Learn how to overcome anxiety and fear with these four simple tips.
Have the floodwaters of fear rushed over you? Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in anxiety and you don’t know a way out?
Maybe it’s time to build a B.O.A.T.
As Noah and his family escaped the floodwaters of God’s judgment on a boat (made according to God’s design), learn how building a B.O.A.T. in moments of anxiety and fear will help you trust in God’s love for you.
How do you build a B.O.A.T.?
When you are in a moment of fear, anxiety, panic, anger, or any emotion that overtakes you, follow these steps:
B– Breathe
O– Open
A– Acknowledge
T– Transform
Let's break it down:
B - Breathe
Job 33:4 says, “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Often, your worries and fears lead can your mind to go down a spiral of “what if’s” or worst-case scenarios. Your body tenses up, your breathing gets short, and your anxiety only deepens. In order to stop this cycle, you need to breathe.
According to an article summarizing research done on breathing and stress reduction, “Changing the rhythm of your breath can signal relaxation, slowing your heart rate and stimulating the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain stem to the abdomen, and is part of the parasympathetic nervous system…Triggering your parasympathetic nervous system helps you start to calm down. You feel better. And your ability to think rationally returns” (Harvard Business Review).
Deep breathing exercises can restore you to the present moment, where God can meet you and help you.
Try:
Box Breathing:
– Exhale all the air in your lungs.
– Inhale for a count of four.
– Hold for a count of four.
– Exhale for a count of four.
– Hold for a count of four.
Repeat 2-3x
4, 7, 8 Breathing:
– Inhale for a count of four.
– Hold for a count of seven.
– Exhale for a count of eight.
Repeat 2-3x
Try a Be Still and Be Loved Episode from the Revelation Wellness Podcast!
#764 – Be Still and Be Loved: “Loving-kindness” (Psalm 63:3)
#744 – Be Still and Be Loved: “Jesus is Making a Way” (John 14:5)
O - Open
When you think of someone anxious or afraid, does the image of a child curled up in the fetal position come to mind?
Fear and anxiety not only shorten your breath, but they can affect your posture – both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Your body caves in, your thoughts race on a loop, and your spirit can’t come up from the pit.
So after you’ve spent time breathing, it’s time to open up.
Become Observant: You may have to start by physically looking around at your environment. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? Do you know anyone in the room? What’s sitting on your desk? What do you see out the window?
This grounding practice can help you become present enough to engage with your emotions.
Create Space for Curiosity: Write down the thoughts racing through your mind or the emotions themselves. What situation triggered this? When did it start?
Soften: Imagine the gates in your mind opening to let God in. No amount of stress reduction techniques or practices will ultimately help you work through this emotion – only Jesus. Soften yourself toward Him and let Him work in you.
Try:
A - Acknowledge
Now, it’s time to become aware of your emotions and thoughts. Don’t condemn or judge yourself. Allow your thoughts and emotions to rise up, knowing you are with Jesus, who wants to draw near to you in these moments.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1
Remember that Jesus also faced complicated emotions during His ministry – in the temptation in the wilderness, opposition from His hometown, and the hours before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Still, Jesus never ran away scared. Instead, He ran on the Spirit and His Sonship straight into God’s will.
The key is acknowledging your emotions but not putting your trust in them. You walk by the Spirit, not your emotions or your flesh.
John Piper defines the flesh as our “old, ordinary human nature that does not relish the things of God and prefers to get satisfaction from independence, power, prestige, and worldly pleasures.”
Your emotions and thoughts can be instructive and bring insight into a situation. However, they are also influenced by our own sinfulness. Sometimes we feel a certain way because we want an outcome that is not in accordance with God’s will or God’s heart.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9
So become aware then, put it at the foot of the cross of Jesus.
Try:
T- Transform
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” Isaiah 61:1
The cross transformed everything. What was death was transformed into life. What we thought was the end was only the beginning. In the words of Isaiah 61, Jesus Himself told us about the transformation His reign would inaugurate – good news to the poor, hope to the brokenhearted, liberty to the captives, and freedom to those who are bound. This is the Kingdom of God that is now and not yet.
As a follower of Christ, you are a citizen of the Kingdom. You are a recipient and participant in this transformation – both in your salvation and the day-to-day details of your life. By the Holy Spirit, you have the power to transform the experience of fear and anxiety from something that turns you away from God to something that turns you deeper into the love of God.
In other words, you get to take back what the enemy stole. You follow a Living God who cares about you and loves you. Even in the darkest of valleys, He is with you.
Now is the time to contend for your own heart to be available and hungry for the presence and perspective of God. Pray. Listen. Persevere in the faith. He is at work.
Try:
– Share your struggle and pray about it with a trusted friend.
– Meditate on Isaiah 61 and pray it back to God.
– Pray with others: Join our Wednesday prayer call at 2:30 pm EST
– Centering Prayer for Stress Relief
– Move your feet: Walking the Words of Jesus: 21 Days of Walking Prayer
Alisa Keeton is the founder and CEO of Revelation Wellness and the author of The Wellness Revelation. A 25+ year fitness professional, she believes that the Gospel is a wholistic message of heart, mind, soul, and strength, and each body holds a story that must be told. It is then that healing, health, and wholeness can truly begin.
