NoDoubt

Okay - warning, this is going to sound blog like, but I want to share it with you guys.

I will admit right now I had a few drinks to deal with some intense anxiety, but I'm hardly inebriated. The stress stems from social anxiety. I volunteered to participate in a week long volunteer effort for voice of the martyrs. At the last minute, I faced some intense fear.

I thought about cancelling for a number of reasons, but when I sat down and thought about it, I realized I simply feared the social aspect of it (I have some hardcore social issues...) Once I realized it was fear that was holding me back, I knew I had to face it, as I refuse to be a coward.

So in a few hours, I get up at 4 am to meet with the church group (whom I do not know at all) for a trip to Oklahoma to work in the VOTM warehouse. The work is nothing, I could do it joyfully - alone. The hardest part for me is being around people I do not know for extended periods of time.

5 minutes chatting with a stranger is exhausting for me. It takes all I have to be social. Now I'm facing a full week of it. I'm scared. It utterly destroys me to face more of the social humiliation I know all too well. But I realized it is a fear that controls me, and I can't have that.

I know I'm not on here often, but this forum seems to be where I can turn to when I really need help, and your prayer has done wonders for me in the past. Please pray for me now as I face my fears to serve God, and to grow. I desperately desire good quality Christian friends, but making any friends is a serious endeavor for me, let alone quality friends.

Tomorrow morning, I will be facing a traumatizing event - a long van ride with a bunch of strangers, followed by a week of working with them. Again, I'm scared. I'm scared of more possibilities than I can count, but I have to face these fears, because I know it will never get easier if I avoid them. Please pray for God to bless me with strength and endurance.

We all have our struggles. I have kicked food, pornography, smoking and drinking addictions (I still drink and smoke, but rarely, and definitely not like an addict - and not at all for much longer), and now I need to kick my fears. But fear and addicition are two very different beasts. This will be my first attempt at tackling fear.

I'm afraid of rejection, humiliation, embarassment, and isolation. Mentally, I know they won't kill me. But fear is irrational and intense. Fear has kept me isolated far too long, and I desperately need good Christian friends.

I won't be able to check this thread for at least a week, obviously. I trust, however, that at least one of you will pray for me, and I know in my heart that prayer makes ALL the difference, especially from the wonderful Godly people of this forum. So I implore you to send out a quick prayer for me. God will honor your prayers and I will be infinitely grateful!

Thank you for reading, and God bless you!

Jax

No doubt, I fully understand having been someone who suffers from social anxiety too.
I used to find it totally exhaussting to be in the prescence of people I didnt know for any length of time, and yet I was quite a friendly person!
It doesnt make sense.
However what I have found is that as I have been built up in the Lord and experienced more and more of these occassions, the fear has lessened.
I think someone has to have experienced it to understand, but it is a horrible experience, as throughout everyday we have to face people we dont know.
While I was dealing with this (and there is complete deliverance) I would spend time with the Lord, building my innerman up with what God said about me, I would literally speak out the scriptures that spoke of God's love and acceptance of me(I believe the root of this anxiety is self rejection)
I would relax as much as I could and focus on Him, maybe getting a mental picture (as much as we are able) of the Lord ministering to those He lived with, and then I would literally take each minute as it came.
If I started to feel panicky I would think of the mental image of Jesus and try to breath deeply.(as inconspicuously as possible!)
I prayed for the Lord to take it away, but for me I found that it was a gradual thing, each day I would be a little less sensitive to this anxiety.
If there was an event in your life that you know of (or you could ask the Lord to reveal anything) cut yourself off from it, apply the Word of God to that situation.
Praying for you, your weakness can be God's strength.

Whirlwind

Hey, NoDoubt! How are you!?

You know what? Consider everybody in the world as a friend until they prove you wrong. And then - if they turn out to be your enemy, remember that the best way to completely destroy your enemy is to make them your friend. Shower them with kindness and smiles and love.

I get the same way around people. I once had to work in a stock room with a bunch of strangers, and the first morning I almost called in. It was horrible, dreading the time! Then I just went. By the end of the first day, I was friends with everybody!

To me, it hurts that people might judge me; they might make fun of the clothes I'm wearing; I might talk differently than they do. But none of that matters! We're all different, and sharing those differences is what makes good friends.

Cast your anxieties on God. Give him your fears. The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that (Proverbs 29:25). I don't like being around strange people either. In my job, sometimes, I'm forced to be around highly educated people who like to speak of their degrees and remind the world of how important they are. But Bayless Conely, one of the pastors that I listen to on podcast, once said: "If someone has to tell you what they are...then they're probably not."

Do you have an empty jar around? This is completely symbolic, believe me. Before you leave the house, concentrate on that jar. Force all of your fear and anxiety into that jar. Pray to God and tell him that you're leaving it there for him. You'll be back later on to see what He wants you to do with it. Shut the lid tight, and then go off on your adventure.

Trust God. He's always, always with you. You're never alone. No other single person in this world is better than you. In God's eyes, we're all children on the same plain.

God bless you, my friend! Have fun!

__________________
Chapter-by-Chapter, verse-by-verse.
Jesus is the Living Word.

Fluffy

We can do all things thru Him Who strengthens us! Praying, my friend!

__________________
Be transparent before God, He sees right thru you, anyway!
http://www.likepreciousfaith.org/testimony_val.htm
Please pray for your local emergency responders, daily.

Boanerges

My wonderful brother we love you and are praying for you. You are special in God's eyes and that is something you have to recognize. Stand tall, look them in the eye, EXPECT THEM TO LIKE YOU. I won't go over the whole list but you know what I am telling you.
I can tell you that I know exactly what you are going through. This is not a single battle but a walk we must take. It is so hard, we feel as though we could scream, our instinct is to hide away, sometimes it seems as though we might perish- and yet we do not. Hiding away is not an acceptable option either as we must live our lives. So what do we do?
I have learned so much about life while reading the Psalms. King David often found himself in really terrible situations and he was so down and out he could not see anyway things could ever get better, He was stressed and focusing on his trouble and weakness and that brought him lower and lower as he refused to be comforted. But then something happened, David began to realize that no matter how terrible it seemed, no matter what he went thru God was always faithful to help him. He began to dwell on the things God had done for him and how God had never let go of him. His spirit began to be lifted as he realized that God would never let him down- truly you and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens us- well whenever David got to this point victory was never far behind,. His focus went from his weakness , fear and inadequacy to God's goodness and faithfulness.
So then God said we would have storms and trials and He never said those would be easy- yet we still press on. We began to look at life differently as we set our hearts to trusting God. We walk in this faith and go through those situations- yes they seem difficult but we realize that they are not going to kill us and He will keep us. We began to face those situations head on as we know that God will surely keep us. Slowly we start to relax as we become less sensitive to the fear and more fixed on God- this is the place where we start to relax and this leads to victory.
My precious brother I am praying for you and I do have great expectations for good things in your life- your friend, Larry.

__________________
Anything that dims my vision for Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps me in my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me; and I must, as a Christian turn away from it. – J. Wilbur Chapman

NoDoubt

Hey, thanks everyone for the responses and prayer! The trip went pretty well! I actually made some new friends!! And not only that, but they are excellent and godly people. Thank you so much for praying!

Boanerges

A pleasure brother!!!!!!!!

__________________
Anything that dims my vision for Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps me in my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me; and I must, as a Christian turn away from it. – J. Wilbur Chapman