Help!
Hi, this is Nancy, and I’ve been thinking about…everything! I woke up this morning 2 hours before the alarm, and my brain was already tired. Thoughts were charging through my head–disconnected, random thoughts–and I suspect the same had been happening all through the night. It’s not that I’m anticipating an exceptionally stressful day. I wasn’t aware of feeling anxious or fearful. It was just my overactive brain, all fired up and unloading all the random data it had accumulated over the past 24 hours. I believe brain overwhelm is a byproduct of the generally stressful climate we are living in these days. And it seemed to be out of my control.
Does this happen to you, or is it only me? It’s not every day for me. But it is often enough that I’ve been talking to God about it. This is what I do. And He is gently reminding me what He and I walked through in 2020, when the world began shifting and I was looking for a rock to stand on. I felt a lot like this little kitten, hanging on as best I could, swaying in the wind.
Look at the face of this little one. Doesn’t it just make you want to reach out and cuddle him? Take him to safety? Comfort him and tell him it’s going to be alright? I look into those sweet little fearful eyes, The tiny claws clinging to the branch. That was me in 2020. (though I’m sure I wasn’t that cute!) I was clinging to “normal” and normal was swaying in the wind. I turned to God, and in the course of that year He gently and graciously lifted me onto the Rock I needed to stand on. He did that for me. But somehow in 2021, I slipped backwards. I feel OK some days, and some days not. My brain and body are weary.
It’s the second month of a new year and I’m so ready for change. So I’m revisiting lessons learned on my 2020 Journey from Fear to Trust, and thought I would share it here, in case it might encourage you or someone you know. So here it goes…
It’s pretty simple, really. It starts and ends with belief that God is who He says He is. I can trust Him. To find mind and body rest, I need to turn to God, who never shifts, shakes, or changes and will never leave me. As I spend time with Him in His Word (the Bible) and in prayer, He reveals more of Himself to me.
But how to “draw close” to God? By staying in touch with Him, and paying attention! Specifically, there are 3 things I learned in 2020 that I am committing to going back to daily. Just 3 simple steps that work for me. This is how I have found peace and rest every day and how I can get out from under the overwhelm. Morning, Daytime, and Evening.
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Morning: Spend time with Him at the beginning of each day. First thing. Get up a few minutes earlier. Turn down the noise, silence your phone, find a quiet corner or a closet and spend a few minutes reconnecting with your Creator. Take His hand and step out into this new day with Him.
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Throughout the Day: Keep looking up. Remember He is walking with you through this! He has equipped you for this day and you are not alone. Take an afternoon pause. Ask Him for wisdom when you need it. Remember His promises.
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Evening: Reflection – take a few minutes to replay the day, the good, the bad, the challenging. Look for blessings, answers to prayer, lessons learned, mistakes made. What can you thank God for? What do you want to ask Him? What do you need to confess and do better tomorrow? Who can you pray for, or extend a hand to?
Life may be hard in 2022, but we don’t have to stay stuck as helpless victims of our circumstances. Help is available! So I am challenging myself to return to the former things I have already learned and somehow forgotten. To be consistent. Would you like to join me in connecting with God daily this year? Let’s find that Rock together, and stand strong!
And my commitment to you? Over the next 3 weeks, once a week, I will be sharing about each of these 3 steps in more detail – next week some morning quiet time tips from my personal times with the Lord.
How can I pray for you? I’d love to add you to my prayer list. Please message me with the requests on your heart, and I will keep it confidential.
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
Corrie ten Boom
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