Affirmations are really big in the world of self care right now, and I understand why.  I have seen my clients utilize the power of restructuring their automatic thoughts and underlying beliefs to change their behavior, and thus, change their outcomes. In psychotherapy, we call it CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). While I’m a huge fan of CBT (it is my preferred treatment modality for most of my clients), if I’m being honest, my own soul demands something a bit more solid on those nights where anxiety threatens to steal my REM cycles. 

 As a therapist, I feel inclined to mention that everyone struggles with anxious thoughts occasionally, and there is nothing wrong with that.  Anxiety is a normal part of human existence. Depending on what you are going through and what you believe, your affirmations may look a little different than what I’m going to share with you today.   Please take what is helpful to you and feel free to leave the rest.  

As a person of faith, I have at times been amazed at how easily uncertainty can take my peace and leave me in a tailspin if I’m not careful.  Lately, I have been wondering why? 

For me, it usually has to do with the fact that I’m focused on the wind and the waves rather than the One who can calm them with a word.  In the words of Beth Moore, “For the most part we’ve dumbed down New Testament Christianity and accepted our reality as theology rather than Biblical theology as our reality.  We’ve reversed the standard, walking by sight and not by faith.  We want to be the best of what we see, but frankly what we see is far removed from God’s best” (Believing God).  

I remember reading those words a little over two years ago when I was in the midst of one of the most stressful processes I had been through to date:  selling our first home.  My husband and I had bought a cute little (and I do mean little) starter home in a beautiful lake community back in 2008 when the federal government was practically begging people to be a first time home buyer.  We couldn’t believe our luck!  We were certainly buying at the market’s lowest low, so when we wanted to sell in about five years, we were sure to make bank and move on up, to quote the Jeffersons.

Turns out that’s not actually what happened.  Instead of steadily recovering over the next five years, the economy actually continued to tank, and especially in our area, it was barely beginning to get better at the time our family of four had certainly outgrown our little abode.  Who knew?  Cue us trying for over a year to sell our house and spending countless hours stressing out about our septic tank (note:  if you’ve never had to stress about a septic tank, please go thank your lucky stars right now.  It is the opposite of fun, to say the least).  That year and a half was full of tears, sleepless nights, and feeling like we had made a huge mistake that we would now be the proud owners of for, like, ever.  

Well, as it happens, that’s not actually what happened either.  In the middle of the house-selling craziness, I finally opened up my hands and gave my plans up to God.  I read “Believing God,” and what do you know, I actually started to believe Him. I read His promises and actually trusted them.  And then, as luck would have it, our house sold and we moved into an amazing house at just the right time and in just the right place for us.  I stopped believing my circumstances were my unchangeable reality, and started believing the time-tested biblical theology that says, among other things:  God can do anything.

If you are struggling to maintain peace in a stressful or chaotic time of life, I invite you to spend some time meditating on these biblical promises.  Read them often, speak them aloud, journal about them. Re-train your brain to walk by faith and not by sight.  This world can be a crazy place sometimes, my Besties, but there’s no need to live in a constant state of fear.  I hope these affirmations can encourage you in your faith journey.  Feel free to let us know about any others that are meaningful to you in the comments!

With God ALL things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

God wants what is BEST for me. (Jeremiah 29:11)

God watches over me. (Psalm 46:1)

God will fight for me. (Exodus 14:14)

God gives me the strength I need for each day. (Philippians 4:13)

God ALWAYS accepts me just as I am. (Ephesians 1:6)

God always keeps His promises. (Hebrews 10:23)

God desires peace for me. (John 14:27)

God will never fail me or forsake me. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Anxiety accomplishes nothing. (Luke 12:25)

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