God??????

[jadepanic]

Does anyone else believe or think that if you do anything wrong and i mean ANYTHING....that God (if you believe in him) will punish u with more of what your afraid of,which in our case is being sick and having panic attacks??
Because if i ever do anything wrong....i always seem to have a massive panic attack due to feeling so sick or something,and i believe i am going to V*.....does anyone feel this way or do you think that of course its not god punising us?? jade.xx

[nhernandez1194]

Yes! That is my /exact/ thought process.

[teh folder]

I would have, in the past. I don't believe in a God anymore and if I did I would only worship him if he was nice. A God that punished me like that could kiss my ass. - No offense.

[ann32]

totally not even true. i am a christian. god gives us what he feels we can handle. whatever it is we are suffering from is because he is trying to teach us a lesson and i feel that once we seek him to really find out what it is he is trying to teach us we will be healed. i am still a work in progress...but I know for a fact he doesnt punish us. that would be satan.

[damean29]

Hi Jade. Great post. Right on the money. When I was a kid - i totally believed my N* and V* to be influenced by what i did right or wrong. In one of my posts i talked about how i use to pray to God and ask him to not let it happen. If i had done something wrong (like a sin), i wud promise i wud never do it again if he wud make the S* feeling go away. I don't necessarily believe this anymore - since i am convinced that it is my unreasonable fear (and mind) that influences me to feel N* or get a panic attack.

[joeylynn]

I too pray to...(God) and ask him to not let it happen. If i had done something wrong (like a sin), i wud promise i wud never do it again if he wud make the S* feeling go away. I think I have ALWAYS been like this as I don't remember I time when I didn't try to "make a deal" with...(God) so that I would not be sick!

[raven928]

no way, god has better things to do and if he did care he would stop bigger problems.

[jadepanic]

i always think and fear that he is punishing me for something....why would he give us such traumatic fears...and ann i too am a church of england christian,and if you are a christian too...why does he let u suffer?? he can stop things!! but he doesn't....what about if someone was to steal or have an affair?? what then?? would he punish us then with V* and panic attacks??

[andee]

Loooove what you said, Ann32!

[BreaRose]

When I was little, I used to pray as hard as possible, put my whole self into it. Begging for the sick feeling to just go away so I could sleep. It never did and it wasn't until years and years later that I found out I had acid reflux and that's why I felt sick every time I would lay down. I don't belive in a god now and my stomach has felt better and better since starting to take Prilosec OTC on recommendation of a doctor.

I live with my boyfriend of almost 5 years, we're not married and are "living in sin" and I've only been sick once since being with him. So, I don't believe in being "punished" for "sinning".

[seafrost94]

Whenever I get worried that I am going to V*, I pray to God to help me relax and calm down. I always am aware of the possibility that I could just be panicking and I am not going to V*, but I can never tell if it is true. I always think I could either be going to V* or I am just anxious. Then, (and I know this sounds silly, but it works) I burp, and I feel better pretty quickly. If I don't burp, I take it as a sign that I am most definitely going to throw up. Is this weird?

[ann32]

like i said before God doesnt give anything to anyone that he knows cant handle it...there is someone called satan that LVOES to pull people away from God and loves to see people suffer. When satan sees weakness he thrives on it, he loves to pull people further away from God. You just have to pray and pray about your weakness and fear and after you pray Thank God for hearing you and protecting you EVEN if your prayer hasnt been answered yet. The world is not perfect, heaven is. Its all in the bible. I struggle with this phobia too, but I just trust in the Lord to take care of me when I have my bad days and give him all my worries, I know I am being taught to trust in him more and I am working on it...

[ann32]

also, try to pray and thank God daily, he always listens to us Christians or not, but he wants us to be more involved, I wake up and thank Him for everything in my life and my breath and my family,and giving me the words to type this to you now.

I am a new Christian, boy did I used to be trouble hahaha, my life hasnt really changed much, just my outlook, but to me that is a blessing. I have a wonderful husband and 2 wonderful sons, a house and awesome pets!!! I am so blessed and I thank him all the time. I just continue today that God sees me through this phobia, which has been debilitating lately and I am able to keep Satan FAR AWAY, I just have to have faith, plus, Ive tried everything else and being a Christian can only help me and my family.

[emmalinda]

yer i still pray and beg god to make the feeling go away like i used to when i was a kid. and when it didnt work i always got angry and felt i was being punished or something. but other times the feeling goes away after a little while. and i dont know if it was him or if it passed on its own. i guess i'll never really know

[BreaRose]

Very interesting thread responses.

[asianeko]

I was raised very religious and used to beg and plead with God to not let me get sick. Well, it never worked. I even tried bargaining.

I no longer consider myself a religious person, however I am a Spiritualist.

I recall when I was younger, that God will never give you anything you can't handle. I also recall God as being a Lord of Love. So why would he punish you for something? I think he'd save all the big guns for judgment day

[oksana]

Yes, I believe this will happen for almost everything.

[jkl81]

I'm Christian and I used to think this way too. I think this phobia has made my faith life more complicated, but in all other ways my life is beautiful so I really try to focus on being grateful for that, though I'm sure I complain too much. Having said that I wonder why people get stuck with stuff like this, but I've seen some really awesome people get stuck with a lot worse things than emet. I think punishing people with v* is probably not something God would do though, I think He has better ways to get our attention than that if He wants to.

[andee]

More great posts from Ann32! I used to feel the same way about God when I was young, and thought if I do anything wrong, I will get sick or something bad will happen. But really understanding that God is by no means vengeful or spiteful helps, and He forgives us and forgets our sins. Ann, you are very positive, and I wish I could be more. I question my faith and have a hard time trusting....but I keep at it. Hope these posts help, Jadepanic...

[keeponestepahead]

I was raised Jewish, so we didn't really believe God was going to punish us. We were motivated by maternal guilt instead.

But really, I understand this line of thinking. We want there to be consequences when bad things happen and, by extension, why shouldn't God punish us for our transgressions?

I think in reality, this is less a religious doctrine and more a form of obsession. We all have our own ways of internalising our fears and sometimes we believe that doing things the "wrong way" will bring ill will upon us. Whether it's God or karma or just some unknown force, we think we will be punished.

Most priests that I know would tell you God would not set out to be vindictive. I would tend to agree with them; I can hardly picture a God who is concerned with making poor emetophobics throw up.

[ann32]

This just came across my email this Am, and I thanked God for it, becasue actually I deleted this thread, and it came back up, so I figured I would post it.

SATAN USES SUBTLE DEVICES

"And the king of Assyria sent…Rabshakeh…to king Hezekiah with
a great host against Jerusalem" (2 Kings 18:17).

The Assyrians represent today's "guides to prosperity." The devil will parade his army around your walls: people who are powerful, beautiful and seemingly successful in all they undertake. When you see them, you will feel walled in like a prisoner!

The first trick of the man of sin is to question a believer's commitment to trust the Lord fully. Rabshakeh, whose name means "drunken envoy," was the king's ambassador. He mocked the godly with a taunt (see 2 Kings 18:19–20). The accusation was, "God is not going to get you out of this mess. You
are going down! You are in real trouble, and your faith is not going to work."

Satan then adds another twist; he tells you that God is the one behind all your troubles. Assyria's messenger claimed, "The Lord said to me, Go up
against this land, and destroy it" (2 Kings 18:25). Satan will try to convince you that God is getting even with you, that he is mad at you. This is his slickest lie! He makes you believe God has forsaken you and turned you over to trouble and sorrow. He wants you to think all your problems are the result of God's
punishment for your past sins. Don't believe it! It is Satan who is out to destroy you.

Our Lord is a deliverer, a fortress. Isaiah said he comes "to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified" (Isaiah 61:3).

No, dear saint, you are not going down. You are simply under attack, being barraged by the enemy's lies because you have set your heart truly to trust in the Lord. Satan is trying to destroy your faith in God.

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/9724

ALSO MY FRIEND POSTED THIS TODAY ON FACEBOOK

“Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand."(Philippians 4:6-7) Whenever you start to worry, stop and PRAY!

THIS WAS MY RESPONSE:

Hey feff, seriously, what if you do stop and pray and the worrying continues a just takes over? Bc that is what has been happening, I can't seem to focus bc I'm worrying so much

THIS WAS HER RESPONSE:

Once you pray for something, turn around and thank God for it, even before you see it done. You've got to give your worries to God, and believe with your whole self that he will provide for you. Don't question his abilities...the devil will... always try to attack you when you turn to God, but once you get so "involved" with God, the devil will back up a bit. He will see that your faith is too strong to budge! Open your bible and just read it. Go to the index and search for comfort, peace, trust, faith, and read those verses!

Sorry this is SO long, it just fits with this topic.

[mooki]

I grew up with similar feelings that god(or karma) might punish me by making me sick in the stomach, but as I grew up I realized this was silly.

[SparklyxConfetti]

Nah. I don't think God is punishing you like that. He's not that cruel. I am Christian, so I'm not turning down your religion or anything like that. I just don't think that's likely. God knows how much this phobia bothers you, and He wouldn't torture you with it!

[precious]

ann32 I feel the same way as you and it is refreshing to know someone who feels the same way as I do about God. I don't know what I would do without God and being able to pray to him, although sometimes I feel that he is not wanting to listen to my prayers and I feel hopeless and alone. I am a catholic and recently mainly because of the viruses going around and family stuff I have been trying to pray the rosary every night before bed, I feel so good about this and I feel that this makes God happy and close to me that I hope to continue this always.

[ann32]

Thanks precious. It is very reassuring to me to pray...I also have give nmy "phobia" to God. He wants it, he wants to bear it for us. BUT God knows that i am a control freak so I ask for forgiveness becasue sometimes I take my phobia away from him and back to me and I start to worry again. Thats when I notice things start getting tough again...But I remain as faithful as I can, and truley am not every disappointed. And if something does happen to me, no matter what it is, I know it is for a reason. Not to punish me, but for me to learn a lesson, whic will end up glorifying him. Thats his purpose. He wants to be glorified, he doesnt want to hurt us.

[precious]

ann32 you sound like such a sweet person, because of your faith God will reward you. This is truly a very hard phobia, I pray so much that I will no longer have to suffer with this. By the way my name is Cathy. I enjoy talking to you.

[ann32]

Thanks Cathy you too!

[ButterfliesInHerEyes]

Does anyone else believe or think that if you do anything wrong and i mean ANYTHING....that God (if you believe in him) will punish u with more of what your afraid of,which in our case is being sick and having panic attacks??
Because if i ever do anything wrong....i always seem to have a massive panic attack due to feeling so sick or something,and i believe i am going to V*.....does anyone feel this way or do you think that of course its not god punising us?? jade.xx

God doesn't do that. We have massive panic attacks and make ourselves sick with fear because we're worshipping fear, which is not of God, instead of God. We get more of what we think of, of what we believe, of what we fear. The bible even says that, "what I feared most has come to pass." I'm paraphrasing.

Fear is not of God. The bible is full of passages that tell us to "fear not".

So it's not God that is giving us this fear. It's us doing it to ourselves because God gave us free will and we are choosing to worship fear instead of Him.

I hope that makes sense.

[ann32]

I agree with you butterfliesinyoureyes. the more we focus on the negative (satan) the more we suffer in my opinion. BUT I will also say that the Devil challenges us the closer we come to God BC he doesnt want us to be close with God...SO just keep praying and praying and get the negativity out.