This just in from our global online tribe: “I am a Christian, but I am constantly having panic attacks when trouble comes into my life. Why can’t I stop this?”
Two words slid into my consciousness when I read this question: PANIC ROOM.
Mostly associated with the 2002 thriller starring Jodie Foster hiding out in her fortified Manhattan townhouse, construction of PANIC ROOMS is booming. But for every unit built, there are many millions of tortured souls who, in some form, create their very own version of a PANIC ROOM.
Most people do not have a PANIC ROOM in their home. But almost all of us panic and seek safety in some form of PANIC ROOM—such behavior is not Christlike. Habits and addictions. Obsessive escapes. Destructive relationships.
The reason so many people want a PANIC ROOM can be explained with just one word: FEAR. Panic is the manifestation of fear. Panic is a symptom of fear. Panic is a derivative of fear.
Fear is panic’s root. It makes no sense to focus on the panic without addressing the fear and what God says about this destructive force in a believer’s faith walk.
So let’s start with God’s HEAVIEST ARTILLERY against FEAR-DRIVEN PANIC—He calls fear a SIN and commands us to counter it with SCRIPTURE and give it to him. That is why there are more than 300 verses in the Bible that contain the phrase “fear not” and, instead, trust God.
Doing that increases our Christlikeness because of how Jesus responded to complete separation from his Father the day he faced the cross—HE CRIED OUT “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
Fear-driven PANIC can tempt us, but it does NOT have to bring us down. The Apostle Peter tells us to cast “all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
The type of PANIC does not matter to God. He cares about our daily challenges. He cares about our pain from the past. He cares about our worries over the future. And he cares about everything in between.
I ask God to help me to immediately turn to him when PANIC sets in and threatens to break my connection with him.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What will you do when PANIC pays its next visit?
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
