Category: 2019

A friend posted a question to me recently about handling unsteady emotions. I sat on the question for a day (which is more time than I usually take to respond to anything); and a response came to me quite suddenly after work today.
I share it with you now because I think it is one that so many people need to hear — including me. So here’s an excerpt of my thoughts on how to handle difficult emotions…

…I have periodic swings where I just feel completely emotionally off balance: feelings of unworthiness, being a failure, fear of “what ifs”, anxiousness, doubt about myself [or the Lord], or even just the weight of tedium and the overwhelming amount of work that looms ahead of me in the school year (welcome to first year teaching)…

Personally I’m a verbal processor. So when emotions get to be too big to stay inside my head, I journal them out and try to counteract them with truth (from the Bible) — especially when the emotions are rooted in lies of the enemy. I have also gotten kind of into the habit of messaging a few trusted people to pray for me at those times. Sometimes I share details of what I’m feeling, sometimes I don’t. It’s also beneficial for me to just straight up TALK. IT. OUT. with someone. Often an emotion seems huge and real inside my head; but once I get it out into words to another person, and out of the dark, it holds less power. Another person also has the ability to see my emotions more objectively than I do, and they are often able to say, “[You’re] being too hard on yourself”, or “That sounds like the enemy getting at you” etc.

I guess the bottom line is…don’t walk through it alone. Seek prayer, counsel, and someone to speak truth to you when you are struggling to admonish your own spirit. Keep bathing in the word of God. Memorizing scripture is a great tactic (one I need to put into practice more!).

“I guess the bottom line is…don’t walk through it alone.”

Therefore since we have a great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
(Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV)

prone to many cravings, we human kind
all sensations vie for our attention
food, fashion, feel, fame combined
assault us with their offers, full aggression
to leave us now in hungering oppression

a thousand fragrances pass by so softly
whispering alluring vanity
while that One voice that calls gently, warmly
is tender, steady, speaking from eternity
warning, guiding us far from calamity

do we listen to the fallen voice of pleasure?
which speaks from empty promises galore
it guarantees, but never will deliver
the carrot it will make you to abhor
your hungering soul, with anguish, will be sore

to be fulfilled is found upon the dust
the bloody foot of that Golgotha tree
the veins of Mercy hanging on a cross
who yields, with bleeding veins, a final plea
that He, I AM, in grace, remember me

with lustful eyes and hearts, we daily hunger;
with outstretched hand, He reaches, brimful grace
at His feet, inviting us –  peaceful, quiet – linger
in the field of pasture green and space
enfolded, satisfied, in His embrace.

 

by Amy Michnik

There are seasons in which it is best not to ask too many questions.

There are seasons in which you just know that a happy surprise is around the next corner. The smells, sounds, hints, secret trips to the store, and sneaking about with bags or boxes that you weren’t supposed to see, all make you so excitedly inquisitive that you nearly stretch your skin trying to contain your eagerness. But you don’t snoop too much or sleuth around the house because you know that, should you get too nosey, you might spoil some delectable wonder for yourself. You would rather reap the reward of not-so-patient waiting than discover the delight before it’s time.

There are seasons in which a long-anticipated fear is realized, and it is so desolating that nobody has the energy to answer questions. It might be the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or rejection of an all-too-important application. The curious confused cat inside of you wants to know why: why now? why me? how did this happen? And yet, there’s a segment of your soul that is weary, barren, mourning, and just needs to realize and process the disappointing reality before moving on to any investigation.

There are seasons in which you can sense transition on the horizon. It makes the air you breathe quiver with your anticipation. You know that the fateful shifting of the shadows will reveal a new challenge, a fresh perspective, an unforeseen redirection; however, it is not for you to know the times or seasons.

There are seasons in which the season has been too long, and you need the wind to change. The cold, grey, and howl of winter need to fold to the warmth, green, and chirping of spring. Your cabin fever reaches a burning temperature. But spring cannot wait forever, and winter is weary. And so waiting, dreaming of sunshine and cherry blossoms, you anticipate the awakening of spring.

There are seasons in which the petition has yet to be realized. Your knees are bruised from being pressed into the floor as you’ve prayed. Your soul feels restless as it looks for the long-awaited answer. Your mind would wander to places of deep, despairing analysis as to why it hasn’t come, why the vision has not been realized, why the request has not been granted. Nonetheless, you speak to your soul of the goodness and patience of the Almighty, who sees and knows and hears all things. And you hush the fretting voices in order to receive the peaceful command to be still.

There are seasons in which it is best not to ask too many questions.
There are seasons in which it is best to breathe in the pause; to hold the question in your heart’s palm, and allow the tension of waiting and longing to be held in the palm of the Father.
Anticipate. Ponder. Rest. Be still. Trust.
The answer will come.
For to everything, there is a season.