Breaking Through Anxiety

Pastors John and Val discuss anxious experiences in their lives and how God led them into a time of peace.  They offer a bible-based method for how you can leave anxiety behind!

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Speaker 1 0:36

Hello, my name is Valerie Mize.

Speaker 0:38

My name is John Mize.

Speaker 1 0:40

And we are the co-pastors of First Global Methodist Church of Union City, located in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Speaker 0:46

And this is the first episode of Breaking Through, and we hope it will shine the light of God's love into your life today.

Speaker 1 0:53

Today's first episode is going to focus on building a foundation in faith and the anxieties of life that shake that foundation. To get started, each episode, we're going to start with a prayer. Prayer fuels our breakthroughs and connects us to the Lord as we start our conversation. I I chose Psalm 40, verses 1 through 3. It speaks to me. I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me up out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Let's pray. Lord, let's just talk here today about anxiety and our faith. And Lord, lead us through to open up the doors of building a stronger foundation in faith and tackling those ways that we need to find faith in you. We ask this all in your name. Amen.

Speaker 1:54

Amen. Well, we certainly don't have any shortage of stories about anxiety in our lives.

Speaker 1 2:02

True.

Speaker 2:02

And I can I can remember quite a few times when when we struggled in many different ways and uh anxiety reared its ugly head. Can you think of any like one specific time when when what we were facing really raised your anxiety levels?

Speaker 1 2:19

For me, it was when we moved back to Pennsylvania. I I grew up here in Pennsylvania, in a little town called Blairsville in Indiana County. And I met John here in Virginia Beach, and I lived there for 10 years. We met, got married, had our girls there. But there was, we just came to a point where we needed to move to be closer back to my parents. My dad was suffering from Alzheimer's at the time. And also we just, it was very expensive to live in Virginia where we were living. And it, we needed to make a break and change. And at that time, I felt a lot of anxiety. I felt, well, where is God going to be leading us for work, our life goals? Felt like I was going backwards to move back with my parents for a little while until we found a place to live. I was anxious about moving our young girls away from, you know, they were real young. Yes. And I was like, what are we going to do with that? And answering a lot of questions of our youngest Sophie, she didn't understand. And the one thing that was holding me grounded at that time was my home church. It was a special place for me that I grew up in and being close to my parents and taking the girls to that place, introducing you to my home church, it it that was the grounding part of that experience.

Speaker 3:37

And I have to say that it wasn't so grounding for me. And that was kind of a difficult experience. I had been out of church for a long time. And I really did not look forward to going to church. But when you stay with your mother, when you stayed with your mother, she kind of got up on Sunday morning with the expectation that everybody was going to church. And she didn't ask, she didn't come around saying, Hey, do you feel like going to church? She got up and started getting ready and let you let you know that we were leaving at a certain time and that everybody was going to church. And I I remember thinking to myself back then, we were guests, and I said, Well, I'll go to church, but I'm not gonna like it. And I went with that attitude. But that church was the right place for me. It was a place where I finally met the the right pastor, Terry Schaefer was his name, and he was one person that was willing to listen to my arguments and my uh all of my confusion about Christianity and uh why I had walked away from the first church a long time ago, had to do with some pretty significant pastoral malpractice, I believe, which kind of drove me away from the church. But he he was he was the right person at the right time to bring me back into the fold. And I just remember that I had one morning in that in that choir loft. We joined the choir and we were singing and helping them out.

Speaker 1 5:10

She said we might as well join the choir of sort of. Exactly.

Speaker 5:13

If we're gonna be there, we might as well sing.

Speaker 1 5:15

Yeah.

Speaker 5:15

And I just remember praying in that choir loft, and I prayed it pretty much every Sunday morning. It wasn't something that I'd not prayed for before, but I was I was in this place. I I had come to Pennsylvania with empty pockets and with my kids in tow, and uh had to move into my mother-in-law's house, which was nothing short of humiliating. And I was extremely anxious about my life at that time and what I was gonna do. And I remember this one Sunday after just repeated prayers, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, I was praying and almost instantaneously I felt this peace come over me that everything was gonna be okay. And I know that was God speaking in a very strong and powerful way, and I knew it at the time, I didn't want to admit it at the time, but that was uh that was definitely God putting his hand on my shoulder and saying, We're gonna get through this. I already have a way out for you, I just haven't told you about it yet. And that was my experience coming back to Pennsylvania. It was full of anxiety, it was full of full of uh questions, full of doubt, full of fear about where my future was gonna be going. I had no idea I was gonna be called into the ministry. I had no idea all these things that were coming down the path. But but God had this plan laid out for us, and it he was always with us throughout those dark days and those uh difficult times. And I it makes me think of Isaiah 41, 10. So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you, and I will help you, and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. And that is uh a verse that we really should commit to our hearts, letting us know that God is present, constantly with us. We're never alone. God promises to be present and to hold us up in his right hand, not not his, I don't know if God's right-handed or left-handed, but but he's holding us up in his right hand, his righteous right hand to to strengthen us and to protect us. And it serves as a reminder to trust in God's power rather than to succumb to fear or anxiety, especially during those difficult times. And God promises not just companionship, but but support. I will strengthen you, I will help you. His righteous right hand, this phrase kind of symbolizes God's saving power, his authority, and his protection. Does any uh particular verse reach out to you in this moment of high anxiety?

Speaker 1 8:11

Oh, yeah. The one that really, when we were talking about this subject, is Philippians 4, 6 through 7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And this just really it's been a passage that's always really spoken to me that I've gravitated towards. It was the first one I really memorized and had embedded in my mind so that I could just bring it up when I was anxious and worrying. My mother worried a lot or would, you know, seem to worry about situations. When I was growing up, she would be like, I don't know. I hope it'll work out. And she was a woman of faith, but it just seemed like we were kind of always worrying about things. And there was a point where I think she stopped worrying as much. And this passage just it settles me, it calms me. And if you read the passage there, it says you present your request to God. It doesn't say that they'll be fulfilled right away. It says it's it says the peace of God will transcend the understanding that you have in that moment and guard your heart and guard your mind in Christ Jesus. So even though you won't have an answer, as you were saying, you know, lots of times in these anxious situations, you don't have an answer and you have to kind of be settled with that. And that makes it even worse, right? But to have this guiding passage that says, do not be anxious about anything. Just do not, and that just those four, you know, few first few words, if you just kind of like sit with that in your prayer and your time to sit with God, that can be a place that just can comfort you, just kind of calm your heart and say, Hey, I'm not gonna be anxious for this. I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna be thankful where that God brought me to this place, especially when we were brought back to Pennsylvania. I'm thankful I had a place to stay. I know a lot of people didn't have places to come home to. And my parents were always said, Hey, you can always come home here if you need to for a while. And and that brought peace. That really brought us through that time. And we, we really, God brought us through that time and really opened some doors for us because we just settled in that and we were there in a place where God was speaking to us. God spoke to me in that church years before, and I'm so thankful he spoke to you as well, just to speak to us in those times to just calm our hearts and bring us through that time.

Speaker 10:40

Yeah, the uh you you mentioned Philippians 4, 6 through 7. It was it's such a powerful piece that it's rich. It it has not only instructions, be anxious for nothing, that uh that re that it it actually suggests what to do about being anxious. So instead of just telling you not to be anxious, he gives you the solution here. He says to replace anxiety with proactive prayer rather than allowing fear to dominate your life. And he says, by prayer and supplication, that is active communication with God about specific needs, and that's what it's emphasizing there. And it, of course, it says with thanksgiving, gratitude's key. It's uh helping to shift the focus from the problem to God's faithfulness, from your insufficiency to God's complete sufficiency. And it says that the peace of God, and I think that's what I experienced that one morning, was was the transcendent peace of God, and that's a promise, that divine peace that that's beyond our understanding. We I didn't understand it in the moment, I just knew I felt better. I just knew that I was gonna get through it somehow, and I I had no idea how, right? But it guarded my heart and it guarded my mind during that time when I felt like I wanted to flee into into nothing. And it's it it just gives you a and and I didn't pray just that one time. I had been praying every Sunday. It was a repetitive thing. I was on my knees begging almost to God, saying, I can't do this anymore. I need you to take control, I need you to show me the way because everything that I'm trying to do is just not working, Lord. And that was when he gave me that peace, was when I finally fully surrendered and said, I can't do this. Sometimes we can find the most strength in just complete supplication.

Speaker 1 12:45

Yeah, that full surrender just really speaks to me to be able to just slowly surrender to God and say, Hey, I I can't do this without you. And I'm ready to be changed and transformed, and and God calms us in those places. And and he really did, you know, we had no idea where God was leading us at that time. And we just kept just being faithful to asking God to just fill us. And it was just miraculous. They do say that, you know, the miracles happen at the very desperate moments, and I feel like God does if we're willing to just put it all in his hands and the uh his supp and be thankful for where he's bringing us to. So because on the other side we we really learned something.

Speaker 13:31

I have a homework assignment for our listeners, if if you guys are willing. There's this wonderful song out there by Liana Crawford, and it's called Still Waters.

Speaker 1 13:42

Oh, I love that song.

Speaker 13:43

Yeah, and it says it says it talks about anxiety and it talks about the same method of dealing with anxiety that we read about in Philippians 4, 6 through 7. It gives us the same method here. It says, because anxiety hates Psalm 23. Her great aunt had told her when she was 103 to write scripture on your heart for those times when when you need it, and she went back to Psalm 23 and she said she was just gonna say it to herself till she believed it. And that's that's one trick that I think we can all use is that if we study the scripture, if we read the scripture, if we have these uh these little nuggets like Isaiah 41, 10 and and Philippians 4, 6 through 7, if we have those ready to go in our hearts, they can kind of kick start our prayer life. Yeah, they can kind of they can kind of kick start that this method of of dealing with anxiety. And she says in the song multiple times that you can set me at ease, you can turn this broken peace in me to peace and quiet. And I know that there's power in your words, so I'll say it over and over till my soul's reminded. She just she she seems to understand in the song this method of complete and utter surrender to God in order to achieve that peace.

Speaker 1 15:13

I that one part that she repeats a couple of times, I know by your still waters I'm safe. Sometimes we're in those places that we're so fearful of what might happen, and and and we think, well, what's the worst that could happen? You know how people always say, What's the worst that could happen in this situation? And when we know that by his still waters we're safe, that he he is leading us as a shepherd, what a what a way to just say, hey, you know, cause anxiety hates Psalm 23. What a great way to just embed that in our heart and know that we're safe with him. Because nothing worse can happen as he is there and we and he's fulfilling us and he is sufficient, his grace is sufficient. I just keep on coming back to that as well in these times of anxiety that he will be there with us and we're safe with him.

Speaker 16:05

So that one challenge is to look this song up, Leanna Crawford, Still Waters, and listen to it. And maybe you can use this song to kind of jumpstart your prayer life. I my second challenge is to pray Psalm 23. It's such a well-known psalm, most everybody knows it by heart. And if not, then look it up in the Bible, Psalm 23, and use that as a prayer. A lot of people come to me and they say, I want to pray more. I don't know what to say to God, I don't know what words to use, I don't know how to talk to Him. Well, we have these wonderful prayers, uh, in addition to the Lord's Prayer.

Speaker 1 16:41

Exactly.

Speaker 16:42

We have these wonderful prayers in the Bible, and the Psalms are full of them.

Speaker 1 16:47

Psalms are great, yeah.

Speaker 16:48

But Psalm 23 in particular is just perfect for this kind of situation when you're dealing with anxiety. So that is that is one other challenge that I'd like to put out to you this week is is to pray that psalm. Use that psalm to deal with whatever it is that you're facing in your life. And I don't know what darkness you might be facing this week. I don't know what kind of uh obstacle might be in your way, but I do know that those words of Psalm 23 can overcome it, that you can experience that transcendent peace of God in your life if you will just try to try to keep on praying and keep on communicating this active conversation with God.

Speaker 1 17:31

That conversation leads to breakthrough. It just really does. And that's what this podcast is all about is us, you know, what's God's breakthrough and how is he gonna break through? And when we have that constant conversation and prayer in the midst of anxiety, and the and when we're unsettled, he's going to be there just comforting us and providing breakthrough. And there's going to be a breakthrough that he's going to be taking us through. And that's really just we want you to each week remember your struggle is not the end of your story. Your breakthrough may be closer than you think.