Facing Anxiety Head On: Episode 6

Dawn Heerema of Self Foundry, a certified life coach and high school teacher, shares tips and tricks to manage anxiety in teenagers and adults. Taking inspiration from biblical figures like David and Jesus, Dawn emphasizes the importance of facing anxiety head-on rather than avoiding it. Learn a few methods for coping, including journaling, prayer, and using physical cues to redirect the brain activity. She underscores the idea that anxiety can be viewed as a gift that can be managed and not something that defines a person. Be blessed and encouraged friends! www.selffoundry.com

Episode Transcript

(00:09):
And I want to give you two different ways to kind of look at.
Anxiety regulation today, and you're going to have to do some trial and error.
I'm not going to say that anxiety is going to just poof, go away.
.999Some people really do live with anxiety for the rest of their lives, but that doesn't mean that it's not tolerable, that it's not manageable.

(00:30):
We can be highly successful.
Very astute people who live wonderful lives, who tend to have overactive brains.
.9995And so I want to just love on you a little bit, give you some different perspectives. 9 00:00:43,813.332833333 --> 00:00:44,733.332833333 This is Dawn Heerema. 10 00:00:44,963.332833333 --> 00:00:49,143.332833333 I'm with Self Foundry, and I am a certified life coach and a high school teacher. 11 00:00:49,473.332833333 --> 00:00:50,733.332833333 And I'm also a mom. 12 00:00:50,763.332833333 --> 00:00:56,903.332333333 I've had 10 teenagers in my house and I now have a 27 year old all the way down to a 16 year old. 13 00:00:56,903.332333333 --> 00:00:59,963.332833333 And I am in the throes of parenting with you. 14 00:01:00,263.332833333 --> 00:01:04,13.332833333 So I want to just help you with my wisdom, my experience, my training. 15 00:01:04,153.332833333 --> 00:01:10,718.332833333 I want to demystify a lot of what happens in parenting today, because frankly, This is not the 90s. 16 00:01:10,718.332833333 --> 00:01:12,288.332833333 This is not the early 2000s. 17 00:01:12,318.332833333 --> 00:01:20,528.332833333 Things are different and we need to get with the program and I need you all to come together understanding that we are forging a new frontier in parenting. 18 00:01:20,778.331833333 --> 00:01:21,868.332833333 So let's do this together. 19 00:01:21,868.332833333 --> 00:01:24,168.331833333 We're gonna raise resilient kids, confident kids. 20 00:01:24,178.332833333 --> 00:01:26,378.332833333 They're gonna sail into adulthood together. 21 00:01:26,478.332833333 --> 00:01:28,68.331833333 We know God has our children. 22 00:01:28,308.332833333 --> 00:01:31,908.332833333 I am so blessed to be on this journey with you of parenting. 23 00:01:32,799.341903628 --> 00:01:45,499.34240363 I mean, I just listened to a sermon that like blew my mind about David and, and then talk about some of what Matthew teaches and just give you some biblical perspective and maybe give you a little bit of a starting point. 24 00:01:45,589.34240363 --> 00:01:47,949.34240363 We know that anxiety is on the rise. 25 00:01:47,949.34240363 --> 00:01:50,49.34240363 We know that kids have a lot of pressure. 26 00:01:50,299.34140363 --> 00:01:52,833.24263039 Some is internal pressure, some is external. 27 00:01:53,653.24263039 --> 00:01:58,867.98240363 we have financial pressures that we didn't experience when we were kids, but the kids are experiencing today. 28 00:01:59,147.98240363 --> 00:02:03,898.08240363 For instance, the cost of education has gone up over a thousand percent since the eighties. 29 00:02:04,178.08240363 --> 00:02:09,438.08240363 So we do definitely have different things going on in our children's lives and in our lives. 30 00:02:09,448.08240363 --> 00:02:18,58.08240363 So let's just dive in and let's just see if maybe the Lord gives you a little bit of a golden nugget, something to just take home and chew on today. 31 00:02:18,698.08240363 --> 00:02:23,268.08240363 I was listening to a Tim Keller sermon who I just, I could just listen to him all day. 32 00:02:23,268.08240363 --> 00:02:24,448.08240363 I just love Tim Keller. 33 00:02:24,708.08240363 --> 00:02:25,918.08240363 I like to go walking. 34 00:02:25,918.08240363 --> 00:02:27,28.08240363 I'm on a new kick. 35 00:02:27,38.08240363 --> 00:02:27,488.08240363 I hate it. 36 00:02:27,528.08240363 --> 00:02:34,708.08140363 Actually, I don't love to go walking, but on occasion I like to go walking, but I'm on a program where I'm trying to do 10, 000 steps a day. 37 00:02:35,78.08240363 --> 00:02:37,268.08240363 It's a lot guys, 10, 000 steps. 38 00:02:37,268.08240363 --> 00:02:39,168.08240363 Sometimes it's just a lot. 39 00:02:39,178.08240363 --> 00:02:46,533.08240363 Sometimes it's not like, you know, it just kind of seems normal, but there's days when it's like, I still got to go four miles and I'm tired. 40 00:02:46,533.08240363 --> 00:02:55,203.08240363 So anyway, this was one of those days where it was pretty late at night and I popped in a Tim Keller sermon, which I totally love because it's a good 45 minutes usually. 41 00:02:55,543.08240363 --> 00:02:58,743.08240363 And, he just left me with such a cool, cool moment. 42 00:02:58,898.08240363 --> 00:03:03,708.08240363 So many coach trainings, which remember I'm a life coach, so I've been trained. 43 00:03:03,708.08240363 --> 00:03:10,68.08240363 I also teach psychology and I'm an English teacher, so I get a lot of literary perspectives on anxiety and things like that. 44 00:03:10,498.08240363 --> 00:03:19,808.08240363 So I've been training in this in a lot of different ways, but a lot of people, they try to minimize like what we're looking at and try to tell you that it's not something to be anxious about. 45 00:03:19,808.08240363 --> 00:03:25,378.08240363 They might say things like, you know, you're imagining things that, you know, it's going to be worse than the reality. 46 00:03:25,408.08240363 --> 00:03:28,758.08340363 They might say it's all about you blowing it up in your mind. 47 00:03:28,778.08340363 --> 00:03:30,898.08340363 But I thought this was really, really fascinating. 48 00:03:30,898.08340363 --> 00:03:34,138.08340363 So in Psalms, we'll see David many times. 49 00:03:34,878.08340363 --> 00:03:44,148.08340363 He's talking out loud and I thought this was like, Whoa, he literally in his Psalms will spell out the worst of the worst possible scenarios. 50 00:03:44,178.08340363 --> 00:03:45,908.08440363 And he will just list them. 51 00:03:46,228.08440363 --> 00:04:06,103.08540363 What if I lost my whole family? What if everybody was killed? What if I lost my kingdom? What if a bear came to attack me? What if my men abandoned me and I was all alone and I was the only one in this battle and everybody left me on the field to die? What if I was injured and just left and I didn't die. 52 00:04:06,133.08540363 --> 00:04:07,103.08540363 I'm just like injured. 53 00:04:07,153.08540363 --> 00:04:14,93.08540363 His brain was like, Ooh, I mean, he went deep into the anxious and I love David for a lot of reasons. 54 00:04:14,93.08540363 --> 00:04:17,733.08540363 I didn't appreciate him probably 10 years ago in the same way I do today. 55 00:04:18,113.08540363 --> 00:04:22,908.08640363 He really, really is all about wearing his heart on his sleeve. 56 00:04:22,948.08640363 --> 00:04:27,678.08640363 I mean, what, what a beautiful gift for a man of God to live it out loud. 57 00:04:27,858.08640363 --> 00:04:30,348.08640363 He's so bold with his sin. 58 00:04:30,518.08540363 --> 00:04:41,234.75207029 He's so bold with his confessions with his inadequacies, but also with celebrating how much good God has given him and how he is journeying against it. 59 00:04:41,234.75207029 --> 00:04:43,534.75207029 And so when we look at David. 60 00:04:43,654.75207029 --> 00:04:45,634.75207029 He's a man who grapples. 61 00:04:45,634.75207029 --> 00:04:49,14.75207029 And I think that's really people who struggle with anxiety. 62 00:04:49,14.75207029 --> 00:04:52,834.75207029 I think you are just people who grapple and you're almost in a different level. 63 00:04:52,834.75207029 --> 00:04:55,224.75207029 And in some ways, it's super beautiful. 64 00:04:55,524.75107029 --> 00:04:58,474.75107029 Anxiety is an indicator that we need to pay attention. 65 00:04:58,784.75107029 --> 00:05:09,269.75107029 And so when you think about how our brain tells us that we need to be careful to stay alive, Anxious is really equating to high alert. 66 00:05:09,629.75107029 --> 00:05:13,239.75107029 So when we're on high alert, we tend to perform in a different level. 67 00:05:13,619.75107029 --> 00:05:18,629.75007029 So when our brain is going like warning danger, now the problem is it's very primitive. 68 00:05:18,649.75107029 --> 00:05:20,89.75207029 It's either on or off. 69 00:05:20,89.75207029 --> 00:05:21,839.75207029 It's not just a little bit anxious. 70 00:05:21,839.75207029 --> 00:05:24,669.85107029 It's often on anxious or off anxious. 71 00:05:25,509.85107029 --> 00:05:43,629.84957029 And that's the problem because, you know, when we think that we're being hunted by the enemy, like David was when he was in battle, you're on high anxious, but when we are like, there's deadlines to hit, I've got a test to have to take I have to ask a girl out to prom and she might say, no, our brain just defaults on. 72 00:05:43,769.84957029 --> 00:05:47,649.84957029 Anxious on, you know? And so we, we do appreciate. 73 00:05:47,924.84957029 --> 00:05:48,414.84957029 Anxiety. 74 00:05:48,414.84957029 --> 00:05:51,74.84957029 I don't want you to ever feel like you don't ever want to be anxious. 75 00:05:51,364.84957029 --> 00:05:53,624.84957029 Anxious brings us up in our level. 76 00:05:53,634.84957029 --> 00:05:55,484.84957029 We level up when we're feeling anxious. 77 00:05:55,744.84957029 --> 00:05:57,384.84957029 And that's a gift that God gave us. 78 00:05:57,404.84957029 --> 00:06:01,364.84857029 It also makes our senses really, really astute. 79 00:06:01,734.84957029 --> 00:06:04,774.85057029 When you think about when you're anxious, everything is on high alert. 80 00:06:05,74.84857029 --> 00:06:06,264.84907029 Your ears are perked up. 81 00:06:06,264.84907029 --> 00:06:07,314.84957029 Your eyes are open. 82 00:06:07,374.84957029 --> 00:06:10,394.84957029 Your senses, you're smelling, you're deep breathing. 83 00:06:10,404.84957029 --> 00:06:17,154.84957029 You are prepped to move, right? Anxiety is a fascinating, fascinating physiological occurrence. 84 00:06:17,154.84957029 --> 00:06:23,854.84907029 And so some of us though, just default anxious and that can be exhausting if you're on high alert all the time. 85 00:06:23,854.84907029 --> 00:06:28,594.84857029 And so David's really, really clear about how he would consider journaling today. 86 00:06:29,54.84957029 --> 00:06:36,264.84957029 So his journaling today was all about listing out every like, don't avoid what you're anxious about. 87 00:06:36,864.84957029 --> 00:06:37,674.84957029 Focus on it. 88 00:06:37,954.84957029 --> 00:06:39,204.84957029 I thought that was so crazy. 89 00:06:39,274.84957029 --> 00:06:40,734.84957029 I'm like, focus on your anxiety. 90 00:06:40,734.84957029 --> 00:06:42,374.84957029 So I was like, this is something that's not really taught. 91 00:06:42,374.84957029 --> 00:06:44,984.84957029 And so I just want to Maybe this is something that will help you. 92 00:06:45,444.84957029 --> 00:06:50,519.84957029 So his suggestion, and I'm going to like make it into modern terms, was write everything down. 93 00:06:51,219.84957029 --> 00:06:58,689.84957029 List all of your worries about tomorrow and about the week and about the month and for each person that you worry for and for yourself. 94 00:06:59,79.84957029 --> 00:07:00,759.84957029 Literally get it on paper. 95 00:07:00,969.84957029 --> 00:07:04,319.84857029 So we're going to like get it from our brain down on paper. 96 00:07:04,329.85057029 --> 00:07:05,459.84957029 There's a couple reasons for this. 97 00:07:05,549.84957029 --> 00:07:10,879.84957029 One, your brain is terrible at storing information, like really, really, really bad. 98 00:07:11,309.84957029 --> 00:07:12,479.84957029 Our brain forgets stuff. 99 00:07:12,479.84957029 --> 00:07:13,929.84957029 I mean, if you've ever forgotten an appointment. 100 00:07:14,129.84957029 --> 00:07:15,709.84957029 Uh, that wouldn't be me. 101 00:07:15,799.84957029 --> 00:07:16,259.84957029 Not at all. 102 00:07:17,59.84957029 --> 00:07:23,289.84957029 But if you've ever forgotten something, like one time I forgot my child at a field, like she had to be picked up. 103 00:07:23,289.84957029 --> 00:07:25,199.84907029 I totally forgot her, you know, terrible. 104 00:07:25,459.84907029 --> 00:07:26,779.84857029 I will never forgive myself for that. 105 00:07:26,779.84857029 --> 00:07:26,989.84807029 Right. 106 00:07:27,369.84907029 --> 00:07:29,79.84807029 But you know, we forget things. 107 00:07:29,89.84907029 --> 00:07:35,819.84807029 So why on earth,, do we trust our brain to remember stuff? So what happens is our brain knows that we are forgetful. 108 00:07:35,879.84807029 --> 00:07:46,909.84707029 Remember, your brain knows anxiety is because of worry, something is a threat, something could happen that's bad, something could hurt us, whatever it is, it's something that we need to be on alert for. 109 00:07:47,249.84807029 --> 00:07:51,529.84807029 So our brain is reminding us and it's reminding us and reminding us and reminding us. 110 00:07:51,624.84807029 --> 00:07:54,724.84807029 Because it knows it forgets things. 111 00:07:55,24.84807029 --> 00:07:59,974.84807029 And sometimes what we are anxious about doesn't have like a file category in our brain. 112 00:08:00,274.84807029 --> 00:08:03,294.84807029 Our brain doesn't have a space to place it long term. 113 00:08:03,684.84807029 --> 00:08:06,94.84757029 So what it has to do is keep it on the forefront of your mind. 114 00:08:06,94.84757029 --> 00:08:08,564.84757029 So it's going to keep like knocking on you. 115 00:08:08,564.84857029 --> 00:08:11,174.84857029 Like, hello, don't forget, you have to worry about tomorrow. 116 00:08:11,674.84857029 --> 00:08:14,774.84857029 Cause you've got a meeting, you know, and it's going to be like meeting tomorrow. 117 00:08:15,64.84857029 --> 00:08:16,654.84857029 Don't forget, you're going to have a meeting. 118 00:08:17,19.84857029 --> 00:08:17,679.84857029 You're not ready. 119 00:08:18,379.84857029 --> 00:08:20,219.84857029 It's just going to keep knocking and knocking and knocking. 120 00:08:20,219.84857029 --> 00:08:25,269.84857029 So when you write it down, what they're finding is it is a way for your brain to relax. 121 00:08:25,479.84857029 --> 00:08:26,789.8475703 Now I won't forget. 122 00:08:26,789.8485703 --> 00:08:29,719.84757029 So as you finish writing it, you're going to put your hand on the page. 123 00:08:30,734.8475703 --> 00:08:36,564.8475703 I literally like night journal, put your hand on the, by the way, these are great. 124 00:08:36,594.84757029 --> 00:08:38,244.84757029 These little pay, I got these on Amazon. 125 00:08:38,584.84757029 --> 00:08:43,824.84757029 Just keep one by your bed because a lot of times that's when your brain is trying to hold onto a thought before it goes to sleep. 126 00:08:44,184.8475703 --> 00:08:51,854.84657029 So you're going to write it all out and then you're going to put your hand on the page and close your eyes and say, "brain, thank you for reminding me. 127 00:08:52,94.84757029 --> 00:08:54,354.84757029 I wrote it all down so I won't forget. 128 00:08:54,374.8475703 --> 00:08:55,574.84757029 You can relax now." 129 00:08:56,179.8475703 --> 00:09:11,639.8475703 Part of what we need to do is take the information from the back side, the primitive side of our brain that's all about survival, and let it go to the front, to the higher level thinking, and we are going to tell the primitive part that you are okay. 130 00:09:12,539.8465703 --> 00:09:13,709.84657029 Thank you for alerting me. 131 00:09:14,134.8475703 --> 00:09:28,54.84757029 I am so glad you told me that I need to remember this, that I need to be careful, that I need to prepare, that I need to get my notes together, that I need to dress a certain way, that I have to tell Jimmy this, like whatever it is that your brain is kind of looping. 132 00:09:28,744.84657029 --> 00:09:29,994.84757029 Thank you for reminding me. 133 00:09:30,24.84657029 --> 00:09:30,234.74757029 I'm so grateful. 134 00:09:30,234.84757029 --> 00:09:31,194.84757029 So glad you did. 135 00:09:31,464.84757029 --> 00:09:32,524.84757029 I wrote it down. 136 00:09:32,534.84757029 --> 00:09:42,474.84657029 So now I won't forget in the morning and then you can put the book down and you can just pray that God carries this for you so you can get into deep rest. 137 00:09:42,804.84757029 --> 00:09:47,884.84757029 So what David is so good about doing is committing his worries to the Lord. 138 00:09:48,344.84657029 --> 00:09:56,789.84757029 So he then, after he goes through his list of all of his worries, He then says, but I'm going to keep my eyes on you, Lord. 139 00:09:57,29.84757029 --> 00:10:06,579.84757029 I'm going to trust you, I'm going to obey you, I'm going to find time for you, I'm going to praise you, I'm going to remember how much goodness is in my life. 140 00:10:06,589.84757029 --> 00:10:31,109.84757029 And what he does is he follows up with his very raw confession of All these horrible things he worries about with praise and Thanksgiving, and you could start a fresh page or even have a separate book where you flip over and you start to write down things you are grateful for that, you know, have gone well to remind your brain that things do go well, that you are safe, that you are comfortable, that God is with you. 141 00:10:31,469.84757029 --> 00:10:36,109.84757029 So any evidence that can start to counter the worry, you can train your brain. 142 00:10:36,429.84757029 --> 00:10:37,659.84757029 So it takes some practice. 143 00:10:37,669.84757029 --> 00:10:38,539.84757029 This is biblical. 144 00:10:38,559.84657029 --> 00:10:39,499.84757029 David does that. 145 00:10:40,299.84757029 --> 00:10:43,249.84757029 Matthew gives kind of the opposite perspective. 146 00:10:43,259.84757029 --> 00:10:45,289.84757029 So, you know, David, I thought that was pretty raw. 147 00:10:45,299.84757029 --> 00:10:45,919.84757029 I love that. 148 00:10:45,919.84757029 --> 00:10:48,69.84757029 I thought that was like, wow, that's really beautiful. 149 00:10:48,339.84757029 --> 00:10:51,19.84757029 Because sometimes when we are anxious, there's like real stuff. 150 00:10:51,379.84757029 --> 00:10:54,429.84657029 Now, Matthew kind of goes more into the life coaching that I've heard. 151 00:10:54,429.84757029 --> 00:10:55,539.84757029 That's pretty common. 152 00:10:55,549.84757029 --> 00:10:57,769.84757029 And so it's a direct contrast to David. 153 00:10:58,404.84757029 --> 00:10:59,574.84757029 Maybe it's been helpful for you. 154 00:10:59,574.84757029 --> 00:11:00,144.84757029 I don't know. 155 00:11:00,144.84757029 --> 00:11:07,544.8475703 it's going to be very individual, but I don't find that most people, this is super helpful with, that verse Matthew 6 34 that everybody knows. 156 00:11:07,834.84757029 --> 00:11:11,854.84657029 Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 157 00:11:11,854.84757029 --> 00:11:14,224.84657029 Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 158 00:11:14,724.84757029 --> 00:11:21,179.8475703 And Matthew 6 27 was, and which of you by being anxious, Can add a single hour to his span of life. 159 00:11:21,959.84757029 --> 00:11:24,599.84757029 Now that to me, it's tough. 160 00:11:24,649.84757029 --> 00:11:25,429.8475703 I mean, I get it. 161 00:11:25,829.84757029 --> 00:11:28,609.84757029 I think that's part of the conversation of the Thanksgiving. 162 00:11:29,399.84657029 --> 00:11:38,389.84857029 So go ahead and dwell in the space of anxiety when you are writing down, just like David did, writing down your worries and, and your concerns. 163 00:11:38,389.9485703 --> 00:11:41,224.84857029 You can also take notes about how it's making you feel. 164 00:11:41,224.84857029 --> 00:11:46,934.8485703 So you can note when anxiety is feeling differently in different parts of your body. 165 00:11:46,934.8485703 --> 00:11:49,114.84857029 So you can kind of give it, you can assign it color. 166 00:11:49,664.84857029 --> 00:11:55,294.84757029 Like today's anxiety feels a little bit like purpley with like some yellow vibration around the edge. 167 00:11:55,324.84857029 --> 00:11:59,864.94857029 And I'm feeling it more in my stomach today and I think it might be affecting my digestion. 168 00:11:59,864.94857029 --> 00:12:04,574.94857029 You can start to really pay attention to how it's feeling and, you know, pay attention to your heart. 169 00:12:04,954.94857029 --> 00:12:10,958.28190363 But what I want you to do is become very, very accepting of your body's reaction. 170 00:12:10,968.28190363 --> 00:12:16,988.28090363 Now this is only your brain giving a physiological signal to be on alert. 171 00:12:17,538.28190363 --> 00:12:30,323.28090363 And what's really, really, calming to me is when you realize that that's not necessarily what's going to kill you, just because your heart is beating faster or because your digestion is off and your stomach might be queasy. 172 00:12:30,323.28190363 --> 00:12:32,393.28190363 I mean, you've even had clients who throw up. 173 00:12:33,83.28190363 --> 00:12:34,383.28190363 It's not going to kill you. 174 00:12:34,443.28190363 --> 00:12:36,963.28190363 That's just your body reacting in the moment. 175 00:12:36,963.28190363 --> 00:12:46,913.28190363 What is going to happen though, is if you avoid it, it makes the thing in your brain bigger and gives it more control because you're not willing to face it. 176 00:12:47,303.28190363 --> 00:12:51,828.28190363 So when you avoid things, your Body doesn't get used to addressing it. 177 00:12:51,838.28190363 --> 00:13:04,958.28190363 So if we can teach our brain to look into the stress, to look into the feeling, to face it with a resolve that I know this isn't going to kill me, but I'm going to breathe through it. 178 00:13:05,328.28190363 --> 00:13:07,918.28190363 And I'm going to know that God is going to carry me through it. 179 00:13:08,298.28090363 --> 00:13:16,243.28190363 Now, what's really fascinating is emotions typically cause a 90 second emotional Vibration in your body. 180 00:13:16,253.28190363 --> 00:13:20,3.28190363 Think of it as a wave and the wave kind of comes upon us. 181 00:13:20,13.28190363 --> 00:13:21,103.28190363 Same thing with hunger. 182 00:13:21,133.28190363 --> 00:13:30,976.61523696 Actually, if you're one of those people who deal with like an eating issue or or having really strong food cravings, our body typically signals in 90 second cycles. 183 00:13:30,986.61623696 --> 00:13:39,246.61523696 So it's going to be a wave and we know it's going to be super powerful for about 90 seconds and you can survive a lot. 184 00:13:39,266.61523696 --> 00:13:40,406.61523696 for 90 seconds. 185 00:13:40,406.61523696 --> 00:13:41,366.61523696 You really can. 186 00:13:41,766.61523696 --> 00:13:44,516.61523696 And that's really powerful when you look back on it. 187 00:13:44,526.61523696 --> 00:13:50,36.61523696 So if you can, when you're having one of those anxious moments, take some time, I would say write it out. 188 00:13:50,586.61523696 --> 00:13:54,136.61523696 You're, you're moving the feeling from the back of your head to the front. 189 00:13:54,146.61423696 --> 00:13:59,286.61523696 So you're moving it from the primitive feel react to think and process. 190 00:13:59,296.61523696 --> 00:14:00,946.61523696 So it's going to move it forward. 191 00:14:01,346.61523696 --> 00:14:02,246.61523696 I have one. 192 00:14:02,651.61523696 --> 00:14:08,831.61523696 Client who this worked beautifully for is, he, he was having a hard time moving from the back of his mind to the front. 193 00:14:09,201.61523696 --> 00:14:15,906.51523696 So I said, would you try next time, just grabbing some ice and hold the ice just for a second. 194 00:14:16,226.61523696 --> 00:14:18,566.61523696 Oh, that really strong part of that anxiety. 195 00:14:18,566.61523696 --> 00:14:26,756.61523696 Like if you could just hold onto the ice for a little while, what happens is the back of your brain being so primitive, it's, it's designed to keep you alive. 196 00:14:26,756.61523696 --> 00:14:30,86.61523696 So if it's focused on worry to keep you alive, it's going to stay in the worry. 197 00:14:30,386.61523696 --> 00:14:35,709.94857029 But as soon as it feels pain, What happens is it has to signal, like it can't do two things at once. 198 00:14:36,49.94857029 --> 00:14:42,589.94857029 It's going to signal that it needs to switch over to pain prevention instead of worry prevention. 199 00:14:42,939.94857029 --> 00:14:44,599.94857029 So it's going to switch over. 200 00:14:44,609.9485703 --> 00:14:49,339.94857029 This is why I believe a lot of students struggle with some physiological things like cutting. 201 00:14:49,699.9485703 --> 00:14:58,169.9485703 Kids are so in tune with how to help their body and they, they've learned that cutting, cutting, like connects them in a different way. 202 00:14:58,509.9485703 --> 00:15:00,259.9485703 It's a pain reaction. 203 00:15:00,799.9485703 --> 00:15:04,429.9485703 Ice is also a pain reaction, but it's not going to leave damage. 204 00:15:04,429.9485703 --> 00:15:08,599.94907029 One time it was so strong, he actually put it on his neck on the back of his neck. 205 00:15:08,969.9480703 --> 00:15:10,819.9490703 But that was such a quick reaction. 206 00:15:10,819.9490703 --> 00:15:11,614.8490703 He said it actually saved him. 207 00:15:11,624.9490703 --> 00:15:19,454.9490703 stopped me mid panic attack and he was able to recenter and refocus and bring himself back to the present and calm down faster. 208 00:15:19,824.9490703 --> 00:15:25,434.9490703 And he said in the past it took him a lot longer to recover, but this actually made it a much shorter, struggle. 209 00:15:25,694.9480703 --> 00:15:30,854.9490703 So I just want to share that with you, that there are a lot of things out there and I want you to keep trying. 210 00:15:30,864.9490703 --> 00:15:32,54.9490703 My biggest thing is this. 211 00:15:32,284.9490703 --> 00:15:40,924.9490703 Borrow my hope, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for future, hope for good things, hope that this will too be manageable. 212 00:15:41,324.9480703 --> 00:15:51,994.9490703 It is something that we can just learn that when stress is on, the front of our brain can talk to the back of the brain and you can kind of be like, this is my check engine light. 213 00:15:52,564.9490703 --> 00:15:57,394.9490703 When this light goes on that I need to be on alert, it's like, okay, something's wrong. 214 00:15:57,874.9490703 --> 00:15:58,844.9490703 Lean into it. 215 00:15:59,364.9490703 --> 00:16:10,454.9490703 Ask God in those moments, what am I learning? What are you calling me into? This might be a call for you to lean into God, a deepening of your faith, the deepening of your trust walk. 216 00:16:10,844.9480703 --> 00:16:31,694.94907029 I'm almost convinced that if you have anxiety, I almost feel like you just have, it's like a strange double sided sword gift where you have this innate intense connection with your body and with the world and your sensitivity is just stronger. 217 00:16:32,134.94907029 --> 00:16:52,389.9490703 And if you can kind of learn to embrace it instead of fear it, not that it's comfortable, but you can kind of say like, this is something that just gives me such an intense connection with my brain and my body and my world, that God is the most present in this moment and I come the closest to him. 218 00:16:52,739.9490703 --> 00:16:57,979.9490703 Whatever thought is powerful for you, that's the one I want you to think. 219 00:16:58,379.9490703 --> 00:16:59,469.9480703 So I want you to write it. 220 00:16:59,499.9480703 --> 00:17:00,559.9490703 I want you to think it. 221 00:17:00,889.9490703 --> 00:17:03,569.9480703 Find a thought about your anxiety. 222 00:17:03,569.9480703 --> 00:17:11,569.9490703 I don't, want you commenting to yourself that this anxiety is overpowering you or that you can't handle it. 223 00:17:11,999.9490703 --> 00:17:13,419.9490703 That is not going to help you. 224 00:17:13,479.9490703 --> 00:17:17,959.8490703 That is not serving you to have a very unempowered thought. 225 00:17:17,959.9490703 --> 00:17:32,220.0490703 You need to have a powerful thought, a thought that is going to give you control, give you the future you want, give you the growth in your stress and anxiety that you need to Be living the life you want to live. 226 00:17:32,550.0490703 --> 00:17:33,860.0490703 It's going to take time. 227 00:17:33,890.0490703 --> 00:17:37,240.0490703 This is not a quick fix, but I think you can do this. 228 00:17:37,260.0490703 --> 00:17:41,190.0490703 Here's some verses for you over time. 229 00:17:41,600.0490703 --> 00:17:45,820.0490703 You will grow stronger in your faith and it does strengthen under pressure. 230 00:17:45,830.0480703 --> 00:17:49,440.0490703 James one, two to four says, count it all joy. 231 00:17:49,480.0490703 --> 00:18:00,400.0480703 My brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for, you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect. 232 00:18:00,460.0490703 --> 00:18:04,880.0490703 That you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 233 00:18:06,50.0490703 --> 00:18:08,150.0490703 Jesus was not immune to stress. 234 00:18:08,420.0490703 --> 00:18:13,370.0490703 Jesus had the most stressful day anybody could ever dream up. 235 00:18:13,440.0490703 --> 00:18:20,750.0490703 if you want to talk about the most anxiety inducing circumstances, you just have to go to the garden of Gethsemane. 236 00:18:21,130.0490703 --> 00:18:22,930.0490703 You just have to follow Jesus. 237 00:18:23,505.0490703 --> 00:18:42,325.0490703 As he walked to the cross, fully knowing, fully aware that he has been trained for this day, Jesus was so stressed out that in the garden he developed a rare condition called, I don't even know if I'm gonna say this right, hematohidrosis this is a super rare condition. 238 00:18:43,85.0490703 --> 00:18:52,295.0490703 It makes you, when you have acute emotional stress, it makes you sweat until your glands rupture and instead of sweating sweat, you sweat blood. 239 00:18:53,235.0480703 --> 00:18:55,485.0485703 This is insane levels of stress guys. 240 00:18:55,485.0485703 --> 00:19:00,205.1490703 If you think your God doesn't understand your anxiety, You're wrong. 241 00:19:01,645.1490703 --> 00:19:02,565.1490703 You're just wrong. 242 00:19:02,815.1490703 --> 00:19:03,975.1490703 You're not alone in this. 243 00:19:04,295.1490703 --> 00:19:06,385.1490703 Jesus knows Jesus walked through it. 244 00:19:06,675.1490703 --> 00:19:11,765.1490703 And if he can walk through it, he can show us how now it's going to take a lot of training. 245 00:19:11,765.1490703 --> 00:19:16,495.1490703 I mean, Jesus was in training for 30 something years to get ready for this day. 246 00:19:16,895.1490703 --> 00:19:18,805.1490703 You are in training. 247 00:19:18,815.1490703 --> 00:19:22,705.1490703 You are building a resilience that will one day be beautiful. 248 00:19:22,705.1490703 --> 00:19:24,475.1490703 You will be stronger because of it. 249 00:19:25,105.1490703 --> 00:19:28,95.1490703 Jesus knows how you feel in your most anxious moment. 250 00:19:28,565.1490703 --> 00:19:38,490.1490703 Once that situation began to unfold where he was praying and he knew this was all going to happen, he really started to operate in that moment calm and confidence. 251 00:19:38,570.1490703 --> 00:19:41,420.1490703 He had this anxiety before the event. 252 00:19:41,430.1490703 --> 00:19:42,220.1490703 So think about it. 253 00:19:42,230.1490703 --> 00:19:44,570.1490703 He's in the garden, he's praying and praying. 254 00:19:44,580.1490703 --> 00:19:47,430.1490703 He's asking God to remove that, take this cup from me. 255 00:19:47,540.1490703 --> 00:19:49,510.1480703 He's asking God for another way. 256 00:19:49,510.1490703 --> 00:19:52,720.1490703 He's asking for the strength to do what he had to do. 257 00:19:52,870.1490703 --> 00:19:55,960.1480703 He was asking his friends to pray and they were falling short. 258 00:19:55,960.1480703 --> 00:19:59,420.1490703 They kept falling asleep on him and, and he just was taking it all on. 259 00:19:59,420.1490703 --> 00:20:07,785.1490703 And his body was physiologically exploding, literally bleeding out as soon as events started to happen. 260 00:20:07,815.1490703 --> 00:20:09,135.1490703 I find this fascinating. 261 00:20:09,325.1490703 --> 00:20:15,15.1490703 He just switches from anxiety to calm like a switch. 262 00:20:15,835.1490703 --> 00:20:16,735.1490703 He was prepared. 263 00:20:17,290.1490703 --> 00:20:18,340.1490703 He was ready to face it. 264 00:20:18,350.1490703 --> 00:20:21,690.1490703 His brain had gone through all of the horrible what ifs. 265 00:20:21,850.1490703 --> 00:20:25,510.1480703 He had already written down, like I told you, like David did. 266 00:20:25,740.1490703 --> 00:20:29,930.1490703 He already went through every single horrible situation that could have happened. 267 00:20:30,300.1490703 --> 00:20:34,540.1480703 And he now was ready to just bring on the Holy Spirit. 268 00:20:34,955.1490703 --> 00:20:36,855.1490703 Right? Bring on God. 269 00:20:37,205.1490703 --> 00:20:39,325.1490703 He was going to rest in that strength. 270 00:20:39,325.1490703 --> 00:20:41,465.1490703 He relies on God's strength right here. 271 00:20:41,955.1490703 --> 00:20:45,575.1490703 Jesus's spiritual faith walk training of hardship. 272 00:20:45,815.1490703 --> 00:20:52,885.1485703 He got there to this moment knowing exactly what he needed to do because of all of his anxiety training. 273 00:20:52,885.1485703 --> 00:20:55,905.1490703 He was ready to sacrifice everything for us. 274 00:20:56,255.1490703 --> 00:21:02,925.1490703 If Jesus had been living a soft life where he wasn't really suffering, he wasn't worrying, he wasn't anxious about anything. 275 00:21:02,975.1490703 --> 00:21:07,475.1490703 He would have been too weak to love us the way that we needed to be loved. 276 00:21:08,45.1490703 --> 00:21:15,575.1480703 Our sin, when we're dealing with, letting anxiety cripple us is that we will not have anything left to pour out to others. 277 00:21:15,965.1490703 --> 00:21:19,585.1490703 Anxiety is not really a sin as so many people think of it as. 278 00:21:19,585.1490703 --> 00:21:21,215.1490703 You're not doing something wrong. 279 00:21:21,585.1490703 --> 00:21:25,115.1485703 What anxiety is, it's like the brokenness of us. 280 00:21:25,115.1485703 --> 00:21:27,725.1490703 Remember we were born broken into a broken world. 281 00:21:27,725.1490703 --> 00:21:29,65.1490703 We have broken bodies. 282 00:21:29,65.1490703 --> 00:21:30,125.1490703 They're not ideal. 283 00:21:30,435.1480703 --> 00:21:34,305.1490703 God's going to have to fix this body before we're going to be up in heaven. 284 00:21:34,655.1490703 --> 00:21:36,335.1490703 So I want to just rephrase that. 285 00:21:36,625.1490703 --> 00:21:38,945.1490703 Sin is just our brokenness. 286 00:21:39,240.1490703 --> 00:21:42,600.1490703 That's not how God designed us to be originally. 287 00:21:42,840.1490703 --> 00:21:47,790.1490703 So anxiety, when you think about it, is not part of God's original design. 288 00:21:47,800.1490703 --> 00:21:51,840.1490703 That's why Jesus had to come and walk through his anxiety just like we do. 289 00:21:52,340.1480703 --> 00:21:55,150.1490703 I like to think about us in our heavenly state. 290 00:21:55,590.1490703 --> 00:22:11,990.1490703 What will remain of me? Who is dawn when I go to heaven? What character traits are going to be with me? Will anxiety and anxious body be able to exist in heaven? I don't think so because anxiety causes us suffering. 291 00:22:12,420.1490703 --> 00:22:14,600.1490703 So we're not supposed to be suffering in heaven. 292 00:22:14,600.1490703 --> 00:22:17,790.1480703 So I want to tell you, this is temporary, temporary. 293 00:22:18,510.1490703 --> 00:22:19,30.1490703 Okay. 294 00:22:19,470.1480703 --> 00:22:20,340.1490703 You can do this. 295 00:22:20,430.1490703 --> 00:22:21,120.1490703 Jesus did it. 296 00:22:21,530.1490703 --> 00:22:22,280.1490703 We can do this. 297 00:22:22,650.1490703 --> 00:22:24,410.1490703 It's not part of who you are. 298 00:22:24,840.1490703 --> 00:22:25,950.1490703 You are not anxious. 299 00:22:26,510.1490703 --> 00:22:28,430.1490703 Don't ever call yourself anxious. 300 00:22:28,790.1490703 --> 00:22:29,760.1490703 You struggle with it. 301 00:22:30,110.1490703 --> 00:22:37,260.1480703 You struggle with this very human condition of having anxiety about things, but you are not the word anxious. 302 00:22:37,360.1490703 --> 00:22:37,880.1490703 Anxious. 303 00:22:38,120.1490703 --> 00:22:40,780.1490703 Stop using that word to speak over yourself. 304 00:22:40,780.1490703 --> 00:22:43,370.1490703 That is not your identity in Christ. 305 00:22:43,840.1490703 --> 00:22:50,0.1490703 You are a perfect creation made in his image, but born into a broken and sinful world. 306 00:22:50,40.1490703 --> 00:22:52,60.1490703 You have a broken and sinful body. 307 00:22:53,20.1490703 --> 00:22:55,430.1490703 Does that make sense? It's really not good. 308 00:22:55,450.1490703 --> 00:22:59,330.1490703 It's, it's sinful really to indulge in sin. 309 00:22:59,880.1490703 --> 00:23:04,210.1490703 So we don't want to indulge in anxiety, which is sin in its broken state. 310 00:23:04,210.1490703 --> 00:23:07,370.1480703 Not necessarily again, the act of sinning, we're talking about the brokenness. 311 00:23:07,800.1490703 --> 00:23:13,490.1480703 So with practice, we can strengthen our resilience to this broken component of our body. 312 00:23:14,50.1480703 --> 00:23:17,720.1490703 Jesus is perfect, but he still struggled with anxiety. 313 00:23:18,40.1490703 --> 00:23:23,520.1490703 So is it sin? Jury's out on that guys, but it's definitely broken. 314 00:23:23,920.1490703 --> 00:23:31,260.1490703 I don't think Jesus in heaven is dealing with anxiety, right? Does that kind of make sense? I want to just clarify that to you. 315 00:23:31,290.1490703 --> 00:23:32,360.1490703 You did nothing wrong. 316 00:23:32,690.1480703 --> 00:23:33,600.1480703 You're not lesser. 317 00:23:33,810.1480703 --> 00:23:35,900.1490703 You're actually more, you're more human. 318 00:23:36,100.1480703 --> 00:23:37,340.1490703 You're more like Jesus. 319 00:23:37,380.1490703 --> 00:23:42,200.1485703 You feel at a deeper level, but Jesus didn't let it rule his life. 320 00:23:42,250.1485703 --> 00:23:46,230.1485703 He didn't let anxiety overrule his purpose. 321 00:23:47,160.1485703 --> 00:23:49,80.1485703 Got that? We have a purpose to live out. 322 00:23:49,80.1485703 --> 00:23:50,420.1485703 We were born with a purpose. 323 00:23:50,840.1485703 --> 00:23:55,570.1485703 Don't dwell and focus on the weakest part of your physical body and let that be defining you. 324 00:23:55,970.1485703 --> 00:24:03,420.1485703 Jesus teaches us to wrestle with the weakness and still live this life designed with purpose that God is offering to us. 325 00:24:03,860.1485703 --> 00:24:07,130.1485703 Jesus's suffering is his connection to humanity. 326 00:24:07,560.1485703 --> 00:24:15,10.1485703 All the negative that we experience as people living on his earth, we suffer and we have a willingness to suffer. 327 00:24:15,615.1485703 --> 00:24:22,155.1485703 And Jesus watches us suffer and still live out the purpose and that gives Jesus such joy. 328 00:24:22,165.1485703 --> 00:24:24,665.1485703 He says, well done, well done. 329 00:24:24,935.1485703 --> 00:24:27,165.1485703 You didn't get stuck dwelling on you. 330 00:24:27,175.1475703 --> 00:24:29,955.1485703 You were able to still live out for others. 331 00:24:30,395.1485703 --> 00:24:38,855.1485703 He is able to love and connect with us in a way that would have been impossible to do if he didn't know what it's like to have anxiety and to suffer. 332 00:24:38,855.1485703 --> 00:24:40,245.1485703 So I think it's really beautiful. 333 00:24:40,564.0525582 --> 00:24:42,654.0525582 Relationships are a lot of give and take. 334 00:24:43,94.0525582 --> 00:24:46,4.0525582 Jesus gave more than most people ever will. 335 00:24:46,434.0525582 --> 00:24:53,444.0515582 Anxiety asks us to give even when our mind is telling us to take refuge, to retreat. 336 00:24:53,904.0525582 --> 00:24:59,484.0515582 When we have anxiety, we have to give our energy and turn our focus outward instead of inward. 337 00:24:59,784.0515582 --> 00:25:04,514.0525582 Look to do rather than dwell when really all we want to do is be with our thoughts. 338 00:25:04,994.0525582 --> 00:25:07,484.0525582 Anxiety steals your joy. 339 00:25:07,864.0525582 --> 00:25:10,34.0525582 It steals your connection to other people. 340 00:25:10,34.0525582 --> 00:25:15,414.0525582 It steals your ability to create when you're stuck in survival or freeze modes. 341 00:25:15,734.0525582 --> 00:25:17,694.0525582 Anxiety is not you. 342 00:25:17,994.0525582 --> 00:25:20,894.0515582 Anxiety is not going to be carried into heaven with you one day. 343 00:25:20,904.0525582 --> 00:25:32,434.0525582 Anxiety is a state of being right now when God is asking you to meet him right there in the midst of all of your tumultuous thoughts and saying, walk with me through this. 344 00:25:32,829.0525582 --> 00:25:36,159.0525582 There will be glory and there will be peace on the other side. 345 00:25:36,499.0525582 --> 00:25:39,229.0525582 Jesus did not get around his circumstances. 346 00:25:39,229.0525582 --> 00:25:42,149.0525582 My friends, he had to walk through them. 347 00:25:44,515.5701197 --> 00:25:45,475.5701197 It almost makes me want to cry. 348 00:25:45,855.5701197 --> 00:25:49,945.5701197 When you think about how he knew, not going to cry. 349 00:25:49,985.5701197 --> 00:25:52,135.5691197 He knew exactly what he was facing. 350 00:25:52,135.5691197 --> 00:25:53,445.5701197 He knew this was going to hurt. 351 00:25:53,515.5711197 --> 00:25:55,145.5701197 He knew it was going to be embarrassing. 352 00:25:55,205.5701197 --> 00:25:56,785.5701197 He knew it was going to be. 353 00:25:56,940.5701197 --> 00:25:59,160.5701197 Ripping the heart out of his mother and his friends. 354 00:25:59,160.5701197 --> 00:26:04,670.5701197 He knew how horrible hours and hours of suffering were about to be. 355 00:26:04,886.5067809 --> 00:26:06,226.5057809 He was terrified guys. 356 00:26:06,556.5067809 --> 00:26:13,346.5067809 It's not like the criminals, like the criminals who went up there, like they deserved it, but Jesus knew as a child, what was coming. 357 00:26:13,356.5067809 --> 00:26:16,136.5057809 He lived with this worry his whole entire life. 358 00:26:16,306.5057809 --> 00:26:18,606.5057809 He did not get around these circumstances. 359 00:26:18,686.5057809 --> 00:26:20,526.5057809 He had to move. 360 00:26:21,11.5067809 --> 00:26:23,361.5067809 Through this fear, right through it. 361 00:26:28,301.5067809 --> 00:26:30,61.5067809 I want to tell you that anxiety is real. 362 00:26:30,961.5067809 --> 00:26:31,981.5067809 You're not crazy. 363 00:26:32,91.5067809 --> 00:26:32,801.5067809 I hear you. 364 00:26:33,401.5067809 --> 00:26:34,241.5067809 I see you. 365 00:26:34,921.5057809 --> 00:26:39,206.9362814 I'm praying for you, but I'm not giving you permission to cave into it. 366 00:26:40,138.22276 --> 00:26:41,178.22276 God's going to meet you. 367 00:26:41,928.22276 --> 00:26:55,338.22276 Are you on your knees? Are you in complete surrender to his will? Are you letting go of your control and remembering that the biggest plan of all is complete restoration one day? You are going to be restored. 368 00:26:56,88.22276 --> 00:27:11,243.22276 Are you able to see God in your darkest night? Are you surrounding yourself with Christians and asking for their prayer? Are you possibly being let down by Christians and feeling drawn down because they're letting you down? Remember, God is a good God. 369 00:27:11,423.22276 --> 00:27:12,753.22276 He's right there listening. 370 00:27:12,753.22276 --> 00:27:13,993.22176 He's right there holding you. 371 00:27:14,3.22276 --> 00:27:14,833.22276 You can't see him. 372 00:27:14,833.22276 --> 00:27:15,953.22276 You have to trust. 373 00:27:16,303.22276 --> 00:27:18,603.22276 Let yourself feel his presence. 374 00:27:18,603.22276 --> 00:27:31,593.22276 Are you ready to walk through this pain and go through dark until you find light? It seemed that Jesus's mind was where he was the most stuck when the actual day came. 375 00:27:31,808.22376 --> 00:27:39,278.22376 When the actual worst case scenario faced him, he actually just moved through it kind of flawlessly. 376 00:27:39,788.22376 --> 00:27:42,188.22376 He was only stuck in the pregame, my friends. 377 00:27:42,388.22376 --> 00:27:44,638.22376 When he got there, it was game on. 378 00:27:45,108.22376 --> 00:27:46,248.22376 You're going to be the same. 379 00:27:46,838.22276 --> 00:27:49,403.22376 When the hard thing comes, You're going to just do it. 380 00:27:49,563.22376 --> 00:27:52,823.22376 Even if it's the worst thing you can imagine, you're going to walk through it. 381 00:27:52,833.22376 --> 00:27:53,803.22376 I promise you. 382 00:27:54,343.22376 --> 00:27:57,333.22376 But the thinking about it, that's where you're getting stuck. 383 00:27:57,953.22276 --> 00:28:02,753.22376 What thought is holding your mind hostage right now? I want to pray with you. 384 00:28:02,763.22376 --> 00:28:12,443.22376 I want to make you feel less alone so that you know, whatever Goliath you're facing in your life right now, you can have a cord of three, creating a strength that you need to get through it. 385 00:28:12,813.22376 --> 00:28:15,703.22376 Let me be your third part of the cord right now. 386 00:28:16,163.22376 --> 00:28:25,213.22376 I had to look at various books of the Bible and read various retellings of them to find the best one that captures the emotion that Jesus was experiencing. 387 00:28:25,273.22376 --> 00:28:30,253.22376 It was really fascinating because even in the writings of the Bible, some authors omit emotion. 388 00:28:30,263.22376 --> 00:28:44,63.22276 Did you ever notice that they stick to facts? While other writers in the Bible are able to capture the heart of the people that we read about, I kind of thought after reading all these different versions that Luke did the best job of bringing the feelings alive a little bit about this night. 389 00:28:44,93.22276 --> 00:28:45,53.22276 Let me read it to you. 390 00:28:45,823.22276 --> 00:28:47,963.22276 Luke 22:39 46. 391 00:28:47,963.22276 --> 00:28:54,123.22276 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives and his disciples followed him on reaching the place. 392 00:28:54,133.22276 --> 00:28:57,883.22276 He said to them, pray that you will not fall into temptation. 393 00:28:58,353.22276 --> 00:29:02,693.22176 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them and knelt down and prayed. 394 00:29:03,133.22276 --> 00:29:03,893.22176 Here's the prayer. 395 00:29:03,893.22176 --> 00:29:11,153.22076 Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done. 396 00:29:11,153.22076 --> 00:29:15,73.22176 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 397 00:29:15,638.22176 --> 00:29:23,608.22176 And being in anguish, he prayed even more earnestly and his sweat was like the drops of blood falling to the ground. 398 00:29:23,638.22176 --> 00:29:30,78.22176 And when he rose up from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 399 00:29:30,568.22076 --> 00:29:33,28.22176 All this emotion, even his friends were sorrowful. 400 00:29:33,588.22076 --> 00:29:35,378.22076 Why are you sleeping? He asked them. 401 00:29:35,388.22176 --> 00:29:38,838.22176 Get up, pray so that you're not going to fall into temptation. 402 00:29:38,848.22176 --> 00:29:46,8.22176 What can we take away from this method that Jesus uses in his anxious praying? We learn a couple of things. 403 00:29:46,8.22176 --> 00:29:48,628.22176 We learned that his friends are not going to be able to save him. 404 00:29:48,628.22176 --> 00:29:51,58.22176 His friends, he recognized that they were there. 405 00:29:51,198.22176 --> 00:29:56,968.22176 He recognized that they can't save him, but knowing that they were nearby gave him comfort. 406 00:29:56,978.22176 --> 00:29:59,308.22176 Don't expect your friends to understand. 407 00:29:59,568.22176 --> 00:30:03,388.22176 Don't expect your friends to carry burdens for you. 408 00:30:03,698.22176 --> 00:30:05,478.22076 You are the one carrying your worries. 409 00:30:05,478.22176 --> 00:30:07,188.12176 You're the one carrying your anxiety. 410 00:30:07,478.22176 --> 00:30:15,138.22176 You can also ask them to pray for themselves because sometimes our emotion becomes theirs, his worries were becoming his friend's sorrows. 411 00:30:15,148.22176 --> 00:30:18,738.22176 So sometimes what happens is we draw from each other's emotions. 412 00:30:18,738.22176 --> 00:30:24,738.22176 And so when we are anxious, often we are making our friends anxious and that can make them very tired. 413 00:30:25,78.22076 --> 00:30:30,248.22176 So we have to have compassion for our friends, ask them to stay strong through their prayer life. 414 00:30:30,278.22176 --> 00:30:31,698.22176 But just maybe. 415 00:30:32,88.22176 --> 00:30:37,568.22176 Don't expect them to fix your problems, but maybe just find comfort in the fact that they're there. 416 00:30:37,568.22176 --> 00:30:43,698.22076 So you're going to have to have a lot of forgiveness for friends who just can't be walking in step with you during your anxiety. 417 00:30:44,98.22076 --> 00:30:46,68.22076 Jesus also set himself apart. 418 00:30:46,68.22076 --> 00:30:46,828.21976 That is huge. 419 00:30:46,968.22076 --> 00:30:47,768.22076 I think that's huge. 420 00:30:48,58.21976 --> 00:30:55,938.22076 We need to sometimes, find the space to separate ourselves from the daily grind and just be. 421 00:30:56,118.22076 --> 00:31:03,348.22076 Just be with our thoughts, acknowledge them, write them down, surrender them, call for heavenly help. 422 00:31:03,718.22076 --> 00:31:11,118.21976 Ask God for angels, ask God for heavenly host that is going to empower you and strengthen you in your time of weakness. 423 00:31:11,498.21976 --> 00:31:12,998.22076 He went into nature. 424 00:31:13,328.22076 --> 00:31:15,528.22076 I love that he was in a garden guys. 425 00:31:15,558.22076 --> 00:31:16,818.21976 I thought that was so beautiful. 426 00:31:17,178.21976 --> 00:31:19,708.22076 We need to sometimes just reconnect with God in a different way. 427 00:31:19,918.22076 --> 00:31:21,628.22076 His nature is powerful. 428 00:31:22,8.22076 --> 00:31:26,458.22076 Every single season has beauty and has connection to all the different elements that are God. 429 00:31:26,838.22076 --> 00:31:27,958.22076 So go in nature. 430 00:31:27,958.22076 --> 00:31:29,138.22076 Have a posture. 431 00:31:29,948.22076 --> 00:31:34,868.22076 He was on his knees, an intentional posture where he is not doing. 432 00:31:34,898.22076 --> 00:31:38,738.22026 I think so often when we're praying, we're, we're more focused on ourselves. 433 00:31:38,738.22026 --> 00:31:40,568.21976 Maybe we're drinking coffee, things like that. 434 00:31:40,568.21976 --> 00:31:47,218.22076 He literally was focus solely on submitting to God in the most humble position. 435 00:31:47,228.22076 --> 00:31:49,378.22076 He was on his knees in posture. 436 00:31:49,678.22076 --> 00:32:06,698.12076 Are you posturing your body? Are you posturing your heart? Are you giving into selfish dwelling, which I would consider giving into this, this earth body, the brokenness where we're just, dwelling and allowing ourselves to fall into food and drink. 437 00:32:06,998.22076 --> 00:32:15,378.21976 Indulgences or sleep indulgences or negative behaviors that that hurt us like smoking and drinking and abuse of substances. 438 00:32:15,378.22076 --> 00:32:22,908.22076 Are we indulging in our earth body or we really focusing on our soul body? So maybe check your posture. 439 00:32:23,933.22076 --> 00:32:25,253.22076 It's going to be ongoing. 440 00:32:25,933.22076 --> 00:32:27,743.22076 Jesus didn't just pray once. 441 00:32:27,833.22076 --> 00:32:31,543.22076 Jesus had been praying to God for years, years and years and years. 442 00:32:31,853.22076 --> 00:32:35,383.22076 And he prayed for hours intentionally in that garden. 443 00:32:35,403.22076 --> 00:32:40,943.22076 I mean, hours and, and it was focused and it was exhausting prayer. 444 00:32:41,53.22076 --> 00:32:43,683.22076 He took it all out of himself. 445 00:32:43,723.22076 --> 00:32:48,803.12076 He cried out, have you let it out? God literally cried out. 446 00:32:48,943.22076 --> 00:32:49,963.22076 Cry it out. 447 00:32:51,103.22076 --> 00:33:01,113.22076 I don't know if you have, have you ever been in your house and just been yelling to God, crying to God, it's such a good release and I highly recommend it. 448 00:33:01,123.22076 --> 00:33:05,363.22076 There is nothing more freeing than just pouring out the emotion. 449 00:33:05,373.22076 --> 00:33:12,213.22076 Sometimes we bottle it up and close it up and our brain just can't hold it anymore, cry out and then. 450 00:33:12,508.22076 --> 00:33:20,48.22076 The surrender, not my will, but yours, God, if you can take this cup from me, do it, but make sure that I'm doing your will. 451 00:33:20,58.22076 --> 00:33:24,78.22076 Make sure that I'm walking in your promises and in your purpose and your will. 452 00:33:24,378.22076 --> 00:33:25,768.22076 I love that. 453 00:33:26,8.22076 --> 00:33:28,848.21976 That surrender means you don't have to have all the answers. 454 00:33:29,48.21976 --> 00:33:30,518.12076 You don't have to fix it. 455 00:33:31,38.22076 --> 00:33:32,328.22076 God's going to take care of you. 456 00:33:33,278.22076 --> 00:33:34,958.22076 Ask for that angelic strength. 457 00:33:35,8.22076 --> 00:33:37,768.22076 Don't borrow strength from human friends. 458 00:33:37,768.22076 --> 00:33:39,138.22076 They just can't give it to you guys. 459 00:33:39,478.22076 --> 00:33:41,178.22076 This is going to come from God above. 460 00:33:41,598.22076 --> 00:33:44,148.22076 And so I leave you with this quick prayer. 461 00:33:45,408.22076 --> 00:33:54,328.22076 Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for these beautiful testimonies that we read about of these men who grapple with real extreme cases of anxiety. 462 00:33:54,368.22076 --> 00:33:55,638.22076 I thank you for their modeling. 463 00:33:55,638.22076 --> 00:33:56,948.22076 I thank you for their teaching. 464 00:33:57,278.22076 --> 00:34:00,538.22076 I thank you, Lord, that you answer, you answer prayers. 465 00:34:00,538.22076 --> 00:34:13,478.22076 And so Lord, I ask you that everybody listening to this podcast can be faithful in surrender to you, that we can learn to trust our emotions are just indicators and that you are beckoning us closer. 466 00:34:13,478.22076 --> 00:34:22,908.22076 So Jesus, I ask you, if you can take this cup and remove it from my friends here and not have them suffer lives of anxiety, take it, Lord, I ask you to intervene. 467 00:34:22,908.22076 --> 00:34:27,788.22076 I ask you for beautiful peace that passes all understanding that you do promise to us. 468 00:34:27,788.22076 --> 00:34:31,718.22076 And I ask you Lord to restore what is broken in us. 469 00:34:31,718.22076 --> 00:34:36,878.22076 And so Jesus said, thank you that we are given a promise that our suffering is temporary. 470 00:34:36,888.22076 --> 00:34:38,558.22076 Help us to really trust in that. 471 00:34:39,153.22076 --> 00:34:44,293.22076 And I pray that something beautiful was taken away from this podcast for anybody listening. 472 00:34:45,163.22076 --> 00:34:46,653.22076 Much love to all guys. 473 00:34:46,723.22076 --> 00:34:55,323.22076 I pray for a peaceful night and a beautiful week and friends to comfort you, friends to surround you and strength abundant. 474 00:34:56,153.22076 --> 00:34:56,773.22076 Take care.