Born again anxiety, trapped in the world

[AmberFH]

Hello everyone.

First, I'll start off with this. Does anyone else feel like being a born again christian is extremely difficult? The first couple of weeks were amazing, I felt as light as a feather and had no worries. Now it's just horrible. I feel like I'm not doing anything right. It's a powerful spiritual battle, and I can feel the devil trying to stop me, and I feel like he's winning.

I have struggled with anxiety and doubt my whole life. Once again I'm giving in to anxiety and doubt, despite my faith. I didn't know it was possible to have faith in the Lord and still doubt so much! On one side it's my faith telling me to stop worrying, on the other is another voice telling me that the first side is lying, and I should be very worried.

I keep agreeing that I will live for the Lord, and yet I haven't changed my lifestyle much, and that worries me. How do I know if I'm living a sinful lifestyle? I've cut out shows I used to enjoy, such as Family Guy and Robot Chicken. I stopped listening to music I used to enjoy, such as Eminem. But I do still enjoy watching things and listening to music. I thank God in the morning and pray to Him at night; I read the bible every now and try to study its meaning. I am always looking up my questions about God and the bible on the internet, and I feel like he leads me in the right direction.

But still, I feel like everything I do every day is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Many times I have wondered how nice it would be to be an atheist, only to have a voice pop up and tell me "but what about after you die?" Even now, a voice is telling me that I'm right to be worried, while another voice tells me I should stop worrying and trust in the Lord.

Problem is, worrying is what I do. It's my number one hobby in life to worry about everything. Ironically, I no longer worry about bills or money or food, I know God will provide. But now all my worries are spiritual. I think my worst fear is backsliding, deliberately sinning (that will get you thrown in hell just as quickly as being unsaved, I think?), and being unable to change myself to please the Lord.

It would help me a lot to hear from people who have had this same problem, and to have it confirmed whether or not the devil is just messing with me, or whether or not my anxiety is a message from the Lord.

It would also help me if you guys would tell me what your daily lifestyle is. What do you do for fun. What do you do in your free time? How much time do you set aside for God? What did you used to do before being saved that you don't do anymore?

I will say once again... every time I tell myself to stop worrying and have faith in the Lord, the anxiety comes back full force later. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Lyndle]

Hi Amber,
In every believer's life comes the time to 'renew our minds' (Ro. 12:2). It's a lifelong process
the Holy Spirit takes us through. And by it, He lives His life in and through us. I well
remember those days in my own walk, and prayed often then for the Lord to keep me in
His grace. I still do... as life will always throw something unfamiliar in our path.

It's a wonderful thought, that Jesus, as our High Priest, lives to ALWAYS make intercession
for us (Heb. 7:25). We can trust HIM, even when / if our human sight tells us otherwise.

You are in my prayers, precious one.

 

[RJ]

First, I'll start off with this. Does anyone else feel like being a born again christian is extremely difficult?

First of all, this is the wrong attitude! You can not be a Christian yourself, but you can learn that being a Christian means that Christ is in you and you can let him lead his life through you.

The first couple of weeks were amazing, I felt as light as a feather and had no worries

That is right. I am no judge, but from my own experience, this is a sign that you were "Born Again". Read these lines from the famous gospel song, "Amazing Grace":
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Go back to that "first couple of weeks", know the truth and believe!

I feel like I'm not doing anything right. It's a powerful spiritual battle, and I can feel the devil trying to stop me, and I feel like he's winning.

This feeling is understandable, but pure bunk!! The Devil has no claim on you and your allowing your mind to play tricks on you. With Christ in you, there is NO room for Satan and there is nothing outside of you that can hurt you.
Don't get me wrong, you are struggling and we all struggle to some degree and that struggle is due to a bondage of untruth, we let ourselves slip back to the old self of fear. Please look at Romans 7 and see where Paul himself struggled. Look how he says: "I do what I don't want to do and I don't do what I want to do"...sound familiar? Now, look at his answer in Romans 8:1....Go back to the day you first believed and know the truth, "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those is Christ" !

I will say once again... every time I tell myself to stop worrying and have faith in the Lord, the anxiety comes back full force later. What am I doing wrong?

You are doing nothing wrong but living in untruth. Stay in God's word and live your life freely in the truth, you are saved. God says, " he will never leave or forsake you" and Jesus said. " he will never lose what God has given him".
Living negative thoughts is NOT of God, the pure and positive power source of the universe! When negativity creeps in, do as I do, go back to that day you first believed and be set free!

 

[Curtis]

First, I'll start off with this. Does anyone else feel like being a born again christian is extremely difficult? The first couple of weeks were amazing, I felt as light as a feather and had no worries. Now it's just horrible. I feel like I'm not doing anything right. It's a powerful spiritual battle, and I can feel the devil trying to stop me, and I feel like he's winning.

What you are experiencing is the "flesh" lusting against the "spirit", and the spirit against the flesh for they are contrary to each other so you can not do what you want.

Gal 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

What you want is peace, joy, and faith, but the flesh wants to keep you from these things as it is not normal in today's world to have no fear or worries. Training yourself in the Word of God and keeping your heart set on the things above gives us these things you are wanting. You are not alone in this struggle, as all Christians especially young believers experiences the same thing. As someone has already stated "renewing" your mind with the Word of God will cause the flesh to be held in check, and allow your spirit to rule by the Holy Spirit. This takes time to do, but you will see results almost immediately as you begin this process.

 

[Thiscrosshurts]

First, I'll start off with this. Does anyone else feel like being a born again christian is extremely difficult? The first couple of weeks were amazing, I felt as light as a feather and had no worries. Now it's just horrible. I feel like I'm not doing anything right. It's a powerful spiritual battle, and I can feel the devil trying to stop me, and I feel like he's winning.

It is so awesome that you had that experience to know what it feels like to have Gods power deliver you from the stress of fear.
What you are seeing/feeling now is the difference between using your willpower and God's POWER.

Romans 11:32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Until I understand that only God's mercy can bring obedience and the peace and joy that comes with it,
I will end up using my own willpower instead of allowing him to reveal the mercy that he wants to show me.
Fortunately for me (and maybe you) I never had any willpower of my own so I know pretty quick when I am not allowing God to show his love and mercy.

I keep agreeing that I will live for the Lord

That is the right way to seek his mercy and love in power.
That is your testimony and your confession.Let the weak say "I am strong and let the poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us".
It's all about what the "Lord has done for us" and not about what we have done for him.

and yet I haven't changed my lifestyle much, and that worries me.

What makes you think you have any power to deliver yourself?
God is the answer to this problem,not willpower.
If you have asked God to change your mind and heart toward him then let him worry about it.
That way when you overcome these things you will know for certain that it is God's powerful love and mercy that delivers you from incorrect desires.

We can become addicted to the chemicals that are released in our bodies from fear and stress.
When God removes those fears and stress our bodies can actually go through withdrawls.
The cells in our bodies are crying out for the hormones that they crave so they will send messages to the brain asking for
fear and stress and our brains will readily comply.

I am glad you asked for help and I'm lifting your situation up before the Lord and thanking him for showing you the POWER of his mercy.
The joy of the Lord is our strength and believing God brings joy.

.

 

[AmberFH]

Thank you so much! I had some kind of anxiety attack last night (it hit me so suddenly I didn't even know what was happening, today I'm rather awed by the whole thing), but I woke up this morning and spent a couple hours thinking about it, and looking up other people's born again experiences.

You are absolutely right, and thank you so much for seeing me through. I'm trying to do it myself, but I should depend on God to continue doing his work in me. I was worried that because nothing much had "changed" these past two weeks (versus a big shift in my mentality in the first two weeks), that I had somehow stopped going forward. But now I realize God does things at his own pace and I should let him continue his work, but also make sure I'm not sinning or going back on what I said I would stop doing.