Imagine sitting in your car. Your engine is humming quite nicely. Tunes are playing softly in the background. All of a sudden, your heart starts racing. Sweat beads form on your forehead. You can hardly catch your breath. You’re so afraid you simply want to get out of your car. And you haven’t even left your garage!
What are you afraid of, you’re still in the garage where no one can touch you? The common term used for this is an “anxiety attack.” How can you overcome your fears? Recent research studies have concluded what the Bible already teaches. Change the way you think. They call it cognitive therapy. I call live it living with a Biblical worldview. Those anxiety disorders that are not caused by physical challenges, can be overcome by recognizing where the fear starts and replacing it with the truth. Exchanging one thought for another one. Ripping up one mental picture and replacing it with a more peaceful one.
In the above scenario, being in the car brought back a rush of memories from a previous life-threatening accident. These memories came from touching the car seat, smelling the interior of the car, and hearing the engine hum. All this information brought them back to the scene of their accident, which resulted in their physical reactions: racing heart, sweaty forehead and rapid breathing. Yet they were safely in the garage, not out on the open road where they could be hit again.
The first step to recovery is to ask yourself, “Do I want to live without the fear? Am I willing to get help? And, am I willing to trust Jesus?” (Galatians 5:1) If yes, if you haven’t already done so, ask Jesus to take away those fears and/or painful memories. He can do the miracle! If He doesn’t, however, don’t beat yourself up. All He is saying is that He wants to use the everyday process He gave in His word – the FREEdom process part of a Biblical worldview.
With a friend or in a safe place, ask the Spirit to bring those painful images to mind that cause the fear. As you read the Word, ask the Spirit to show you the truths you’ll need to put in place of those fear causing memories. Then one by one take those fearful images and replace them in your mind with the truths the Spirit gave you. As you practice doing this every time those painful images re-surface, you’ll begin to heal or remove the pain attached to those memories. As this happens, the accompanying physical symptoms will also go away, much like a physical scar. As the wound heals, the pain goes away. All that remains is the memory of how the scar got there.
A study out of Toronto Canada pointed to the fact that there is “actual brain wave evidence that thoughts of God have a calming effect on the brain” for those who believe in God. Again, science is catching up with the Bible. Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace (opposite of fear) him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You.” The key is what you allow your mind to focus on – Jesus and the truths He points out or your fears. Focusing on the truths the Spirit reveals to you will help you overcome your fears.