What does God teach about anxiety and shyness?

[Kat_6]

Te bible says not to be fearful or anxious about anything but to pray about everything. But, I feel the word "anxious" means something different to me. I am not anxious as in worried or scared about the future or any situations at all because I trust God and know He will provide. My anxiety however relates to shyness. I can't talk to people, look people in the eye or be in a crowded area. My heart starts to beat like crazy, I get sweaty and I shake like crazy. My anxiety I feel is different from others because my entire body feels like tremors are rolling through and people SEE. I am not anxious mentally or emotionally, just physically like I have no control of my body. I want to be confident and love people and bring people to Christ but it's so difficult to do when dealing with this. I've prayed about it for the past 4 years. I have gotten better somewhat but it always comes back. What do I do? Is shyness despised by God? Cause I hear shyness is like fear and fear is opposite to faith. I can't help it.

 

[Angela53510]

Shyness is a personality trait. It is something that you can work on, becoming a bit more outgoing, and God can help you. But it is a basic given that is who God created you to be.

If it is making you anxious to the point of physical symptoms, you might want to seek a doctor's help or counseling. There are ways to make life more comfortable for you.

Spoken as an extrovert with an very shy husband!

 

[MarcR]

When Scripture [particularly Php 4:6] tells us not to be anxious the intent is not to doubt God.

Shyness (while it can indeed be problematic) is more about not trusting people. There is actually some wisdom in that if not taken too far.

We all have some fears and we all respond to our fears differently. When we allow our fears to control us we deprive ourselves of many wonderful things that we might receive both from God and from each other.

When you accepted Jesus as Lord, you accepted HIS OWNERSHIP.

1) Jesus is willing and able to protect what is His; including YOU!

2) If, through interpersonal relationships, Jesus allows some pain to touch your life; it is to show (through how you handle it) His power in your life.

The best way to overcome your fear is to acknowledge Jesus' right to use unpleasantness in your life to bring you closer to Himself. If the unpleasantness doesn't come (and it usually wont); you will reap the benefits of both an active social life, and opportunity to serve the Lord through your interactions with people.

 

[damombomb]

Do it as unto the Lord. Count it an honor. Face that fear. You can do it.
It is confidence in the Lord Jesus.

 

[VioletReigns]

God has not given us a spirit of timidity (fear, anxiety, shyness, terror) but of (His) power, (His) love and (His) sound mind.

Sister Kat, I understand and know exactly what you're going through as I've been there myself. Actually, I should say that in my flesh I am still that way. But after walking with Jesus for over 30 years I no longer depend on my strength at all. I now go in the faith and strength of Jesus.

The Lord has renewed my mind in that I don't dwell on my anxious thoughts. They are like annoying gnats flying about my head. But my mind is stayed on the Lord.

Ya know what's funny? For many years I hear people exclaim to me, "Wow, you are so strong!" But honestly, it is 100% the Lord. I am not being humble when I admit this. I am LOL'ing as I type this because the Lord and I both know I am a sheep in His arms and anything that He performs through me to accomplish His will, is totally Him. I am always amazed at Him because I know it's the miracle of His grace. I am a timid sheep of myself.

The only thing I have going for me is belief. And even that I can't take credit for. The only reason I believe is because the Lord Jesus keeps proving Himself faithful to me over and over and over again. I'd be insane not to believe Him now.

I pray in Jesus' name you would allow the Lord to prove Himself to you and that you can always rest in His arms. Do the things you fear with hope, even if you have to do them afraid. Let Jesus take you through and you will see that when we are weak, that's when Jesus is the strongest.

 

[kedge]

I know people who have worked along side famous secularists like musicians etc and they get anxious before a performance, i guess it's just practice and time and try to be focused, it's ingrained in all of us, it's what makes us human, i also like the fact that it does help us to not be too arrogant or haughty, those are my observations.

 

[shoki]

SERMON ON MOUNT...

Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[n]?


28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

[Ugly]

Te bible says not to be fearful or anxious about anything but to pray about everything. But, I feel the word "anxious" means something different to me. I am not anxious as in worried or scared about the future or any situations at all because I trust God and know He will provide. My anxiety however relates to shyness. I can't talk to people, look people in the eye or be in a crowded area. My heart starts to beat like crazy, I get sweaty and I shake like crazy. My anxiety I feel is different from others because my entire body feels like tremors are rolling through and people SEE. I am not anxious mentally or emotionally, just physically like I have no control of my body. I want to be confident and love people and bring people to Christ but it's so difficult to do when dealing with this. I've prayed about it for the past 4 years. I have gotten better somewhat but it always comes back. What do I do? Is shyness despised by God? Cause I hear shyness is like fear and fear is opposite to faith. I can't help it.

See, the part i put in bold is the problem. You have a total lack of understanding what anxiety is. Anxiety is always emotional or mental, period. The physical aspects are just symptoms of the mental/emotional issue inside.
After saying you are not mentally/emotionally anxious you then go on to say you want to be more confident. Confident isn't a physical issue, it's a mental/emotional issue.
Your anxiety is Not different from anyone elses because all anxiety has physical symptoms. Yours may be more obvious to others, but that doesn't make it different.
Chances are you will always be shy, but you can have an effect on how badly that shyness (a mental/emotional issue, not a physical one) affects you. As stated above, shyness is often how a person is born. I am shy as well, always will be, yet i've always had jobs that have required me to be in customer service positions, constantly interacting with people. Have always hated it. Even after doing that most of my life, i'm still a shy person. And there have been certain occasions where my shyness caused anxiety. Last time i tried a new church i was so anxious i was standing in the foyer trying not to shake. So i know the feelings.
But it is mental/emotional. Always. And some people will want to teach you that anxiety is a sin. These people are also usually quite religious in nature, often going around enforcing spiritual rules like they are Gods police. Don't listen. Christ himself, in the Garden of Gethsaneme feared so strongly he physically cried tears of blood (a proven medical condition to exist) before he was to be crucified. He asked God to 'take this cup from me'. Why? Because he was afraid of what was to come. Fear is a natural human feeling, God gave us the ability to fear for good reasons. But when fear controls you, that is when it becomes a problem.
As suggested above, seek counseling. Ask around about anyone who specializes in social disorders. There are ways to deal with this mental/emotional issue and a professional can show you how. And find a deeper root to the problem, because there is more to it than just simple shyness.
While what you're dealing with is not Gods design, general shyness is something God has made you to have. It is a makeup of your personality. You are better off learning what it is God wants of you, how He made you, than wishing God had made you something else., because if He made you differently then you couldn't accomplish the things He has for you.

 

[VioletReigns]

See, the part i put in bold is the problem. You have a total lack of understanding what anxiety is. Anxiety is always emotional or mental, period. The physical aspects are just symptoms of the mental/emotional issue inside.
After saying you are not mentally/emotionally anxious you then go on to say you want to be more confident. Confident isn't a physical issue, it's a mental/emotional issue.
Your anxiety is Not different from anyone elses because all anxiety has physical symptoms. Yours may be more obvious to others, but that doesn't make it different.
Chances are you will always be shy, but you can have an effect on how badly that shyness (a mental/emotional issue, not a physical one) affects you. As stated above, shyness is often how a person is born. I am shy as well, always will be, yet i've always had jobs that have required me to be in customer service positions, constantly interacting with people. Have always hated it. Even after doing that most of my life, i'm still a shy person. And there have been certain occasions where my shyness caused anxiety. Last time i tried a new church i was so anxious i was standing in the foyer trying not to shake. So i know the feelings.
But it is mental/emotional. Always. And some people will want to teach you that anxiety is a sin. These people are also usually quite religious in nature, often going around enforcing spiritual rules like they are Gods police. Don't listen. Christ himself, in the Garden of Gethsaneme feared so strongly he physically cried tears of blood (a proven medical condition to exist) before he was to be crucified. He asked God to 'take this cup from me'. Why? Because he was afraid of what was to come. Fear is a natural human feeling, God gave us the ability to fear for good reasons. But when fear controls you, that is when it becomes a problem.
As suggested above, seek counseling. Ask around about anyone who specializes in social disorders. There are ways to deal with this mental/emotional issue and a professional can show you how. And find a deeper root to the problem, because there is more to it than just simple shyness.
While what you're dealing with is not Gods design, general shyness is something God has made you to have. It is a makeup of your personality. You are better off learning what it is God wants of you, how He made you, than wishing God had made you something else., because if He made you differently then you couldn't accomplish the things He has for you.

Amen! Beautiful encouragement here!

As the Word says, "In a multitude of counselors there is safety." I have been counseled most of my life and also counsel others. We are iron sharpening iron.

 

[Ugly]

Amen! Beautiful encouragement here!

As the Word says, "In a multitude of counselors there is safety." I have been counseled most of my life and also counsel others. We are iron sharpening iron.

Yes, i am in counseling now for depression and sometimes anxiety. And i have counseled many others on these things as well. My current counselor (who turned out to be a Christian) also was in counseling before she became a counselor and faced many of the issues i am dealing with now.

 

[breno785au]

Some awesome wisdom and words in here, I love it, this is what its about, keep em coming!

 

[PeterJens]

Emotional rules. Life is full of a strange reality. Emotions bubble up in you to tell you that something is making you respond in a particular way. Happy, angry, anxious, sad, loving, hateful. It is like a summary saying this is what is going on. Now imagine you ignore this message and say, that is not true I am not like that. Your body has a problem. To get the message across it must make it stronger, so the more you fight it the bigger it gets. Being whatever you are feeling is OK, it is God given, it helps you find out where you are in the scales of life. There are some good things we need to be anxious about, that matter, where risk and consequence are involved. It would be actually wrong not to be anxious.
Once you know how you are reacting feeling, you can then bring it into perspective. God loves you, you are seriously cared for by others, you have had good experiences in the past, you can let go and trust.
One lady I have listened to claimed her anxious thoughts where like a runaway train taking her into panic attacks, psychological breakdown, overwhelming physical symtoms, until she realised it was just she was not admiting her legitimate reaction to life, and start to apply sensible strategies to deal with them, like slow breathing, looking at things that calmed her down, switching her thoughts to other subjects until she had time to deal with the issue that was stressful, and it worked. Not a little bit, but 100%. My son had a phobia of needles and blood, it would make him faint. I had a fear of heights. Changing the context, looking at things differently, put anxiousness and shyness into perspective. They are still there but in there proper place.

 

[PeterJens]

Te bible says not to be fearful or anxious about anything but to pray about everything. But, I feel the word "anxious" means something different to me. I am not anxious as in worried or scared about the future or any situations at all because I trust God and know He will provide. My anxiety however relates to shyness. I can't talk to people, look people in the eye or be in a crowded area. My heart starts to beat like crazy, I get sweaty and I shake like crazy. My anxiety I feel is different from others because my entire body feels like tremors are rolling through and people SEE. I am not anxious mentally or emotionally, just physically like I have no control of my body. I want to be confident and love people and bring people to Christ but it's so difficult to do when dealing with this. I've prayed about it for the past 4 years. I have gotten better somewhat but it always comes back. What do I do? Is shyness despised by God? Cause I hear shyness is like fear and fear is opposite to faith. I can't help it.

Being shy is 100% where we all start in life. You only get confidence by trial and error, by learning failing, and trying again. The Lord loves those who are real, who understand the difficulty and still move forward. Fear is merely recognising things are dangerous, which they are. Jesus though turned these things around, and said, though you are hurt, he can find you, though you are fearful, he can give you boldness. Jesus's love turned ordinary people into people who would die being thrown to the lions, because they knew this love in their hearts. That is how powerful and transforming this love is. You too can find it, but it takes time, it takes listening to yourself, and walking through the pain and hurts you carry without knowing...

 

[oyster67]

Te bible says not to be fearful or anxious about anything but to pray about everything. But, I feel the word "anxious" means something different to me. I am not anxious as in worried or scared about the future or any situations at all because I trust God and know He will provide. My anxiety however relates to shyness. I can't talk to people, look people in the eye or be in a crowded area. My heart starts to beat like crazy, I get sweaty and I shake like crazy. My anxiety I feel is different from others because my entire body feels like tremors are rolling through and people SEE. I am not anxious mentally or emotionally, just physically like I have no control of my body. I want to be confident and love people and bring people to Christ but it's so difficult to do when dealing with this. I've prayed about it for the past 4 years. I have gotten better somewhat but it always comes back. What do I do? Is shyness despised by God? Cause I hear shyness is like fear and fear is opposite to faith. I can't help it.

I was like this for the first 26 years of my life. To this day, I do not understand the point or purpose of it. Maybe it was all for right now.

I want you to know that many of us love you very much. It is Jesus who has put that love there. We miss you, please come back.

At 26 years of age I found myself in college, failing all the mandatory communications classes, of course. I could not stand before a group of more than 5 or 6. It was also difficult to communicate with females on matters of the heart.

Things didn't begin to change until got frustrated with the lack of spiritual support for Christian young people. They were practically being slaughtered by Satan as they walked in the door of that public University. All the bible clubs offered was foolishness and stupidity. I started a Bible Study and within a couple weeks I was preaching like Billy Graham to a group of more than 50.


Whatever you do, do not ever doubt Jesus' love for you. God works in Mysterious ways.

 

[Marian29]

Te bible says not to be fearful or anxious about anything but to pray about everything. But, I feel the word "anxious" means something different to me. I am not anxious as in worried or scared about the future or any situations at all because I trust God and know He will provide. My anxiety however relates to shyness. I can't talk to people, look people in the eye or be in a crowded area. My heart starts to beat like crazy, I get sweaty and I shake like crazy. My anxiety I feel is different from others because my entire body feels like tremors are rolling through and people SEE. I am not anxious mentally or emotionally, just physically like I have no control of my body. I want to be confident and love people and bring people to Christ but it's so difficult to do when dealing with this. I've prayed about it for the past 4 years. I have gotten better somewhat but it always comes back. What do I do? Is shyness despised by God? Cause I hear shyness is like fear and fear is opposite to faith. I can't help it.

My father used to hide under the bed when he was very little, when visitors arrived at his house.
I also had real suffering of being shy when younger, it seemed that everyone was looking to me,
sometimes I wanted to say something, but I guess I was so insecure, I couldn't speak.
There are lots of foolish toughts, not realistic, that make us feel ashamed. Pray to the Lord, so
it won't make you stop to be loyal to the Lord. I guess, when we make fun of some situation helps
us to relax and be more social, it changes the focus of our discomforts. I believe breathing exercises
can also help.

"Fear thou not; for I {am} with thee: be not dismayed; for I {am} thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."


Isaiah 41:10

"For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."


Isaiah 41:13

God bless you.

 

[crossnote]

In my experience feelings of inferiority plays a big part of this.
The best antidote I have found is to get a deep grounding of who you are in Christ and that way those 'judging eyes' will have little effect.

 

[Marian29]

In my experience feelings of inferiority plays a big part of this.
The best antidote I have found is to get a deep grounding of who you are in Christ and that way those 'judging eyes' will have little effect.

...Amen!...

 

[MaggieMye]

Shyness: adjective, shyer or shier, shyest or shiest.1.bashful; retiring.

2.easily frightened away; timid. 3.suspicious; distrustful:I am a bit shy of that sort of person. 4.reluctant; wary.

As you can see from the definition of "Shy", It is a FORM OF FEAR. It is also encompasses PRIDE.... a form of False Pride, in that one thinks...renders her/himself to be LESS than others. These 'feelings' are most often brought on by the influence of the demonic realm. I am not saying that anyone is POSSESSED, but rather, OPPRESSED for a variety of reasons....a variety of open doors.
It can be an 'inherited' personality 'trait', which relates to a generational curse. The door can also be opened through trauma or abuse as a child. Regardless, this is NOT what God intends for anyone. We can do ALL things through Christ. HE is our confidence. IF....IF we are grounded in Him and not concerned about what others may or may not think of us (this is pride) then we Can be confident in who HE created us to be! That is not t say we do not screw up. We do! BUT...He has our back and we need only confess to Him and receive forgiveness. And if we have hurt someone else, apologize and ask for forgiveness of them.

Being confident in who you are and what you know is NOT pride. Bragging about it is.
Example: I was once accused of pride because I ministered to a woman whom an untrained and emotionally needy man had wanted to minister to. (My pastor had my back.) When this man accused me of 'stepping on his toes" (Was his ego wounded?? HIS pride was showing!!) I told him that there is a difference between being prideful and being confident in what you know. He had nothing to say then.

Shyness....fear of others should be confessed as sin, then told to take a hike and not come back. REST in the Lord for HE is your confidence!
Maggie