Well... not as early as Darryl's mornings usually are but early for me (woke at 4:30 couldn't get back to sleep).
Anxiety, like pride, cannot always be seen from the outside. I have had what I call "travel anxiety" since the second grade, only it took me almost all the way through college to even realize what it was. Even in the second grade I missed field trips that weren't even over night because of the "nervous gut aka travel anxiety."
I've known this day would come for months... the day my friend and I drive up to Pennsylvania for the weekend to be with our other college friends. Through much prayer and reliance on God the anxiety hasn't truly hit me until yesterday and is much reduced from previous excursions. Usually I have anxiety for months. It is a great way to lose weight although not a way I recommend!
Why is this time different? Sure I had trouble sleeping last night, etc. but really quite dialed down from all previous experiences. Why? I cannot say for certain but I'm going to attribute it to God's answer to prayer. Prayer is powerful; prayer is our direct route to God. And while He may seem to be the strong silent type, He does hear us and He will send the Holy Spirit to be with us in time of need.
This is the first trip with my friends that I've planned to go to church, and I've told them ahead of time that I plan to go. (My friends are not Sabbath keepers.) The devil has seen fit to now declare a flash flood warning through tomorrow afternoon for the place we are going. I ask for your prayers. For our safety today, and for safety and good weather when I hope to go to church tomorrow.
We have a real and living God. Not just a statue of wood or gold. He hears our prayers no matter how small they may seem to us or how unimportant we think our needs and desires are. He will help us fight the good fight especially when we are fighting our own anxious bodies.
"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." - 1 John 5:14-15
I once heard someone say that depression is a sin. Maybe anxiety is a sin too. But we are human, and we tend to lean toward sin. Only through the Holy Spirit are we able to overcome our weaknesses. How do we ask for His help? Through prayer. Pray for us this weekend, and I pray to see you all next weekend.