Author of Say Goodbye to Anxiety, Jane Kirby, shares how she faced up to anxiety and embraced Jesus in the process.
I’m so thankful for my friend who urged me to see the doctor about the anxiety I was suffering from. The very next morning I made an appointment, and hardly able to speak because of those anxious feelings, I was desperate and first in the queue outside the surgery.
Fortunately, a couple of days previously, a Christian friend who just happens to work in the pharmaceutical industry, had spoken to me about medication. “Just like a diabetic needs insulin we sometimes need medication for our mental health. Billions of pounds have been invested in this, so you don’t need to worry,” he reassured me.
“Just like a diabetic needs insulin we sometimes need medication for our mental health.”
That visit to the doctor was a turning point. I was prescribed medication and took it. It got me from a highly anxious state and not able to function, to a calm and stable place and able to go after healing.
I say “go after” because really it was a deliberate choice. Yes, I could have relied on medication, content that it would keep me going. But I really, really, really wanted to get to the root of why I was as I was. I so wanted to go deeper and dig that nasty ole’ thing out. I wanted to say goodbye to anxiety.
In the years leading up to this I’d never really addressed the pain and trauma I’d experienced in my younger years, and then later on after the loss of our baby son Lucas. The wounds I carried had become infected, as I lived life out of the pain. I was touchy, easily offended and cynical, amongst other things…
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Am I a bad Christian if I have anxiety?
Anyway, here I am today and thankfully, I would say quite different from when I started on this journey. I’ve gone through a process of forgiveness, repentance, had professional help, and as a result I’ve received deep healing. I’m still on a journey, like everyone, but I’m no longer anxious and no longer on anxiety medication. It’s not to say worries don’t pop up, but I now know what tools I need to use to help me.
I honestly wouldn’t want anyone to experience what I did and that’s why I’m so thankful to have been able co-write a book with worship artist Elle Limebear. Although mine and Elle’s story’s are very different, both of us have held onto the same truth that can only be found in Jesus.
Fix your eyes totally, totally, totally on Jesus. Only he can truly set us free. Only he can heal the wounds.
Say Goodbye to Anxiety, a 40 day devotional journal to overcome fear and worry, is written out of our experience of finding freedom. Each day starts with a Bible verse, reflection, tips and tools, with journaling questions (to allow what you’ve read to go deeper), a worship song to listen to and a prayer.
Like anything that we really want to succeed in, it’s not always easy. But if I was to give anyone my biggest tip or life hack, it would be this: fix your eyes totally, totally, totally on Jesus. Only he can truly set us free. Only he can heal the wounds. Only he is the “way the truth and the life”.
If you, or someone you know is experiencing anxiety and you’d like a copy of Say Goodbye to Anxiety you can get it here.
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