FROM FEAR AND ANXIETY TO HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Hi, my name is Natalie Burgess and I am so overjoyed & blessed to be able to share my heart with you on this amazing blog!

 Whether you know King Jesus or not, I hope my story will resonate with you and enable you to see that there is always light, the most perfect light, at the end of a dark tunnel of anxiety & fear.

 I was always the girl throughout my whole childhood to early twenties who wanted to be everybody else but me. To have their friends, to have their body, to have their family, their home, their success... the list was endless- can you relate? If I’m being brutally honest with you, I hated myself at times & sometimes wondered what the point of life was. At the time, I didn’t know why I felt the way I did & why my anxiety & fear was so strong.

As a child I grew up in the Church of Scotland where I went to Sunday school and learnt about Jesus and the Bible, but as I grew older I just didn’t believe in it anymore. I thought the Bible was just a book with good moral stories and that God wasn’t actually alive. I had a feeling there must be ‘something’ out there but i  wasn't sure what that was anymore, as a result of the trauma I went through as a child and young adult.

 When I started my online business I was introduced to the idea of personal growth, meditation, positive affirmations & vision boarding etc. I even began looking into Buddhism.  I was searching for God and didn’t even realise it. I was using these personal growth tools to TRY and make the fear and anxiety go away in my own strength, but it didn’t work. I could see success happen to those around me in my company but I knew I had to find a way to deal with and heal from the deep fear, anxiety and self doubt that was influencing all aspects of my life.

In my teenage years my mum became a Born again Christian along with some of my family but I honestly thought they were crazy- how on earth could God heal? How on earth could someone hear the voice of God? It wasn’t until I met an amazing girl Lauren Comley who was so lovely, genuine and amazing! She spoke to me about how she could hear from God, who spoke to her through dreams & visions. She could see Angels and shared that God loved me too and also had a plan for my life: He wants you to know those plans He has for you too.

 Acts 2:17 (NLT) ‘In the last days’, God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters  will prophesy.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) ‘For I know the plans I have for you.’ Declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

What excited me about what Lauren shared with me was that Jesus was ALIVE.  He loved me, He could heal me and I COULD HEAR what He thought about me. Wow!! Imagine having a relationship with Jesus? That’s exactly what God wants for you & that’s what happened to me. Life is so exciting having Jesus in your life, it is so much more than a ‘religion’. I love this scripture below as it shows how much God wants to be a part of our lives.

Revelation 3:20 (MSG) ‘Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down and eat with you'.

Even though I gave my heart to the Lord in my mid twenties, I hadn’t yet given Him my fears & anxiety. Although things were changing & I was learning more about the Kingdom, I still drank & ate to cover up my anxiety, I still had fear & didn’t like myself deep down. I ended up with Post-Natal Anxiety after having my son Isaac & things that I had pushed down really came to the surface at that time. What I love about God is that He takes us on a journey. He took me on a healing & restoration journey so I could write this & share my testimony to help others. If He healed me overnight how could I learn? How could I truly help you today? Whatever you are going through know that God turns everything into good, even your pain, trauma, sorrow & the abuse you endured.

 Romans 8:28 (NLT) : And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Emphasis added)

 As I write this today, God has truly healed me of the deep fear & anxiety that I endured most of my life. Hallelujah! Now I am going to share some steps God took me through to get to this point of healing that I truly believe will help you in your journey to restoration.

 The first step for me was giving my heart to Jesus & becoming a believer & follower of Christ. If you haven’t yet given your heart to the Lord just pray this simple prayer now, out loud or in your heart.

 “ Dear Jesus, I know I have made mistakes and I need your forgiveness. I believe you died in my place and rose from the grave to make me new and to prepare me to live in your presence forever. Jesus come into my life. I place my trust in You alone for my salvation and I accept your free gift of eternal life”

 Please tell someone close to you or get in touch with us if you said this prayer for the first time. :)

 2. Prayer & Bible reading

 The next step for me was praying to God and asking Him to heal me. Asking Him to take the pain away and for peace. I also asked friends in Church & Christian friends to pray for and with me. Prayer is powerful! Never underestimate it in your life. From reading the Bible and devotionals I knew this was possible!

 3. Get healthy

 After having my son  Isaac and praying to God for help, the Lord spoke to me about getting healthy & being mindful about what I was putting in my body. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit so it is important that we love our bodies and take care of it. Luckily I have a health and wellness business and decided to practise what I preach to my clients.

 I  started a journey of self care, a healthy lifestyle combining whole foods with vegan vitamin supplements, instead of yo-yo dieting. This in turn detoxed my body from toxins and improved my gut health dramatically.  Quickly I started to feel a difference in my mental health, my energy & my sleeping patterns. I truly believe we underestimate the impact that unhealthy food & drink can have on our mental health.

 4. Counselling

 A year along the journey of discovering what feeling healthy was like, God directed me to Healing for the Heart counselling services in Glasgow, Scotland. I’m not going to lie, this was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but oh was it so worth it! God needed me to deal with the childhood hurts & trauma I had been through, ultimately healing my inner child. I now recommend counselling to everyone. It is so so powerful & finding a counselling service that deals with your inner child and the different parts of yourself, it is key to transformation.

 5. Read Kingdom books v self help

 Ok so this might be new for you as it was for me! I thought self help books & books about about manifestation and the universe were amazing! I thought reading these books would allow me to manifest everything I ever wanted.  I realised  these books are the complete opposite of The Gospel.

Firstly, God created the Universe - the Universe does NOT manifest anything to you, only God can give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4). By doing affirmations daily, looking at my vision board & imagining myself having all this ‘success’, I was pretty much telling God I didn’t need Him and I was going to do it in my own strength. I have learnt that without God, I can do nothing. (John 15:5) I don’t need to DO anything for my salvation. By trusting in God and listening to His voice He will make my paths straight.

Without the new age material, affirmations and vision boards, I started reading my Bible more.  I downloaded the Bible App & ‘Read Scripture App’. I am currently reading Kingdom books by authors like John Maxwell, Jennifer Le Claire, Tomi Arayomi & Kris Vallotton. I also created a prayer wall instead of a vision board and I absolutely love it because it has now become an active and living process.

Instead of affirmations about me being successful, I declare the word of God over my life. I declare who HE says I am and the personal prophecies I have received over the years. This is so so powerful!

 6. Inner Healing - forgiveness

 Another step in my healing was going for some Inner Healing at the same counselling services as mentioned above. This session allowed me to come to God and give him my Un-forgiveness. To forgive certain people who hurt and abused me. This was one of the most powerful moments of my life as God literally took the spirit of fear away from me and locked it in a cave, and in return gave me an anchor. So much more was revealed to me & released during this inner healing & forgiveness session. Again, something I highly recommend to anyone who has endured trauma or abuse.

 7. Deliverance Ministry - spiritual side of fear

 Another powerful part of my healing was being involved in sessions through Glasgow Prophetic Centre & realising that there is a spiritual side to fear, anxiety and depression. Through deliverance ministry I was able to be set free from generational curses & spirits that were holding me back in my destiny. A great place to look for deliverance and healing is Restoring the Foundations Ministries who work all over the globe.

 Today I now love who I am & who I am becoming - because God created me & knew me before I was even in my Mother’s womb! (Psalm 139:13) How awesome is that! I now have a relationship with my Heavenly Father & I love spending every morning hearing His voice & His plans for me.

 If God can do this for me, He can do this for you too. I’ve learned that healing is a process & it’s a journey I am still on. We will never be truly perfected until we enter heaven. I’ve learned how to manage situations in my life through prayer and seeking The Father’s wisdom above all else.

 I am so grateful to God for the transformation He has done in my life & what He is going to do for you.

 From REJECTED to LOVED & ACCEPTED

 From ANXIOUS to EXCITED FOR THE FUTURE

 From UNLOVED & ABANDONED to KNOWING I AM LOVED BEYOND MEASURE

 From NO HOPE FOR THE FUTURE to KNOWING I WAS CREATED FOR A PURPOSE

 From FULL OF FEAR to PEACE THAT SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING

 From HATING WHO I WAS to LOVING WHO I AM BECAUSE I AM MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

 Useful Resources & Books: