A long, long time ago in galaxy far far away. OK sorry that story has already been told.
But some time ago I was asked how you can tell when it is the spirit or Holy Ghost warning you about something and when is it the anxiety just getting you spun up. Sometimes it is incredibly difficult to tell the difference.
I want to preface this discussion with a disclaimer. The thoughts and beliefs that follow are mine alone. They do not reflect the beliefs for teachings of anyone else.
That being said I want to start with the scripture from 2 Timothy 1:7. This is a letter that Paul sent to Timothy. The spirit of the letter tells me that Paul knew Timothy well and wanted to uplift and help Timothy in his calling as an Apostle. In verse 7 Paul tells Timothy “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
This was not an easy time to be declaring the good news of the gospel. Paul was in prison and was telling Timothy in verse 8 that he would also be a “partaker of the afflictions of the gospel”. But Paul is telling Timothy to not be afraid. God has not given us the spirit of fear. Paul was letting Timothy know that there may be hard times coming but not to give in to the fear. I thought about this scripture often when I was going through the anxiety.
How does this scripture help me to know if it is the Holy Ghost warning me or the anxiety? By the way that I feel. When my thoughts start racing and my heart is beating like crazy and I feel like my entire life is hanging on this decision and if I don’t make the correct choice then my life will be destroyed; I know that the anxiety is speaking. Because God does not give me fear. He does not want me to feel this way. When the spirit is warning me of something I may feel lost or confused but my thoughts and feelings do not start running wild.
There is another way that I use to determine if it is the anxiety or the spirit. This scripture is in the Doctrine and Covenants. This is a book of revelations that I believe were given to Joseph Smith as he restored the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This revelation was given in response to Oliver Cowdery. He had tried to translate the Book of Mormon but was unable to do it. The Lord told Oliver in section 9 verse 8 “But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and it it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel it is right.”
Oliver had not done any work to be able to translate he just asked and expected to be able to receive the answer from God. When I am working to know if there is something I need to change or do differently. Usually when I am trying to decide if I have messed up and I need to apologize to someone (because I think way too much about the things I do and say and then I worry I said the wrong thing and I need to apologize) I make a list. I try to “study out” the situation for myself.
I write down what I did and all of the possible ways the other person may react. I then go through the list and cross out the craziest. You know the ones like they are making a voodoo doll to begin torturing me for being so horrible.
When I have all of the craziest responses marked out I am usually calm enough at that point to think clearly about the situation. I can then take the question to the Lord and ask Him if this is a situation that I need to change or work on. The end of the verse gives me the most important clue to knowing if it is the spirit or the anxiety talking to me.
The end of the verse says “if it is right I will cause your bosom to burn”. So to know if it is the spirit or the anxiety you have to know how the spirit talks to you. What do you feel when you have felt the spirit? How have you felt guided or led? For me I feel calm and peaceful. I often feel as though a blanket has been settled down through my mind calming the racing thoughts. It is at that point that I know that I am on the right track.
I don’t give in to the crazy thoughts of the anxiety as often but I listen to what God is trying to teach me. It has taken me some time to trust myself again. However, the work is worth it to have that guiding influence in my life. How does the Spirit talk to you? How do you know when you are on the right track in your life?
