Julia Melatis – Author

There have been times in my past that I let fear hurt me and others in my life. I never want to let fear control me like that again! In Jesus I have found freedom from fear! Faith is the direct opposite of fear. We cannot have both.

As you may have read in other posts, I do have a diagnosis of depression and anxiety disorder. Anxiety is a type of fear. The medical definition of anxiety is:

A mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one’s daily activities. Examples of anxiety disorders include panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

At it’s worst, the depression and anxiety did interfere with my daily life and with my physical health as well. This kind of anxiety is more than a spiritual problem. God could have healed me. I prayed for it, but I believe He chose to send me to my neurologist for a few reasons:

1- for me to learn that not everyone who is depressed or anxious is not that way because they’re not trusting God enough.

2- for me to experience God’s grace and strength in my weakness like Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV), “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

3- for me to share my testimony of how God has worked in my life through medicine and that is okay for Christians to seek medical help for depression and anxiety. There is a terrible stigma among Christians that we should not need medicine for mental disorders. There are times we do and we should not be made to feel shame or less than when we do. Sometimes a chemical imbalance in the brain causes our need for medical help to overcome. God has His reasons for outright healing sometimes and other times using medical intervention. If we need help from a doctor we should seek it without fear.

4- to keep me humble and dependent upon Him. Even with the medication I can easily slip into depression or anxiety. It’s no where near the depths it was before being medicated. But I must stay close to the Lord to stay above the wind and waves in those storms.

Find someone with whom you can talk things out. When my doctor suggested it was time for me to see a psychiatrist I knew even with insurance I wouldn’t be able to afford that. So, I will sit down across from an empty chair and speak to Jesus like He is my psychiatrist. Holy Spirit will remind me of things that need to be resolved. One time He showed me I had unforgiveness I was holding onto, which I thought I had forgiven. We “talked” it out. He helprd me forgive abd let go. I felt a geeat weight lift off of me.

We need to check ourselves and ask the Lord to check our hearts, too.

Sometimes we push things down inside instead of letting go and forgiving. We may have moved it from our waking thoughts, but subconsciously it’s still eating away at us. It’s amazing what things Holy Spirit will bring to mind if we tune into His voice and listen.

I love how God orchestrates things in our lives. Some would call them coincidences, chance, or luck. I call them “Godincidences” or divine appointments, and blessings. He knows exactly what He is doing and how to arrange all the details for things, people, and circumstances to happen at just the right times and places. Only He can work those kinds of logistics! It was through the physical manifeststions from the depression and anxiety that I went to my regular doctor. She sent me for various medical tests. One of which showed something that sent me to the neurologist. After giving him the run down on what brought me there, he attributed almost all the symptims I haf to depression abd anxiety disorder. And the one thing that was seen on the scan by the radiologist that sent me to him, he said was nothing to worry about. But it got me to him. And I felt God’s presence there. I felt relief knowing whay was going on and that a doctor was taking time to talk to me and find a solution for me. [Other doctors in the past had assumed anxiety and thrown prescriptions at me, but never took time to pursue the right course of treatment or send me to a specialist. I had also fought taking pills, because of the Christian stigma discussed above.] But God, (those 2 awesome words) worked out the logistics to get me to a caring specialist just when I needed it most! Never let fear keep you from seeking the help you need like I did for far too long.

See how God worked out some awesome logistics for Zach Williams in this video testimony (below). I also just had to share a few of his songs. What he’s been through in his life and the truth and fire in His songs speak deeply to my soul and go especially well with today’s topic of fear.

Blessings of Hope and Joy,

Julia

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