Be Anxious For Nothing

4/19/2023

Written By: Margie Davis

In 1991 I was working at Alpine Electronics and was called into the office and told that I had been chosen to go to Japan and train in their factory on a critical safety device for the Honda Accord.

Upon my return, I would be responsible for helping train an assembly line in our Greenwood plant. It was such an honor to be chosen, and I jumped at the opportunity!

We were to be gone for the entire month of May. As the time approached, I began to have bouts of extreme anxiety. Like, a different type of anxiety. Not just nervousness. I even went to see the doctor, and he wanted to prescribe medication. But I thought it was normal to be anxious about leaving my kids so I declined the medication.

I got about as far away from home as a person could be and was alone in a tiny hotel room in a foreign country and woke up in the night with paralyzing anxiety.

In 1991 there were no cell phones to distract me. The tiny TV had one channel, and it was Japanese. I was alone with my thoughts and my anxiety.

I was a new Christian, and I did all I knew to do. I prayed and read my Bible. And I called home and asked the church to put me on the prayer chain. I remember the specific moment that the anxiety was lifted.

I was in the factory, and it was the day I was to be evaluated by their team to see if I could audibly detect flaws in the device. It was me and three engineers in a soundproof booth, and they were sending both good and defective parts down the assembly line to me.

The anxiety was suddenly gone when it should have been worse! And I found every single defect that came through. I knew right then that it was the power of God and the prayers offered on my behalf. I sailed through the rest of that month with absolutely no anxiety at all!

Fast forward a few months. I am back home and things are actually going better than they had in quite some time. Imagine my surprise when I woke up at 2 am with my heart racing and this feeling that I wasn’t even in my own body! It was awful! I was able to see a doctor that morning who explained that I was experiencing anxiety disorder. I set out to fix it.

I went to the library and read everything I could find on anxiety. I got the lowest dose of anti-anxiety medication possible so I could focus on getting better. I made an appointment with Gary Nichols, a Christian Psychotherapist, and I did the work.

The days were hard. I lost a lot of weight. Some days all I could do was go to work and come home. But during this season, I also wrote out every single verse I could find in Scripture about anxiety, and I carried those verses with me every place I went. I journaled, prayed and I walked as close to Jesus as I could. And as I endured the most difficult journey of my life, my faith grew.

Jesus became real in a way that I would never have imagined. He was no longer just someone who was responsible for the red letters I was reading in my Bible. He was showing up for ME! He loved me enough to hold me as I dug deep into my past, and He loved me enough to let me be completely broken to the place that ONLY He could put me back together. He loved me enough. He is enough.

Two key verses that I clung to were Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace that passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Josh just put this one on the screen Sunday!)

Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

I look back and see that Satan was working hard to put out the fire that Jesus had lit in me when I gave Him my life. Looking back, I can see that I was in a spiritual battle. If you or someone you know is in a battle, please bring Jesus to them. Hold on. Remember who He is.

Psalm 107:28 says “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm…”