How God is using my anxiety

For those who don't know me that well or have never looked at my blog, you should know that I struggle with anxiety and stress and have struggled with it since I was a kid. With this being my first year as a teacher, that anxiety has increased tenfold.

For a while, I questioned my faith. Clearly I couldn't truly be trusting God if I was having all these anxious feelings constantly, right?

But I read something interesting today. In the article, "How God can use your anxiety for good," the author states the following:

"'When we discourage from safely expressing their anxiety, then we are essentially saying to them that anxiety is a bad emotion …. It communicates to them that perhaps something is wrong with their Christian faith.' Smith goes on to talk about how God may be using anxiety to draw us closer to him, allowing us to recognize our need and limitations as anchors to the One who is sufficient."

I thought about what I had just read. It's true, my anxiety has reached new highs this year that I've never experienced before. What's also true, however, is that I never stop praying because of it. Literally, when I wake up multiple times throughout the night, half asleep with my heart pounding for no apparent reason, I start praying. It's no longer something I think to do; it just happens. It's become as natural as breathing for me. I ask for God's help. I ask him to walk with me and guide me through these overwhelming times.

 God is using my anxiety as a tool to bring me closer to him. And that makes it all worth it.