Rebekah Lyons: From Panic to Peace

After her first child was born with Down syndrome and her anxiety led to crippling panic attacks, Rebekah Lyons encountered God’s supernatural peace and healing.

Rebekah is a wife, mother, Bible teacher, author, and speaker. On this episode of GPS: God. People. Stories., she shares how she came to embrace Jesus’ admonition not to let your heart be troubled.

Connect with us through email at gps@billygraham.org or on Facebook at Billy Graham Radio. 

If you’d like to know more about beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ, or deepening the faith you already have, visit FindPeacewithGod.net. 

If you’d like to pray with someone, call our Billy Graham 24/7 Prayer Line at 855-255-7729. 

Transcript

Rebekah Lyons:  
[00:00:00] It was so gripping and so scary that I just kept retreating from all the places I was so afraid of that I just became kind of a hollow shell of myself. And one night, I woke out of a dream in my bed. I just remember experiencing it in my bed. And I thought even my own home, my bedroom, my-my safe place is now not off limits for this attack. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:00:26] Rebekah Lyons knows well that life can be scary, but she has learned that God is bigger than all her fears. This is GPS: God. People. Stories. It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. I’m Jim Kirkland. Rebekah has trusted God through panic attacks, cross country moves, and raising children with down syndrome. Through it all, she has embraced a biblical principle Billy Graham often spoke of … losing our life so we can find it again.  

Billy Graham: 
[00:00:58] Is Christ really Lord of your life? Have you submitted your will to Him? Your future? Your vocation? Do you have this obsession? 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:01:05] You’ll hear Billy Graham talk more about that holy obsession a little later in the episode. And you can learn more anytime at our website. The address, FindPeacewithGod.net. That’s FindPeacewithGod.net. If you didn’t have a chance to jot that down, no worries. You can always find the link in our show notes. 

Audio and Music Tag:
[00:01:26]

Jim Kirkland
[00:01:32] Rebekah Lyons was born into a Christian home in St. Petersburg, Florida. She had an adopted older brother and two younger sisters. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:01:39] I grew you surrounded by the church, uh, a little Baptist church in Florida. I remember praying, you know, that I wanted Christ to come into my heart when I was five. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:01:50] Rebekah Lyons says even as a five year old she understood that Jesus died for her sin, and she wanted to have a relationship with him. That didn’t change as Rebekah grew up. Her faith deepened. And when it was time for her to go to college, she chose a Christian school, Liberty University in Virginia. There she experienced God’s love in a new way. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:02:12] Quite frankly what Liberty taught me was a broader view of the church, a broader view of all the denominational intersections in one school, and the expressions of worship, the expressions of the Spirit, expressions of faith, power. It was beautiful. I remember many times just crying during different chapel services, or concerts, or whoever where God would just … I would just encounter God in a way that was different and unique than what I had experienced growing up. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:02:43] Liberty University is also where Rebekah Lyons met her future husband, Gabe. During a routine OB/GYN appointment toward the end of her first pregnancy, Rebekah and Gabe learned their unborn son was in serious danger. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:02:57] They said he’s only four and a half pounds. You have no fluid. You’re having this baby today. So, we knew something was like wrong. And it was really just about his birth weight at 40 weeks. So, we’re like, okay, we’ve got to deal with that. And then once he came out, they took him straight to the NICU. And I didn’t ever get to hold him. And I woke later that night about six hours later at 1:00 a.m. And the doctor came in and said we see signs of down syndrome in your baby. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:03:27] The news about baby Cade was hard to process. Even more so because Rebekah was still drugged from her emergency C-section. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:03:35] It was like a very traumatic like, oh, everything just changed in the last 24 hours. He was deemed failure to thrive, and we were like fighting for his life. And he wound up being in the NICU for a while. And then, it just like the world just turned upside down. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:03:54] The next day, Rebekah got to reach through an incubator to touch her tiny son. And about five days later, the doctor confirmed Cade’s diagnosis. He had Down syndrome. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:04:06] Week one of motherhood, for me and my husband, being young, I was 26. Just learned so much in that week. It was hard, and beautiful, and I just cried a lot and prayed a lot. That first year of  his life, I think, changed everything for us as adults. It changed our trajectory; it changed what we thought was valuable. Things we would overlook became front and center. Things we thought were important went to the back burner. And so, God used Cade, our first son, Cade Christian Lyons, to just reshape our entire lives. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:04:39] One of the ways God reshaped Rebekah’s life was through a change in her career. She felt that God was calling her to leave her job at a local church so she could give her full attention to Cade. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:04:50]  I was just home full-time with a special needs son and two more babies not longer after for a decade. And I was very hidden in many ways invisible like invisible and alone in those seasons. Yet, that was what God had for me. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:05:05] It was a time of spiritual growth for Rebekah. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:05:09] I remember the kids were all little. And we were kind of going through our motions where we lived in north Atlanta. And I just remember driving home one day and just saying, God, just burn off anything that would keep me from being passionate towards you. I remember praying like you have the right at any moment to just interrupt my life and just kind of shake it up and disrupt it and keep me from complacency. That was like a real need. Like I don’t want this to grow stale. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:05:40] God answered Rebekah’s prayer in 2010. He called Rebekah, Gabe, and the kids to New York City. And it was not an easy transition for Rebekah. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:05:50] When we moved to New York, I didn’t want to go. I was very reluctant to go because it definitely felt like we were selling everything. We did sell everything we had. We’d been in Atlanta 13 years. And it did require leaving home, leaving our security, leaving community, leaving even like a Christian community. Our church. Everything. And yet, we couldn’t shake it. Like it felt like an invitation. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:06:16] Moving to New York allowed Rebekah and Gabe to work again on a non-profit they started after Cade was born. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:06:22] My husband and I started a non-profit called ThinQ Media. And that’s how to equip Christians on the frontlines of culture, and arts, and media, and government, and policy, and education, social sector. We found about 20 years ago. There are so many people on the frontlines that love Jesus but were so isolated and alone in their industries. And we thought that we could help just connect them. And that’s what took us to New York City because so many of them were coming through the city. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:06:50] But just four months into Rebekah’s time in New York, her life drastically changed again. She experienced her first panic attack. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:007:00] I was actually coming back home into LaGuardia from Atlanta around midnight and hit horrible turbulence. And I had this terror that rolled through me. And this was before I heard people talk about panic attacks. And it definitely felt like I was dying. It felt like I was having a heart attack. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:07:19] It wasn’t fear that the plane was going to crash that triggered Rebekah’s panic attack. It was a fear that she wouldn’t be able to get off the plane when it landed. That she’d be stuck in the very back of the plane. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:07:31] My panic disorder was rooted in claustrophobia which is why once we landed and I made it through it I started having the same experience on an elevator, or on a subway that was crowded underground, or any crowds. Well, New York has 8 million people in a span of 11 miles. It’s impossible to avoid all kinds of claustrophobia. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:07:53] Still, Rebekah tried. For the next year and a half, she began taking the stairs instead of elevators or walking through Central Park instead of riding the subway beneath it. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:08: 04] It was so gripping and so scary that I just kept retreating from all the places I was so afraid of that I just became kind of a hollow shell of myself. One night, I woke out of a dream in my bed. And I just remember experiencing it in my bed. And I thought even in my own home, my own bedroom, my safe place is now not off limits for this attack. Because what I know now is when you avoid fear, it grows. And every place that you avoid – I wasn’t afraid of the elevator or the subway or the airplane, I was afraid of me. I was afraid of the terror that rolled through me, and how it made me feel. And I knew by then that I wasn’t going to die. I just didn’t have any way to regulate my brain. I didn’t have enough like clinical understanding. I didn’t take medication at the time at all. I was just crying out to God a lot. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:08:58] One of those prayers, one that she prayed while in bed stands out in Rebekah’s memory. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:09:04] I just said rescue me. Deliver me. I cannot do this without You. And in that moment, my body broke on the bed and all was still. And it was the first time in, you know, 15-18 months that I didn’t have to remove myself from the situation for the panic to stop. And I now understand that I just encountered like the weight of God’s glory. I experienced His supernatural peace. It was still so still that I had not – it was like a Shalom space. And it was done. It was crazy. It was done. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:09:37] Rebekah didn’t have another panic attack for seven years. Whenever she felt signs of one coming on, she repeatedly whispered the name Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.  

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:09:48] I would just keep saying His name. I would try to breathe and regulate through those things. And then, I started meeting with people in the city just like me, you know, that were struggling with anxiety or depression. Trying to encourage them and love them well. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:10:02] Those conversations led Rebekah to write her first book. It was about mental health and faith. At 39 years old, she never expected to become an author. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:10:11] That really was never a plan. It just came out of, you know, a season of panic disorder, a little bit of anxiety and depression in New York City and experiencing God’s rescue in that place. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:10:23] Although Rebekah and her family wouldn’t stay in that place for long. In 2014, they packed their bags and moved to Franklin, Tennessee. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:10:32] We moved because our son, Cade, started middle school in the city. And we needed better resources for special needs for his upper school and into adulting. So, we wanted all three of our kids to kind of be in more of a stable environment. Because in New York, we were always church planting with other leading pastors.  And we were lay leaders. And our kids didn’t always have friends their age that knew God. So, we just were like we had that foundation. We want to give them something consistent until they graduate. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:11:03] When the Lyons moved to Tennessee, there were five of them: Rebekah and Gabe and their three kids. Two sons and one daughter. That was about to change. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:11:13] Our church was always talking about foster care and adoption. I just couldn’t shake it. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:11:17] Rebekah knew her youngest two kids were going to be leaving home and starting their own lives and families. And while she wanted them to thrive, she didn’t like the thought of Cade being by himself. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:11:29] Just Cade alone is hard, you know, for him. And so, we just always felt like we understand Down syndrome. We-we’ve loved it. It’s obviously challenging in certain seasons and for different reasons. Because every kid with Down syndrome is not perfect. And so, we just-I told the Lord one day. If You want this to happen, just put her right here, and I’ll name her Joy. Coming out of my season of sadness or anxiety. And Psalms 126 was kind of my Psalm there. Like those who sow in tears bearing a seed will reap a harvest with songs of joy, carrying the sheaves with them. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:12:02] Three years later, an adoption worker sent Rebekah the photo of a little girl in China who had Down syndrome. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:12:10] And I was like she’s beautiful. You know, what’s her name? She said Chara, C-H-A-R-A. And I said, oh, you mean the Greek word for joy. So, it was like the Lord actually teed it up. I did not make any of it happen. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:12:23] It was in December of 2018 when the Lyons brought Joy home. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:12:27] God, I believe, gave us Cade because He knew 13 years later that there would be a Joy. And we’d say, yes. And so, we brought her home from China when she was five and a half from being in an orphanage. And she’s now almost 12. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:12:41] Since Joy’s adoption, Rebekah has shared with people ways to create life rhythms to overcome stress and anxiety. She wrote a New York Times best selling book called Rhythms of Renewal. It was inspired by the rhythms she created after the night God rescued her from a panic attack in bed. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:12:59] I call that my Psalm 18 moment. Like it says in my distress, I cried out on high. And from Your temple, you heard me and you rescued me because you delighted in me. And with my God, I can attack a barrier and all those things. But He doesn’t just pull us out of a pit. Right. Like that Psalm is about how He pulled him out of the sheal like the pit of despair and set his feet on a high ground outside of the pit. Yeah. He will do that, but we still have to take agency to step forward once that’s done. Sometimes we talk about the healing or the deliverance. Thank God for that. Praise God for that. But that doesn’t rebuild a life. You still have to then make decisions to become a disciple of Jesus to walk with Him in step with His Spirit. And I just came to understand that I needed these rhythms of renewal, these rhythms of rescue. The spiritual disciplines of resting, and restoring, and connecting, and creating. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:13:57] In addition to Rebekah’s book, Rhythms of Renewal, she and Gabe also started a podcast and a ministry for marriages and families. She doesn’t know what God has in store for her and her family next, but she stays ready to respond to it by keeping her heart fully surrendered to the Lord. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:14:14] I’m not pushing doors open. But if you are opening a door and asking me to go through it and it’s scary, I might be resistant initially out of fear. But ultimately, my answer is yes because I love you. And so, in our twenties, it looked like Cade. In our thirties, it looked like moving to Manhattan and selling everything we had. In our forties, it looked like saying yes to a little girl from China with Down syndrome. So, I don’t know what it’s going to look like in our fifties. I’m trying to not predict that. But I do think that we all need that in life. We need something that’s going to just push us to the kind of the brink of ourselves or whatever life we’ve created. Losing our life so we can find it again. 

Music tag:
[00:14:57] 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:15:09] If you’re thinking about surrendering your life to Jesus Christ the way Rebekah Lyons has but you still have questions, we can help you with those. Visit us at FindPeacewithGod.net. That’s FindPeacewithGod.net. Or to talk with someone, call the Billy Graham 24/7 prayer line. The number is (855) 255 – PRAY. Somone is there right now ready to talk and pray with you. (855) 255 – PRAY. If you ever struggle with anxiety or just not knowing how to confront your fears, you’ll get some encouragement and guidance from Rebekah Lyons in just a moment. 

Audio tag:
[00:15:50] 

Billy Graham: 
[00:16:00] Is Christ really Lord of your life? Have you submitted your will to Him? Your future? Your vocation? Do you have this have this obsession? 

Announcer:
[00:16:08] Billy Graham … 

Billy Graham: 
[00:16:08] To serve Christ will cost you. Whosoever will save his life shall lose his it. But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel shall save it. And Christ is asking you tonight to renounce your plans, and your goals, and your ambitions, and your motives. And He asked you to put first His plans, His goals as your top priority. He asked that your ambitions and motives become His. Yes, Lord, I will go where you want me to go. I’ll be what you want me to be. Or, no, Lord, I’m not going to surrender that much to you. I’ll give you 50%, 75%, maybe 80%. But I can’t go all the way. The price is too high. If you answer yes, you’re in obedience to Him. And it brings a fulfilment, and a joy, and a peace in this life, and the rewards in the life to come. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:17:03] Jesus is ready to give you that fulfillment, that joy, and that peace right now. He begins transforming you from the inside out the moment you ask Him to be your Lord and Savior. We can tell you more. Call us or visit us online. Our website is FindPeacewithGod.net. That’s FindPeacewithGod.net. And the number for the Billy Graham 24/7 prayer line is 9855) 255 – PRAY. (855) 255 – PRAY. The number and the website, by the way, are both listed in our show notes. Our guest on this episode of GPS: God. People. Stories. is Rebekah Lyons. She has trusted God through panic attacks, through moves across the country, and raising kids with Down syndrome. She has this encouragement for anyone who struggles with being anxious or fearful. 

Rebekah Lyons: 
[00:18:00] Jesus reminds us the peace I give the world cannot give. So, do not let your heart be troubled or afraid. And so, I’ve learned in 15 years how to not let my heart be troubled or afraid. Right. Like what agreements do I make? What do I consume? What are my habits or rhythms that create distress versus do I think about the things that are true, lovely, and of good report? Do I renew my mind through the Word of God that it illuminates. The Scriptures are sharper than a two-edged sword. And they illuminate the motives of the heart. Like am I in the Word enough to have the heart be examined? Do I have counterfeit gods or false idols? Or am I making something more than it should be? Am I striving to make God known or make myself known? You know, all these things are so hidden. They’re so subtle, but the  Scriptures and the Spirit and His Word just always converges to bring those things back to the surface. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:18:59] We so appreciate Rebekah Lyons joining us on this episode. She loved sharing how God’s rescue plan intersects with people’s mental health, family, and vocation. We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, do us a favor please and subscribe to GPS. We’d also appreciate if you left us a review. And be watching for the next episode. We drop new ones every other Wednesday. I’m Jim Kirkland. And this is GPS: God. People. Stories. It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Always good news. 

Music tag:
[00:19:33] 

End of transcript