Replacing Panic With God's Peace

Hi this is Jim Daly with Focus on the Family uplifting music is such an encouragement to my faith.

I can't wait to experience the powerful songs that will be part of sea life 2020 join us online as we welcome Phil Stacy Danny Koepke and a surprise musical guest or two for this transformational pro-life event sea life 2020 is on September 26 at 8 PM Eastern time. For more information, text, heartbeat, to 72,000 Islands drinking about a cop I was nosing thinking and allotting caffeine and nicotine and I couldn't figure out why I was nervous were featuring a message from Patsy Clairmont today and how to overcome fear and anxiety with graduate just stayed upfront here 10 pots of coffee is not the way to settle down and we all have worries and troubles of the trick is to learn how to manage and today will hear how Patsy Clairmont spheres made her a prisoner of her own home, and how the Lord set her free.

Patsy is the author of over 35 books are latest is called, you are more than you know. Face your fears grow stronger. Patsy and her husband Les have been married for over 50 years and live in Franklin Tennessee. She's been traveling and speaking for 40 years and was one of the founding speakers for the woman of faith, conferences, and here is Patsy Clairmont speaking at the women of faith events on today's episode of Focus on the Family. After some opening remarks as pets begin search what you might call this agreement shall lie the surface of any member know what was happening to me and my house increase. My heart was throbbing wildly. My eyes dilated. I couldn't catch my eye was wrong with me know what was wrong with me. We made a rise in the area hospital.

When I got there they gave me a shot of Demerol pretty well me right now. My husband had a few moments of said me me knew it was an anxiety attack that it was coping well know, and I thought I must be the only person in the world ever going through such a thing. I was afraid it might happen again, ensuring we doing a regular cycle of visitations to the emergency room and that my life boundaries became smaller and smaller. I can even column boundaries.

The restrictions that I was putting on myself because of my fear thing about fear girlfriend friends if you give into fear. He invites them over and they come in anger and guilt and shame and they began to tell my call feeling incapable of going out in public less so since I didn't know what else to call them and I thought it was only person in the world going through it on. It was very paralyzing and eventually I know not only my home but I my dad.

I didn't want to leave my prayer.

I will give you only give me a disease that wouldn't kill me by giving me a reason that I would be happy never to leave here again you all are about a lot of time looking for a safe place. I was looking to be rescued from all of the things that were intimidating me which now become most of life.

So I was hiding away in my dad and I woke up one day and I thought we and I cried out to God, I need you to tell me to rescue me. I don't know to get from this place where I feel so stuck in their voice. Now voices are a little annoying when you're not stable ways, and it was in and out loud out here. It was an inside ear and what I understood voice to say was making and I thought made my what they do with my getting out of my ears and being overwhelmed with my not being overcome by shame men. Everything was too big and too hard and I was too little and blah blah blah what you mean my dad did seem reasonable to me as if I knew anything about read so I argue with myself and with the voice and I said are you so I got out of that night.well I can see why that was a good idea not so I got out and I stood there and I looked at it and I thought you I have to make bosons because I only slept inside me making all I had no anger issues, and so the Lord gently prompted me to make both sides and to do that every day you see so incidental, so Mary here I am writing in going make you bad but you didn't know that that was built on a principal and it is that when you are all things will give you these things give me everything to me right now know that's an you need surgery. While I was resting so I can rise upright in the morning by way of doing what distant from mine and is was to invite me my own emotions that we might begin to tingle some of the snarls that were there. I went back to my doctor and I said to him give me one more pill. You see I was at that time, person, and I was trying all the coping skills all my bride ideas and so I was drinking about 10 pots of coffee a day tops pots of coffee a day. I smoked cigarettes today and I are very strong tranquilizers every day that I said I give you my Goris went barely as you so I was popping pills and thinking and allotting caffeine and nicotine, then couldn't figure out why was such a nervous so I said now me get well, anything. Well, I'd like you to go to church. I said if I could and he said okay.

All right.

He said there is a self-help group that you could go to and he said they have one in your hometown, and one that John asked to your town and you can go to two week so I started intending these self-help group meetings, but the first one was a huge step in you, you will start to stare in your spot and risk step forward will always feel natural and threatening, but it is no way we find our liberty is our willingness to take a stab and I hope it doesn't take you as long as it did me because I was really dragging my feet and going forward because I was so stop active and I don't know what I thought I was protecting because my life was so I went to the first meeting that I made my husband go with me. He didn't come inside the meeting he sat outside and waited for me – so he checked me there and he dropped me off and I went in and they began working and they were talking my language being broken and finding hope and so I listen to them and I thought well for six I am the only banana cracker.

There is a whole box of us right here in this room gives you such winds understand where you're coming from God is given us the body that we might come together and that we might get the home one to another, and so I came out of that meeting on absolutely thrilled in fact after that meeting, I never again be taken back to a hospital with an anxiety attack I had many anxiety attacks. After that, but I finally found out I wasn't the only one that there was a way to handle this and manage myself didn't know. So every word they said was thrilling to me and Joni told me that guidelines that you had to use to participate in the meeting was that you would tell a story of something that was really deal with and dealing with that. You did well and you tell the story give you principles that you can put into place so that you can deal with that situation more rationally. So I was along until they said there are three things you cannot do when you tell your story. You cannot complain. You cannot claim. You cannot rate you've taken my 3 Best Way for me.

I need the exaggerating part of that that was because certain that you've truly understood that for me. I don't make it as as possible and when I found out about those three things. The complaining and the whining in the generating three ways we keep anger going. Three ways Lisa Manor into this place wherein and then blame others like this. It is that three ways that will lead the vitality of our day and keep believing the lie that we be anymore.

All that we are right now is made to be an ongoing journey for us to enter into only recently and only your free lay, but I wish her pretty bad, but I didn't desire it until I got to the bottom of myself sometimes we try to rescue people and we go into soon to do for them what they should've done for themselves and they never get to the end of themselves and surrender to the gods.

So come alongside people don't rescue them from the very things that God would use to draw them to himself and so I went into this meeting and I heard the words of hope that I was not alone in I began to take this skill that they were teaching and in the group and I realize that every skill lined up with the principle of God's word and that's why. And so I've come with a word of encouragement to you that your broken emotions.

They immediately and very vulnerable place, but as God except the brokenness of your life. It's like putting pieces and shards of glass into a kaleidoscope and holding it up and spinning the wheel and suddenly because light touch.

There's beautiful patterns that appear and what looked like it could have no value. Now becomes the most priceless thing that you don't want for another person and that the work that Christ has done in you I learned for me that I needed to raise on my motion for me to say everything that was on my mind was in no one's best interest. In Proverbs says all is foolishness.

It is a wise person will receive three and so that was really important for me to learn to have boundaries on my emotions and harness my thoughts. There is a three-step thing that I have given out for years and will do it as long as there is breath in my body if I think it will help one you to collect your thoughts up in a way that really helps you and that is when you have here. I'm kind unlovely breaches read you those thoughts.

That's based on the casting down imaginations, and every high thing that would exalted itself against the knowledge of God bringing into captivity every thought the obedience of Jesus Christ and you refuse those things you know you should be thinking. And then you replace it.

Because if you don't replace it with something youryou got that empty space in the enemy would love to come and tap dance around in their so you have to replace it with something and this is based on Libyans chapter 4 knows things that are good and true and pure and lovely and just and of good report from any virtue and if those things so you refused you've replaced it. Now you have to repeat that process again and again, the enemy will come back and say are you available now to think about this and you will have to continue to do that as a discipline and you will find that your mind becomes stronger. You are not as easily pass with thoughts that you know are right from the enemy himself, so that becomes really important. Also, if I might add another car that is already been mentioned by my friend Andy is reading ladies that was one of the redemptive ways that God not only gave me boundaries for my life by gave me the education I didn't and so what I found is that when he gave me such a voracious appetite for books I read all my friends books that they own and then when I got through when they weren't keeping up with things and replenishing their libraries. I then opened a small bookstore in my home to supply my because now my income that I was hungry for hope and I wanted to see how other people Their lives together in their marriages together and how they nurture their children probably celebrating each other and do friendship and and and books were available so I led read all the books in my little bookstore this before I sold them. It was a way that helped me to continue to grow and continuing to grow is important to remember a young woman I was talking to. She was bubbling in her marriage and I said honey.

Have I got some books for you. She said no, no, I don't read. Neither does my husband. I said can you read yes of course we can read were well educated then why would.

Well, she said we don't like other people's opinions interfering in our relationship.

I said some interfere here.

Avatar air and she said well we we don't reply on now I'm not saying this is the reason they ended up getting worse that they didn't read a book, but I am saying that if your heart isn't teachable enough to open up true, then youhave the next marriage for failed as well. Then the next one. I just want to say to you if you're a non-reader the way you can become.

One is to do books on tape on join a book club with people you like say look forward to seeing them even though you didn't want to read about this and you I found it is very important to place myself around people who are so that I can learn from them. Why do you read these days I'm always checking with my porch pals want to know what's on the reading list because it benefiting you. Is it a book that will nurture and help us to grow or just entertain and delight us so I encourage you to be readers but not only did I need boundaries on my emotions and I needed to harness my thoughts but I needed as I talked about earlier. I needed to minimize my word count. If you find that every time someone takes a brat you jump, then I could be you have more words that are necessary for anybody to hear. You might want to back off. You might want to go on a little word die and there is a way that you can track start by going out date during the day while everyone's awake one hour a day without any words at all, not saying a word. A couple of things. Who are you well cause great ministry to break out in your home that will be one thing, but it will begin to help you to get some control and some boundaries and you, words, people often will say to me on your husband you during those years.

Quest so I went to him and I said last when I was at my wrist in my hydrophobia that they said well seem like that big and let me. I said really, really want is DL so I could manage in why it wasn't a big deal for him until one day as I was thinking about it.

It came to me that he grew up with an alcoholic, abusive, there, and I don't mean he was crabbing.

I mean, he was violent. He threw knives at the children he shot guns at them and I mean it was terrible and he beat their mother, which for those children was probably the most damaging thing that happened you listen to me if any of you are in here and are being abused and think it's only about you. I still watch my husband show their and sheer and become emotional at the thought that as a child he could do to rescue his mom. He wanted to what was in his heart and what happened was he grew up and became a caretaker. He wanted to rescue every woman who was in trouble and then he met me last a lifetime.

And so we married and that was 48 years ago in July should we are all broken people, we are all broken people. We broken hearts and broken dreams. But what keeps me writing is that we are all shards to the Lord and hall to his line that beautiful patterns begin to develop. God bless you ladies life is delightful doing in her story is just one more example of the fact that as Betsy likes to say God uses crackpots which was the title of her first best-selling book published by Focus on the Family. You know only God can take a woman from being housebound literally bedridden and turn her into someone who can travel and speak to thousands of women in large arenas. Only God can do that and let me remind you, God works through our stuff your Focus on the Family to help people in need, like Patsy was in those early days of her marriage. Here's just one example from our counseling team. A woman in crisis called for help and her husband had been killed in a boating accident the previous day and she was overwhelmed with the decisions that had to be made. The counselor offered ideas for how to respond to family members who had conflicting opinions about the funeral arrangements of the woman also had many questions about eternal life and the counselor provided words of comfort from the Bible and prayed with her on and I just can't imagine the pain she was going through a hard situation. I am so glad she called us to market your overwhelmed with everything right and I have to thank the Lord and you are donors for making it possible for our highly trained team of counselors to be here to provide that kind of support to folks that need it. It's because of donors like you that were able to offer counseling services free of charge.

If you have a heart for people with these kinds of needs.

Can I encourage you to become a monthly partner Focus on the Family that's really the best way to help us even out her budget and keep this outreach thriving, and when you make a monthly pledge of any amount would like to send you a copy of Patsy Clairmont's book called, you are more than you know for sure fears grow stronger and if you can make a monthly commitment. We know times been difficult for many families affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We can still send you the book for a one-time donation of any amount yet Patsy's book will show how to go from a fear-based life to faith-based freedom and so get your copy when you call 880 family 800-232-6459 or check the link for further details. By the way when you're online. Be sure to look for a free PDF that we have Apaches provided. This is called 10 steps to soothe your soul when you're feeling anxious. Next time on this broadcast of brave mom who chose to carry her terminally ill baby to term against her doctor's advice you hear her story and the lessons she learned about God's law. She was the greatest gift God have because through loving God showed me his own. She was God's gift to us because she taught us how to love somebody need some love on behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team. Thanks for listening to this Focus on the Family podcast. Please take a moment and give us a really sure about this episode with the fourth on John Fuller inviting you back once more help you and your family thrive in Christ