So I am an active member in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was sitting in Sunday school a we were talking about faith. I have heard for most of my life that fear is the opposite of faith. Most people say anxiety is an extreme worry or fear. My thoughts quickly began questioning my own faith because I have been struggling a lot with my anxiety. So today I want to give a couple reasons you can have anxiety and faith at the same time.
1. I am a Child of God
One doctrine I believe is that I am a daughter of God. I lived with my Heavenly Father before I came to this Earth. He knows me better than I know myself. The reason why I can have both faith and anxiety is because Heavenly Father has given me both the gift of faith and the trial of anxiety. I am not sure whether I struggled in the pre-mortal life with anxiety, however I am sure my Heavenly Father knew I would have here on Earth. Therefore, Heavenly Father knew He would need to give me power to overcome my anxiety. This power is faith.2. Faith gives me Power.
Anxiety may take away the feeling of faith, but not the power of faith.In Hebrews 11:1 it says
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.
Having faith doesn't mean that I don't have questions. Having faith means that I have hope in my Savior Jesus Christ. It means that I trust in my Heavenly Father, and sometimes I need to act in faith and follow what the scriptures say when sometimes I don't feel like I have any faith.
In the Book of Mormon there is a scripture which talks about power.
In Moroni 7:33 it says
And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.
Faith give me power to live my day. Anxiety may never leave me but because of the power of faith I can do anything God needs me to do. Through prayer I have learned that God wants me to go college, get married, one day be a mom, share my love of Him, and much more. He wants me to enjoy life. He will give me the power live my life with my anxiety.
3. Prayer
Psychologist may say that reflecting in your mind or verbally is a great technique to work through anxiety or any emotion for that matter, and I totally agree. However, something that helps be develop more faith and feel the power of God is when I actually pray to Him. Some may wonder what the difference is. For me when I pray I specifically address Heavenly Father by name. I can then pour my heart out to my Heavenly Father. I will then end my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. I usually say "In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." The best part about praying is I know I will get answers to my prayer. I rarely hear in my mind phrases or words. For the most part I will get good feelings or bad feelings. Some might call this your conscience, however I believe it is the Holy Ghost or the Spirit confirming my thoughts as good or bad. When I pray I can be feeling anxious and yet exercising my faith to develop a relationship with my Heavenly Father.I hope my 3 reasons to why you can have Faith and Anxiety at the same time may help. If you have other suggestions please feel free to leave suggestions.
