Do you find yourself getting disturbed or taken aback by the troubling experiences that you go through?

Do you find that your peace is easily shaken or disturbed?

If so, please read this post in its entirety.

A Life-Changing Experience

Just last March, March of 2012, I was sitting at my desk working on the computer and my chest began to tighten. My fingers felt numb and I had sharp pains at the base of my neck and into my shoulders. Then, I started feeling like my breathing was off. I guess you could call it shortness of breath.

My daughter, who was just five years old, was out of school and she was in her bedroom watching one of her favorite movies. I didn’t want to alarm her, so I went on the internet and I typed symptoms of a heart attack.

I started reading the symptoms and my mind said, “You are getting ready to have a heart attack.” So, I called one of my dearest and closest friends who had been experiencing issues with hypertension so I knew she knew all about heart attacks.

She stayed on the phone with me for almost an hour and ruled out the fact that I was about to have one. She told me to go to get my pressure checked at a Harris Teeter grocery store or a CVS Pharmacy because perhaps my pressure had escalated for some reason.

I went and according to the instrument there, let’s just say I should not be here.

So, I thought, that can’t be right. My mother then told me to go to an Urgent Care but by that time all of the Urgent Cares had closed. My mother then advised me to  take an aspirin,  try to get some rest, and go to the Urgent Care right after I dropped off my daughter at school.

That night, I did not get much rest.

I kept thinking crazy thoughts about my health, about my life,  and about the safety of my daughter. I certainly was not ready to leave here (the Earth) and have someone else raise her, so I needed to find out exactly what was going on in my body to cause these kinds of symptoms and do whatever it took to make sure I didn’t experience them, again.

The next morning, I took Zoe to school and rushed to Urgent Care.

After being checked out and x-rayed, the doctor informed me that my blood pressure was high for the first time in my life and that what I had described was an anxiety or panic attack. 

He told me that people who experience these feel like they are having a heart attack. He also informed me that the x-ray revealed that my neck was too straight.  (I didn’t even know there was such a thing.)

As he showed me the x-rays, he informed me that my neck should have a little curvature to it, but mine did not. It was completely straight. The straight neck was the cause of the pain in my shoulders and the numbness in my fingers.

Seek and You Shall Find

After that experience, I began to seek God about the state of my life.

Why would I, a child of God, get to a place where I would have an anxiety attack? Why would I get to a place where my mindset was not on taking care of my body? What in the world was going on with me?

I realized that I had not been studying the Word as I should but I had been substituting tele-evangelism for my daily dose of the Word. So, I made a decision to devote time to my own time with God.

Now, I am the kind of person who would rather study a particular topic or issue that I would like to learn more about or even one that is bothering me, as opposed to just reading chapter after chapter, book after book.

And, God, knowing His child, laid it in my heart to study PEACE. And as I studied, He revealed to me three elements, three components, three keys to possessing my peace so that no matter what goes on in my life, I can walk victoriously, confidently, without angst.

It is not a magic pill, quick fix or a microwavable potion, but it is a process that you and I can use no matter what we face. Because guess what?

You deserve to walk in peace.

Yes!!! You are a child of the God of Peace….so nothing “in” or “of” this world should sabotage the peace that your Heavenly Father has given you through the power of His Holy Spirit. (I Thessalonians 5:23, Galatians 5:22)

The three keys that God gave to me will come in handy in your life, time and time again. I promise you that. The more you use them, the better you will get at using them.

Sharing the 3 Keys to Possessing Your Peace on Not Just Talk Radio

On March 25th, I was a guest on Shamara Cox’s Not Just Talk Radio Show and I spoke on this topic: 3 Keys to Possessing Your Peace: Rising Above the Drama to Walk In Your Divine Personal Brand.  Shamara and I had a ball and it seemed to be a popular topic with the listeners as the questions came flooding in–so much so, that we didn’t get a chance to answer them all.

Listen Now

1. Get your Bible out and turn to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. The three keys are found there.
2. Listen now and be blessed!
3. Share the show with others who need a systematic formula for walking in peace.
4. Don’t just read and listen. Leave a comment below.  

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3 NIV

Peace and Blessings,