Identifying Strongholds that Anxiety Has Created in Your Life

This is episode 11 of the Overcoming Anxiety Through Faith podcast. It is titled Identifying Strongholds That Anxiety Has Created in Your Life.

Today, I wanted to share with you a story about a sort of revelation that I recently had, and this inspired this episode of the podcast. So I recently took a trip with my children, and after returning home from the trip, noticed things about myself and my home that I knew about myself, but had previously just sort of swept under the rug, no pun intended.

So I wanted to make some improvements to our home. And so I did some cleaning, some deep cleaning, and things like that, that I’d not done in a while, and thought, you know, cleaning is a great time to think. And so, as I was doing this cleaning, I was thinking, and I was thinking about how in the past things that I had done were because of anxiety that I’d had in the past.

So, for a crazy example, I recently purchased a new cleaning product, and I was using it to clean off the front of my refrigerator. And I shared with one of my children, Hey, this product really works. The product’s performance did not surprise me. It was the fact that I had in the past not purchased the product because it was more expensive than I normally would buy. And if you’ve listened to previous episodes of my podcast, you know finances are a trigger for me and my anxiety.

I avoid things that cost more because they have caused me anxiety in the past. So sometimes I believe our triggers become strongholds in our lives. So I was telling my child that I’d never purchased this product before because it gave me anxiety about spending too much money, since the product was a little more than the normal cost that I would spend on that type of product.

 

 

And I related a story about a time when money caused me so much anxiety that I was diagnosed with some skin issues at least nine or 10 years ago, maybe even longer ago. I was diagnosed with this skin issue. And so I had to use a soap that was milder. So, the doctor told me to get something like Dove soap or something along those lines. And in my mind, that soap costs more than I normally would spend on soap. So, when I was at the store and I picked up the Dove soap, I went to check out, but my card would not work that day. And I could not purchase my groceries by myself. Luckily, I was with my mom and my grandmother that day, and one of them paid for my items, and I paid them back.

But this incident caused me such anxiety that it created within me a stronghold where I identified that situation with that soap. And I never wanted to buy it again because of the anxiety that it caused me. So strongholds likely exist in your life because that situation, item, or thing created anxiety within you. You just never know what it might be. And if you can identify them, it is a way that you can break the cycle. The Scripture talks about strongholds and how they take root in our lives. And so I wanted to share that with you and also share with you an activity that you can do that I think would help you identify those strongholds and to break through from them as I have done in my life. And didn’t even realize, honestly, that I was doing it until I was spending some time cleaning and thinking, and God identified that to me in my heart.

So I wanted to share a quick verse with you before I share this activity. The verse is Ephesians 6:12, which says “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers against the powers against the world forces of this darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” 

Activity to Help You Identify Your Strongholds

 

And the thing is, many times these are just thoughts in our mind that are often planted in our minds by Satan, that we give into and we keep, and we hold on to, and that creates what I’m identifying here as a stronghold. And so the activity is to look back over your life and create a timeline. Your goal is to create a timeline that includes dates and occurrences. So you would write out the timeline with the dates, and you would think of significant events and even insignificant events.

Because if you think about it, buying a bar of Dove soap at the store is very insignificant, but you have to identify the feelings that the situation gives you and why those feelings cause anxiety. So you think back over your life, and you think about situations that cause extreme anxiety for you or panic attacks, and these events will help you identify the triggers that we talked about before, but also the strongholds. You cannot break through strongholds until you know what they are. And so if you don’t know what they are and you haven’t identified them, it is very difficult to break them.

Correct.

So think about those significant and insignificant situations and see if there are any repetitive situations. So, maybe this has happened multiple times about situations that are like each other, and that’s how you can identify what is causing your anxiety, the triggers, but also what the strongholds are, so that you can identify them and break through them.

And so I hope you will sit down and spend some time doing this because I think it is a helpful activity, but also this may take some time, for it won’t just come to you all at once. You’ve got to spend some time thinking and praying about it and ask God to identify these things in your life and how you can overcome them. That’s why this podcast is called Overcoming Anxiety Through Faith; it’s because you have to invite God into this situation, ask him for his help, and you have to actually be willing and open to accept his help.

If you are holding onto your anxiety in your situation with a clenched fist, then it will not work. Allowing him in is going to be difficult. It’s kind of like inviting a guest over and then not opening the door for them. It’s the same thing with God. When you want him to help you with something, if you don’t unclench your fist and allow him to take that thing out of your hands, then he can’t help you. So I just want to leave that thought with you today: open your hands and your heart, and allow God to work and move and break the strongholds of anxiety in your life.