It’s the middle of the night. You wake up from a dreadful dream. You shake it off, but you just can’t go back to sleep. It’s a common experience with kids, but how about the rest of us? Sometimes those moments in the “wee” hours leave us filled with fear. Thinking about our health, a relationship problem, a difficulty at work can kick our mind into overdrive. Personally, I have a “condition” called “catastrophizing”. I think of the worst case scenario first. I think there are a lot of you just like me.
Living in fear is tough. It can be caused by a variety of factors, from personal trauma to oppression by a boss. It can be as simple as living in the “what if this or that happens?” It often leads to anxiety or even paranoia. There can be physical symptoms such as insomnia, headaches, and other physical stuff. It can also lead to feelings of helplessness, isolation, and depression.
Here are some great principles that has helped me enormously.
#1 Claim the strength in Christ. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
#2 Change “what if” to “so what?” Esther 4:14b “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
#3 Don’t be demoralized by helplessness. Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
#4 Never give up. 2 Chronicles 15:7 “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”
Write these principles and Scriptures down and keep them by your bed. Who knows, they may put you back to sleep.