Do you have an anxious heart or trouble being still? Today I want you to meet, Julie Loos, a friend of mine who blogs over at Unmasking the Mess. She brings us a fresh perspective as she shares what it is like to be still in the midst of anxiety. She is my hero when she states her disorder has been a blessing. We all can take away some useful tips from her wise words. Thank you, Julie.
Calm my Anxious Heart: How God Enabled me to Trust
Guest post by Julie Loos
Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.Psalm 46:10, NLT
When I decided to write for this series, I was a little nervous. I mean, I could write something, but what could I say? The word “still” and I just don’t go together.
Being still is one of the hardest things for me to do. When you have an anxiety disorder, your mind is always going. The hamster in the wheel, yep, that’s my brain. Asking an anxious person to be still is an oxymoron.
I’ve tried numerous times, whether it be walking, sitting or lying in my bed to be still. I try to empty my thoughts and see if God will say something to me. It feels like minutes or hours of trying not to think when in reality it’s a minute and a half.
Why I Couldn’t Be Still
My whole life has been doing, striving and giving my brain workouts until six years ago. I found myself almost bed-ridden from years of stress. My balance was out of whack, so driving was out of the question. For someone who was always on the go, it was a significant awakening!
Anxiety became a new way of life. At that time, I was frustrated and hopeless, but as I look back, it was the way God urged me to find stillness.
Stillness in the form of two ways:
~To be physically still.
~And to trust in His ways and plans.
Previous to this, I had ideas and dreams, and I was beginning to live them out. However, it was an uphill battle trying to go on the path I wanted. Things were so hard because, in retrospect, I was going in the wrong direction. God needed to send a struggle to get my attention.
Letting Go
How about you, are you struggling with something right now? Do you feel frustrated as you battle this day in and day out?
I beg you to look differently at your struggle. Might God be teaching you something vital as you fight against it?
The Greek word for still is “rapa” which means to cease and let go. The idea is to stop your fighting and instead trust things will work out.
Be still and know that I am God.
Here’s what I’ve missed, I thought I was to cease all my activity, but in reality, I needed to stop trying to figure everything out by myself. To be still is to trust my Heavenly Father, know He has my life in His hands, and to allow Him to lead me.
Trusting God
Why was I anxious, because I thought everything depended on me. I held all control, but really, God was the one always in the driver’s seat.
Isn’t this what struggles do? They cause us to realize we were never in control. The daily battles, the health battles, the parenting or marriage battles, all show us we need to be dependent on God. We don’t have to struggle alone, but rather trust that He is with us.
Only in trusting in God during these hard times can we get to know Him.
4 Ways to Get to Know God Better
1. Spend time in His word.
2. Through prayer.
3. Ask Him to know Him deeper.
4. Be still, stop your struggling and trust God’s help.
The key to being still and getting to know God better is to stop striving and doing life in our strength, but instead, find the time to spend with Him and trust in His leading on life’s journey.
Being still is less about not moving in a supine position, but rather realizing your purpose in life. Our mission is to know God better and do His will. We will never fulfill those assignments when we’re busy and struggle on our own.
My anxiety has been a huge blessing because it caused me to become more dependent on God. When I have anxious days, I am ultra-focused on needing to fill myself with Him more than anything else on earth.
I have found I can be still even in the midst of anxiety!
Please meet my friend –
Julie Loos is the mom of 5 kids and has been happily married to Greg for 17 years. She loves to read, eat chocolate, drink iced tea and spend time writing in the midst of messes. You can find her blog at www.unmaskingthemess.com.
A few other places to find Julie are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Click here to see the favorites on the topic of “Being Still.”
We would love to have you join our community.
Embracing the Unexpected | Maree Dee
Subscribe today and never miss a post.
My takeaway… Stop fighting against the struggle. I’m going to try it! Thanks for the encouragement Maree and Julie.
Char – Such a great takeaway and one which can be applied in any situation. I am going to take that into my week. Thank you for stopping by. Maree
“God needed to send a struggle to get my attention.” I can so relate to this statement! It really has been a season of stripping away the unnecessary in my life and a time of focusing and trusting Him.
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. I too can relate to God needing to get my attention and doing it through a struggle. It sounds like God is doing some great work with you. Sorry for the season of struggle. Maree
So, so , soooo good, Julie! Love seeing two of my favorite bloggy friends in the same place! Learning to be still is so difficult. I definitely struggle with it!
Thanks so much for being a part of #MomentsofHope♥
Lori
Lori, Ahh – thank you for your kind words. It was great to have Julie as our guest on Embracing the Unexpected. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Maree
“To cease and let go”- so simple, yet so hard to do. Julie, I feel like I know you better through this post. The book “Calm My Anxious Heart” really helped me conquer my tendency to worry. Thank you for sharing your story here at Maree’s blog.
Sarah, I just got done reading your post on “But God.” I loved it. Julie did write a fantastic post here on my site. “Calm my Anxious Heart” is one of my favorite books. I believe the author wrote another one after that one. I hope you have a wonderful day and weekend. Maree
Julie – this really speaks to my heart! I had to let go of “obsessive” thinking – meaning I thought a lot (about solutions to problems). Obsessive thinking doesn’t mean you don’t think well – it just means you brain goes like that gerbil on the wheel you talk about! I had to train myself to stop thinking obsessively. Like you, I had to learn to still my brain. One way I did that was by praying or reading scripture when my brain started running like that gerbil wheel. Thank you for sharing your experience!!! Good job!
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your own experience. I would think praying and reading would help a ton. Blessings, Maree
Great post! Yeah, that trying to figure it out on our own is so stressful! If only we could consistently remember to surrender problems to Him, recognizing that He has the solution, the wisdom, and the power to handle it. And, we will be doing ourselves and those around us a favor if we stop bashing our proverbial heads against the proverbial walls trying to do the impossible, that is, figuring it out on our own when the answer continues to elude us.
What great words of wisdom. Thank you for stopping by and joining in the conversation. Maree
I love this verse because it reminds me to let God work, to give my anxiety and fear to Him. When I do, He guards my heart and mind with His peace.
Debbie – Yes, I agree we need to give it all to God. Thank you for stopping by and taking time to comment. Hoping you have an awesome Monday. Maree
Being still and knowing he is God can be difficult, but I work on it every day :0) Thanks for sharing!
Aileen,
It is difficult to be still, yet so rewarding. I am right there with you. Maree
I enjoyed reading this. Especially —> The key to being still and getting to know God better is to stop striving and doing life in our strength, but instead, find the time to spend with Him and trust in His leading on life’s journey. AMEN!
Sarah, I loved Julie’s words too. She nailed it. Thank you for stopping by. Maree
Indeed God is capable of keeping us calm without any anxiety at all.
Thank you for stopping by. Maree
I love how you embraced God’s lesson for you in the midst of the mess of anxiety, Julie! Great post! Thanks for sharing her powerful words here in your lovely space, MareeDee. Blessings to you both!
Liz, Blessings to you too. I hope you have a great weekend. Maree
My whole life I’ve been doing and striving, too. Little did I know that I could live from a place of rest, yielding to the Spirit and not trying to control everything.
It is a pretty amazing revelation, isn’t it? Now if only we didn’t make it complicated. Thank you for stopping by. Maree
Julie! Yay! So fun to see two sweet friends in one place today. Thank you for sharing this testament to stillness, Julie. Being still is hard for me too, so thank you for the perspective of anxiety being a blessing that causes us to rely more on Him. xoxo
Brenda, You are so sweet. It is fun to have Julie here today. Maree
I love this, “My anxiety has been a huge blessing because it caused me to become more dependent on God.” It’s taken me a long time to get to this point, too, but I view my anxiety as an internal warning bell to dig in deeper to God and to rely on His path. Love the post!
Melissa, Thank you for stopping by and sharing. “I like what you said about it being an internal warning bell to dig in deeper to God.” I am going to be looking for those warning bells in my own life. Maree
Maree- thank you for the opportunity to share at your site! I enjoy coming to your site because so much of life is unexpected and my default is to try and change it instead of embrace it.
Hugs, friend!
Julie, What a sweet comment to wake up to. I am so glad you are our guest today on Embracing the Unexpected. I too love reading what you write over at Unmasking the Mess. It has been a messy week around here this week, and I know I need to do a little unmasking of my mess. Have a wonderful day! Thank you for being our guest. Blessings, Maree