your squad today. https://www.facebook.com/groups/worthitsquad

Transcript

Worth It! Squad: 0:00

If you enjoy worth it, consider joining the worth it squad Facebook group, we're a squad of fellow prayer warriors and thought conquerors, we pray together, we celebrate each other. And through all that's going on in life, we grow together, we encourage and keep each other accountable. There's no judgment here. No shame. We understand that life can be overwhelming, but you don't have to battle it alone. We can make it worth it together. So take a moment. Look up worth it, squad on Facebook. Grab your sword warrior, and join your squad today. On today's show, we're talking about anxiety. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the fun one. Today we are going to be answering anxiety. I have no doubt that many of us have been experiencing some kind of anxiety with everything that is going on in the world. And we're going to address that today. We're going to answer that anxiety today. And I'm going to share with you what I call my path to peace, how I handle the anxiety and get myself back to where I need to be looking straight at God. So without further ado, let's get into it.

Worth It! Intro: 1:31

Welcome to worth it. The podcast where we answer anxiety, deflate fear and shut down shame you were made to thrive. My mission is to help you get deeply rooted with God and reclaim your weapon that the enemy of God has been using against you. After going to battle for my own mind. Four years ago, I realized that there is a war going on for our minds. A battle that begins with how we think says you have much more control than you realize. With each episode, you'll learn how to fight back and become more confident in the truth that God already knows. You are worth it. I'm Michelle Remington, Christian mindset Coach spotcap debater, daughter of the king and warrior Mama. Grab your sword data of the king, it's time to unleash your inner warrior princess.

Michelle Remington: 2:30

Hey, beautiful warrior. Welcome back. And thank you for joining me for another episode of worth it. Oh, yeah. Today, we're just gonna deal with that just big old elephant that's just sitting on us. We call that elephant anxiety. And so today, we're going to answer that anxiety. And no surprise, a lot of us are probably experiencing anxiety with everything that is going on in the world. Right now. There's probably a lot of anxiety that's been going on. And many of us have been going through it for so many years. And today, I just wanted to share with you how I answer that anxiety because I've actually here recently, no surprise been experiencing a bit more anxiety than usual, which at first it threw me off track. And I'm just being honest with you, because I'm, I'm not a medical professional yet. I'm working on it. But I'm not a medical professional yet. And quite frankly, I just want to be real with you. Because I want you to know that you are not alone in what you are feeling. But I do feel that God has given me a gift to share and also a responsibility like a calling, I guess you would say, to help other women to get through this same thing and to know that they're not alone to know that you are loved to know that God has provided us a way to overcome these things. And I want to share these steps that I've been taking with you in partnering with God, he will be able to work through you as well and give you that perfect and beautiful piece that we crave so much. So I'm going to share with you today what I like to call my path to peace. What I realized when I was experiencing this anxiety, like I have this kind of analytical scientific mind. So I'm like, Okay, I'm recognizing that I am feeling anxiety and I haven't had this for quite some time. So what has happened to cause this to come upon me and so I start to retrace my steps and look at what I've been doing. And like many, I've been looking at the news and things like that. And that'll definitely spike your anxiety, right? So just watching the news, seeing what's happened, trying, really trying to watch the news. So I can be prayerful and know what to pray for. I was watching the news, being prayerful, but really just need to be more prayerful and less news. That was one of the steps that I was noticing. But then also just kind of letting my mind wander. And if you've listened for any amount of time to the podcast, I'm very big about emotional intelligence. And so while I was trying to be prayerful in what I was seeing, on the news, what's going on in the world, I was not exercising that emotional intelligence as well. So what I'm then realizing is that I really need to limit what like how much of the news I watch, because anytime we watch the news, it triggers an emotional response, and the news, and commercials and shows and everything like that they are now all triggered. To create an emotional response in the viewer, we need to be aware of that in this generation. This is something that the enemy of God has used for so much time. And, and, of course, for so long, it was just through literature, but then also like the verbal stories and things like that, but now with, with radio, and television and and things like that, there's even more of a reach into the human mind to latch on to those emotions, and then create that fear or create whatever that emotional response is, whether it's like watching a romance story and feeling like oh, and warm and fuzzy inside, or like some kind of feel good moment, or creating that fear in some kind of horror movie or suspense, Thriller drama or something like that they're triggering an emotion. So as believers, we really need to monitor that, as well as limit that because in limiting and monitoring that we are basically changing the access that we give to the enemy, and other people that have created this content and influencers, we can limit their reach into our minds and into our emotions. So that's a lot. But I want you to take some time to think about that, okay, because that's, that's really going to be instrumental in your emotional health in you taking back control of your emotional health, because there's only two people that should have access, main access to your emotional well being to your mind, and that is you. And God. Very simple. And I don't take lightly that I have a podcast, and that you are listening to this podcast, I don't take that lightly. I take it to God. And I make sure that I am honoring God and honoring you. In honoring you, I'm also honoring God. So I want you to know that as well. So getting into this path to peace number one step in my path to peace, is prayer. Now, of course, with all of the distractions in the world today, maybe prayer is not the first thing that you think of because your mind is so rattled and distressed and distracted, that you try to go to prayer. And your mind is just so jumbled. You don't know what to say, or these thoughts. Just keep on coming in your head as you're, as you're sitting there, trying to pray. So you can flip this path to peace if you need to help you get into the right mindset, kind of like why a church service usually starts with music, or chart starts. Some of them start with prayer. Some of them start with music. It just depends on how you train yourself. So in this circumstance, prayer is the number one priority here but it doesn't have to be the first thing you do. Okay? And feel free to write these down. And I think I'll probably create some kind of PDF for you. So that you can maybe tape this up in and just put it somewhere or maybe put it on your phone, something like that to where you can just look at it. And when you're in that moment, of anxiousness, because I don't know about you, but like, if I'm in that moment of anxiousness, like my mind is completely occupied and, and distracted. And so it's helpful for me to have a list in front of me, like, okay, these are the things that I need to focus on. Okay. And then from there, as you practice your path to peace, because it's going to be different for everybody, as you practice your path to peace, you can then write down your order of what works best for you. So number one priority in that path to peace, is prayer. second priority is the other way that God talks to us. And that is, through His Word, scriptures. Maybe there's a scripture that you have memorized, maybe it's just opening up your Bible and reading his word, maybe there's a particular chapter of, or book of the Bible that that is just comforting to you, like, Second Corinthians, or Philippians, anything like that, the next step is praise or worship, you may find that this is like your first step that you take, turning on some kind of praise, or worship music, depending on what you're feeling at the moment and what you need, and what you know, will get you into that right mindset. And you may start with praise, go to worship, start with worship, and then after you're done, go to praise. It's how ever you work. And this is your solution to put together. And because God created you in a beautifully unique way, the way that you work with God to put it together is going to is what's gonna work for you. And this is gonna be your go to. And after a while, you probably won't need to have a list in front of you. You'll just know like, Okay, well, I feel some anxiety coming on. Okay, let me let me get my headphones, or let me get my, get some some praise music on or maybe, maybe you want to do the next step, which is journaling, or vlogging, maybe it's helpful for you to just like, Okay, my mind is so inundated with thoughts right now. And so I just want to write this down. Or maybe you just want to work out your thoughts. And you can talk on video doing a vlog, you don't have to post it anywhere, you can just keep it for your own emotional health away for you to work it out. And with all of these steps, as I said, Before your prayer, prayer is going to be your first priority. And each of these steps can meld into prayer, if you come across a scripture that's just really resonating with you. And you just got to stop right there, close your eyes and pray like thank you Jesus for this word as maybe triggered something and you could talk to Jesus then, or maybe, you know, praise and worship very often leads to prayer. So that's a great step there. Or maybe if you're, you know, doing your, your journaling, or your vlogging, you can then turn to prayer, as well. And then the very last step that I would say, is phone a friend. So this is going to be I'm going to put some some criteria on this. Because you don't want to just call any friend that doesn't have their own relationship with God. This is a trusted friend, somebody in your circle, somebody that you regularly pray with someone that you can trust in someone that you know, has that spiritual wisdom that God has given them. So you may or may not have a person like that in your life, but the number one person that are the number one person that we want to turn to as God through this time. Because we know that the reason why we're answering that anxiety is because that anxiety is lies, it's lies that have like created this kind of emotional attachment, in our mind, especially aided by, you know, seeing on on some kind of video or listening to something that has triggered an emotional response or maybe it's something that you saw a while ago or something that you're seeing just in general in the Word in the world today. And like it's been eating at you for a while, and you haven't addressed it. That's why it's important every day, especially before you go to bed, I personally, I pray twice a day, when I wake up. And before I go to bed, and so maybe you want to get into the habit of before you go to bed, either journaling, in praying or just praying, and just laying out all of those worries to God, before you go to bed. Because there is scientific studies now that have shown going to bed, you know, with like anxious thoughts and things like that, depending on the person will sometimes that person will feel better in the morning, they've worked it out, you know, maybe it's just a problem that that they're that they're working out, or it's something that could begin to fester. So you kind of want to make a study of yourself. And that's, that's what I had to do. Those four years ago, when things got very much out of control. And then I had that scary moment where it could have all ended. And I realized very quickly that I needed to understand myself better. And what I knew from reading God's word, from prayer, and from the preaching, that I have been blessed to hear over the years, just knowing all having all of that, circling around in my head, I knew that if I was going to know myself very well, as well as I could possibly know myself, I would need to partner with God because He is my Creator, he knows me better than I know myself, and God knows you better than you know, yourself. And don't think about because I used to go here. So I'm just going to say this because I used to say like God knows you better than yourself. And then I would instantly just snap to God knows what a horrible person I am. What must he think of me just going into that no, close the gate, don't go down that road. Because that's a lie as well. God knows you better than you know yourself, and he loves you more than you could ever comprehend. Knowing what he knows about you, he loves you more than you can ever comprehend. Because what he knows about you is your heart. He knows your mind. He knows the meditations of your heart and mind, he knows your motives for what you do. And sure, it may not all be perfect. But the very best thing that we can ever do for ourselves is to turn to God and full truth and say, God, I am a very flawed person. And I need you because I want to be better. And I can't be better. without you. You were the only one that can help me. That's why you partner with God. I mean, it's like the ultimate partnership. Nobody else knows you better. And nobody else can help you to be the best person that you can be. So that is the path to peace. Now, a few side notes. It may help you to create an environment of praise and environment of worship. So if you have like your own office space, or something like that, and you can create your own space, or you can even do it in your house and create this environment of praise and worship, have scriptures up on the walls. And you know, just make sure you don't have anything contradicting each other. Because a lot of that is subliminal. Now, the other thing is, is that and what I've noticed over the years, because I've been living for the Lord for about 1617 years now is sometimes I'll have a scripture up on the wall. And I'll pass it so much that it in my mind just skips over it. I'm just being super honest with you. And it's easy for that to happen. So I don't know, maybe change it out or something like that. Or maybe have a scripture on your phone that you keep on your phone and switch that out or if you want to keep a specific scripture on your phone or in your home, maybe changing out the design with the seasons or something, I'm just this is just extra stuff, but just thoughts about how to create that environment. But anytime you experience anxiety, try to find a place a quiet place where you can go and pray. If that's not possible. That's why the rest of these steps in the path to peace can be helpful. And they can be things that that you can do while you're going about your day. And doing whatever from not being able to listen to the music and you all you can do is pray or being able to set that environment with some prayer and praise music or taking that time to have some quiet time to pray or read the scriptures or taking a break to vlog or journal or something like that. mean there's there's ways that we can fit this into our day when we're experiencing that anxiety. Now, like I said before, I'm not a medical professional. So if you get to the point where your anxiety is at a crisis point, that would be a good time to phone, that prayer warrior friend of yours, that would be a good time to phone, your pastor, or some other leadership member of your ministry team that you can pray with, and you can talk to, you are never alone. And there's always a way out of the darkness. God's word gives us that promise and that hope that God will always make a way out and a way back to him. So I want you to be encouraged in that. I hope this podcast episode has been a blessing to you. Now earlier I did mention about creating a PDF version or picture version of the path to peace in Jesus and I did indeed make that for you. So just head on over to Michelle Remington calm you can also click on the link in the show notes. It'll take you straight to the website, grab that free tool for yourself to help you on your path to emotional and mental wellness. As always, let's go ahead and finish out in prayer. Lord Jesus, I praise you and I glorify you, God, you are amazing. You are the Almighty, eternal and sovereign God there is none like you. And I thank you God, because we are fearfully and wonderfully made with this amazing love by you. And I thank you, Lord, that You don't just make us and leave us. You make us and you stick through us through the hardest times in our lives. And I pray Lord, that for the person listening to this, that you would remind them, that you are with them, that they are hearing this episode for a reason. And I pray, Lord, that You would help them to find that place to make that time to meet with you and talk to you and to overcome and gain the victory over the anxiety over the depression over the doubt over the shame over the fear over everything that is trying to take over their life and distract them from you. I pray, Lord, that You would help each person hearing this to work with you and find their own path to your peace. find their own path, using your word you, praying with you working with you to finally feel that peace that you have promised us and even restore their joy. Lord, help them to feel their joy and help them to connect on a deeper level with you God. That is my sincere hope and prayer is that each person hearing this would be able to draw closer to you than they have ever been in their entire lives and that they would continue to stay close to you. The world right now is looking pretty scary and the world right now is looking pretty close to A lot of the things that are written about in your scriptures, and I think that's what's causing a lot of that anxiety, Lord. But you've also told us in your scriptures that though we may see these things, to keep our eyes on you, and I pray, Lord, that You would help each person that hears this to keep their eyes on you. I thank you, God, for who you are. I thank you, God for how you love us. I thank you God for the opportunity to know you and to love you and to know the greatest love that we could ever know in our lives. It's in your precious in Your holy name Jesus we pray, Amen. And Amen. Thank you for joining me on another episode of worth it. Be sure to leave a review and subscribe if this podcast has been a blessing to you. And to find more tools for your journey to deepening your faith, emotional mastery and thriving on purpose, visit michelleremington.com