Category: Book: Panic to Peace

This is the final post in a series related to the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO GET A COPY).

Years ago, when I began having anxiety and panic attacks that clouded every hour of each day, I could not have imagined where the journey I was on would take me. At best, I thought I would continue to suffer for the rest of my life. I feared things would only get worse. To my surprise, through pain and suffering, God revealed something special to me: His grace. It’s often hard to see and experience His grace outside of suffering.

After the true causes of my anxiety and panic attacks were unveiled and addressed, it was like the moment when Dorothy stepped out of her black and white world in to a land full of color. Everything looked different to me, in a very good way. I had lived my life by rules, hiding things about myself I was ashamed of, religious striving and obligations, fake smiles, and continuous efforts to please a God who I thought was disgusted with me and pressuring me to do more for Him. But God wanted something altogether different than what I thought. He wanted me to trust Him (Hebrews 11:6), embrace His grace, and realize who He really was. Through that interaction with Him, I would be able to finally see who I really was as well.

Years ago, I would have rolled my eyes at anyone who would have suggested my panic and anxiety were somehow going to lead to something good. However, the freedom I have experienced after traveling that hard path has been amazing. I know others must be somewhere along the way of their own journey through something, thinking there could not possibly be anything good to come of it, or even a way out of it. I wrote the book, Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear, for people who are in need of genuine hope…not just some positive thinking techniques and a pat on the back. I pray this recollection of my story will be helpful to anyone seeking true peace. The book is available here:

We are offering a free bonus chapter to anyone who is willing to share this book with others. Email me to let me know if you purchase two or more copies of the book (one for you and others to pass on to friends). We will send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book.

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This is Part 6 of 7 in a series of blog posts related to the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE).

Prior posts in this blog series have told about how my life was abruptly interrupted by the horrid symptoms of panic attacks and anxiety. A long and grueling struggle with those symptoms led me to eventually realize I could not control what was happening to me. Exhausted from the long fight, I surrendered my efforts to fix myself. God began showing me that what I had been experiencing was like warning lights on the dash of a car communicating that there was a problem under the hood. In other words, something deep inside of me needed to be addressed before I could truly find freedom from the fear to which I was enslaved.

Along the way, I learned that things were not as I thought they were. For one thing, God was not who I believed He was. This was very surprising, as I thought I had a lot of the “right answers” when it came to God. However, I had simply been regurgitating knowledge about Him that I did not even believe myself. The panic and anxiety were a consequence of that. I was unaware that my view of Him was distorted by things that had happened throughout my life. Additionally, the view of myself was tarnished as well, further damaging my perspective on everything. I did not like myself very much, and was driven by more than just fear…I was driven by shame as well.

I went through a period of time of expelling lies and embracing new truths about God and myself that included facing fears I never imagined I could face and enjoying newfound freedom. However, after a while, I was left feeling like something was missing. It was all too “mechanical”. My thoughts and actions lacked something, but I just could not figure it out.

Through a few really cool interactions that God arranged, He revealed something to me that I had known about for a long time. Unfortunately, it was only head knowledge, and not something that was real to me. As His love and affection became reality, fear was robbed of its power over me.

In the book, Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear, my story is shared in full. You can pick up a copy here:

We are offering a free bonus chapter to anyone who is willing to share this book with others. Email me to let me know if you purchase two or more copies of the book (one for you and others to pass on to friends). We will send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book.

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This is Part 5 of 7 in a series of blog posts related to the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE).

In previous posts in this series, I have shared how my life was turned upside down by anxiety and panic attacks, with the many cumbersome physical and emotional effects that went along with them. While I desperately wanted to rid myself of the attacks and constant state of uneasiness, it was revealed to me that the anxiety and panic were symptoms of something else deep inside of me. If that deep-rooted issue was not resolved, I could only temporarily mask the symptoms, at best.

I was surprised to find out that I had been believing lies that were directly impacting the anxiety and panic attacks that had overwhelmed me. After surrendering my efforts to fix or control the symptoms, my flawed beliefs began to be revealed through an authentic relationship with a trusted friend. God used the safe place created in that friendship to drag the lies out into the open so we could address them together.

God showed me that how I viewed Him was not an accurate portrayal of who He really was. He also revealed that, when I looked in the mirror, I saw something different than what He saw in me. Those core misbeliefs bled over into everything in my life, distorting my perception of everything, and influencing all my thoughts, behaviors, and emotions in a bad way. The panic attacks and anxiety were just the tip of the iceberg.

As the lies were revealed, truths were also discovered. These precious truths not only challenged the lies I had believed for so long, they also motivated me to act. God led me into opportunities in which I could face my fears, fighting the lies and embracing His truth. Through those awesome new experiences, everything began to change. Faith was put into action, and the panic began to lose its grip on me.

To learn more details of my journey, please pick up a copy of my book that tells the whole story, Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear. It is available for purchase here: Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (click here to purchase your copy). 

We are offering a little promotion in order to get a copy of this story into the hands of others who might benefit from reading it. Email me to let me know if you purchase two or more copies of the book (one for you and others to pass on to friends). We will send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book.

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This is Part 4 of 7 in a series of blog posts about the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE).

Prior parts of this blog series revealed that years ago I was faced with an exhausting battle with panic attacks and anxiety. I struggled for quite a while before I decided to surrender my efforts to avoid my fears and find a fix for the debilitating symptoms I experienced. Such a decision may sound completely counter-intuitive. When we have a problem, we want to fix it…especially when that problem is making our life miserable. My problem was definitely doing that! However, the consistent lack of getting anywhere with my ploys to gain control of the situation caused me to consider a surrender. And that’s what I did.

Surrendering control over my life (or the control I thought I had) led me down a very different path. It was unknown and scary. I had run from things, out of fear, my entire life. I did not know where I was headed and needed a guide. Thankfully, God provided me with someone to walk with me as I figured things out. It was very hard to let down my guard and reach out to someone, but after a failed, long, and grueling battle to maintain control myself, I was ready.

My perspective of everything in my life was challenged. I was shocked as I began to see that the anxiety and panic attacks were only the tip of the iceberg. Deep inside me, beyond the dizziness, heart palpitations, and sleepless nights, was the root of my problem. That “root” is what needed to be addressed in order for me to find the freedom I craved.

I was faced with having to consider that many of the assumptions I held about important aspects of my life were wrong. The main two things that affected everything else were the way I viewed myself and the way I viewed God. In short, my beliefs were not as rock solid as I thought. I thought I knew some “right answers”, but I had actually believed and acted on lies without even knowing it. The anxious existence I had come to know was a direct result of those lies. God was not who I thought He was, and I wasn’t either.

In the next post of this series, I will share what began to take place as the issues with my beliefs were uncovered. To get more insight into my story, please pick up a copy of my book, Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (click here to purchase your copy). 

We are offering a little promotion in order to get a copy of this story into the hands of others who might benefit from reading it. Email me to let me know if you purchase two or more copies of the book (one for you and others to pass on to friends). We will send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book.

Also, please subscribe to my email list below, if you’ve not already:

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This is Part 3 of 7 in a series of blog posts about the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE).

In previous parts of this series, I shared about the panic attacks and anxiety that I began experiencing years ago. I had no idea at the time that what I was going through was merely symptoms of hidden issues. I had been carrying the immense weight of shame and fear for a very long time, which had finally gotten the best of me. But I did not want to face any of that!

I struggled, for what seemed like an eternity, with the symptoms of anxiety. With fear in complete control of my life, I was miserable almost all of the time. There seemed to be no break from the heart palpitations, shakiness, lightheadedness, and general uneasiness I felt around others. On top of it all, the frightening panic attacks were increasing in frequency and severity.

I was in need of some kind of solution. I desperately wanted to feel better. Countless hours were spent researching possible diagnoses and cures. I searched the internet for possible illnesses that might explain the symptoms I was experiencing, along with suggested treatments. I read self-help books and sought the advice of others, which consisted of anyone who had advice they were willing to give. I was flooded with possible fixes.

After a long while of hoping the answer would be around the next corner, I was consistently faced with three choices. First, I could just give up, which I wanted to do many times. In those moments, I felt hopeless and sometimes furious at God for either making me miserable, or passively allowing me to be. I was not sure which one it was, but I was sure He was responsible somehow for my condition. The second option that kept presenting itself was to try harder. I would try harder to find a fix, or to somehow appease God so He would fix it. I always wound up back at option one, frustrated and feeling hopeless after my efforts were fruitless.

The final option was one that came after much time spent on gravitating between giving up and trying harder. It’s one word, but there was a lot wrapped up in it for me. This choice was to finally “surrender”. Surrendering my efforts to fix the problem myself was only the beginning, and that sounded absolutely, horrifyingly crazy to me. It sounded a lot like “giving up”, which I had tried before. However, “surrendering” turned out to be much different. There was much more to surrender than I had ever imagined when I reached the point of being willing to truly consider it.

I will continue sharing my portions of my journey through fear, anxiety, and panic attacks here on my blog for the next several weeks. To get more insight into my story, please pick up a copy of my book here: Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear.

Don’t forget to email me if you purchase two or more copies of the book, so I can send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book. These will be going out shortly! And, if you would like, please subscribe to my email list below:

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