Question:
I just fell upon this Web site looking for some information on Reiki which is not my question.
A little history: I am and have been for most of my life, a good Catholic. For a number of years, I attended Mass four to six times a weekend (I was in charge of Cantors, Eucharistic Ministers, and Lectors) as a cantor and/or choir director.
I, unfortunately, have found myself twice divorced (first time I got an annulment, have yet to get one this time yet). I had breast cancer one year before my recent ex left. He was into drugs and alcohol the last five years of our marriage. We had no children as we married late in life, and my first husband was totally sterile.
Today, I am pretty much alone in the world. I'm an only child, no children, no family, parents are gone, no spouse. All responsibilities and obligations that relate to my life are on my shoulders alone. I find life to be very overwhelming. I am afraid of the future, afraid I'll lose my job, my home.
My question: I have begun to notice that when things go wrong (I drop things or things break or fall apart), I over-react and get all upset as things continue to get worse. Then, I swear. As soon as I swear, everything calms down. It's just recent that I've wondered if it could be demonic influence, and once I swear, Satan is happy, and he lets me alone.
Is that possible, and if so, what can I do about it?
Life is way more than I can handle some times, and with no one to share life's burdens, it really gets to me.
I went to confession recently, and after giving the priest a basic background, he nearly didn't blame me for going "over the edge" at times. I go to confession, say my penance, and if I can actually make it 24 hours before I blow up again, it's a miracle. I almost feel as though I have no control. The anxiety and frustration builds to such a pitch that swearing is the only thing that will release the stress and tension I feel.
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Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM+
Dear Jan:
I am sorry that you are experiencing this and will certainly pray for you.
The first thing to remember is the God promises that nothing that comes into our lives will be too much to handle if we remain in His friendship. That is a promise and God does not lie.
Thus you can handle what you must handle even though it "feels" like you can't. Remind yourself that God does not lie and that He promises to give you the grace to handle whatever you must handle.
In terms of your experience itself, much of this is likely caused by severe stress. The stress that is outside of your control is outside of your control, but there are also elements of stress that you can control -- such as not remembering that God is with you, loves you, and will give you the grace to handle things. To not remember that makes things more stressful than they have to be.
There are also things you can do to reduce stress. These things range from getting rid of things in your life that are stressful if possible, changing behaviors that in themselves cause unnecessary stress (like never saying "no" to people and thus getting overwhelmed by activities), not stopping to smell the roses, not being still and quiet once-in-awhile to let God minister to you, failing to relax, etc.
You need to attend to all these sorts of things as you are able and capable of doing.
Beyond that, it is interesting that after you cuss things calm down. It is possible that this is a psychological phenomenon, but it could be a clue to demonic involvement too.
Demons mostly like to hitchhike on problems that already exist. I imagine your stress problems happened because "life happens". Once that stress began to take it's toll, however, demons could have hitchhiked on the problem to try to make it worse that it had to be.
The solution is to work hard on relieving stress as mentioned above, and to attack this from a Spiritual Warfare point-of-view using prayers from our SW Prayer Catalog. Asking God to rebuke the demon of stress, for example, would be good to do (as well as asking God to rebuke any other demon that might be around, like the demon of depression, frustration, despair, etc. -- name the demons by their attributes).
Spend time before the Blessed Sacrament -- at least one hour per week or more. The Blessed Sacrament does not need to be exposed; just sit in front of the Tabernacle and bath in the rays of the "Son".
This will do wonders for your stress and will do wonders to resolve any demonic elements as well.
While in adoration, pray whatever you want to pray, talk to God about these problems, but sometime during Adoration just sit there quietly with mouth shut. Sometimes we pray so much that God cannot get a word in edgewise. God tells us in the Bible, "Be still and know that I am God". Just sit quietly bathing in the rays of the "Son" and let God commune with you.
If these and other ideas for self-help found in our HELP section linked below do not resolve this, then you may want to submit a HELP REQUEST (found at the bottom of the HELP page) to ask us to help you with this.
God bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary
For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.
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