Hi Wattpad, this is the story of my journey with my faith.
I was raised a devout Christian, where I grew up attending Sunday mass, doing family rosary's and so on. Despite my family's strong connection to their faith, I had always felt that mine was lacking.
I have been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder, a mind-body disorder that has symptoms such as pinched nerves, muscle tension, chest pain, heart palpitations, sweating, hot and/or cold flashes, nausea, vomiting, and so on. Due to this disorder, I had grown distant from God. I had a hard time trusting in him to help me, because after all, he had created this struggle of mine.
For awhile, I didn't believe that my faith could help me with my poor mental health. I thought that it would have to stay a private struggle that my religion never spoke about.So what changed? Well, one night my sister had shown me a digital bible on her phone. This app had daily verses, religious podcasts and so on.
One feature that especially peaked my interest was that there were verses for each emotion — anxiety happened to be one of them, to my surprise. As a result of the discovery, I ended up downloading my sister's Bible app that same night and read the verses for anxiety that they had provided.
There I found verses such as:"Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you" 1 Peter 5:7
"I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
"Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand" Isaiah 41:10
"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me" Psalms 23:4
"In my distress I called upon the Lord ; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears" Psalms 18:6
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" Matthew 6:25
"Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up" Proverbs 12:25"In my distress, I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears" Psalms 18:6
"Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved" Psalms 55:22
After reading the above verses and many more that night, I found myself in tears. I wasn't aware that the bible spoke about anxiety in such a powerful way.
That night was the gateway to change in my life.
I began reading the daily bible verses that the app had provided, but I found that that was not enough to forefeel me. So I bought a physical Bible and began doing daily bible studies — two hours plus a night.
I soon began to view the world around me differently. I wanted to share my faith with my friends but sadly found that modern day Christians were often mocked for their beliefs — which I found out the hard way.
My faith continues to grow to this day as I have learned to trust in the lord.
God bless xoxo
By RoseCarter501.