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Life goes wrong on occasion and all too often many of us will throw in the towel. We become overwhelmed and disheartened by the dysfunction which throws us into a spiral of anxiety, worry and poor mental health.
I’ve been there one too many times.
There was a period in my life when everything was going wrong – simultaneously.
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Bills were insurmountable, I’d just been through a break-up, work had become excessively stressful, and my car was in an accident. To add to my woes, PMDD was still presenting itself each month.
Worry plagued my mind, spirit, soul and body. “How on earth am I going to make it through this?” I thought to myself.
I almost didn’t.
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The Bible states in Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Now that I’ve ventured back into faith in Christ, scriptures have become more meaningful. God is fully aware that as humans, we have a tendency to worry.
This scripture amongst others wouldn’t have been necessary if He wasn’t already aware of our nature. I take comfort in knowing, that God knew me well enough to provide reassurance and comfort so far in advance.
His peace will guard our hearts and ‘minds’. For God to highlight the makeup of our being from which our emotions and ability to navigate life stems, seems far from coincidence.
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God is intentional with everything He states and instructs. Worry distorts our perception of life. It causes us to see things in a different and more often than not, negative light.
As an example, have you ever been so worried about something you lost your ability to eat?
Me too.
When these negatively placed emotions overwhelm us, they affect our functionality often to our detriment. The above is merely one example. There are in fact numerous ways in which we all become affected.
Worry creates an illusion of life that doesn’t align with God’s intentions for us.
Worry causes fear, anxiety and every other destructive emotion which can grip our minds and stagnate or jeopardise our lives.
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I want you to think back for a moment to a really challenging period of your life you once faced. Do you remember thinking and feeling at the time there was no way to see a way through it?
Well, the good news is, you made it through that awful occasion. Someway, somehow, you survived and you’re still here.
Every terrible situation we may face in life will always have an end – eventually. So, something I practice to date is to ask myself, what is the actual benefit of worrying?
There isn’t one.
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Whether we worry or not, the situation will be what it is. We may not have the influence we want over the situation, yet we have every control over how we react and behave when these situations arise.
I’ve tried the lifestyle of worry and anxiety – I prefer the alternative. Naturally, if I can find a resolve, that will always be my first point of call. If I can’t however, I cast my burden onto God and accept it for what it is.
Worrying about things you have no control over will not just put your mind in a debilitating state of poor mental health, it provides no comfort and is entirely unproductive to your wellbeing.
If we allow the worry to take over our minds, life can become an illusion of detrimental perceptions that may crush us emotionally and reduce to zero, any feel-good factors we have.
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I once heard Chris Williamson state (in summary), that caring too much is pointless because in three generations, everyone alive today will be gone and all will be forgotten so it’s best to just allow yourself room to breathe.
God provides a peace which transcends all understanding. Jesus demonstrated this Himself in Mark 4:35-41. He was asleep as a violent storm overwhelmed a boat he and his disciples had boarded.
His disciples in their true human nature were riveted with fear but Jesus was in a complete state of peace and calm.
To me, this is a demonstrative example of a peace which makes no sense to human reasoning and that to me, is the kind of peace which transcends all understanding.
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To exude this level of peace when life is crumbling around you seems almost impossible but remember with God, all things are possible.
This is why I pray daily, make petition and present my requests to Him because He can give me the level of peace I seek at a time when peace would otherwise make no sense.
The things of God are as foolishness to the human mind, and I’ve therefore stopped trying to understand. I choose to trust what His word says and depend on Him to carry me through every situation.
Having the ability to let go and cast all cares on Christ I’ll be honest, to my reasoning mind sounds like insanity and is difficult for my human ego to accept.
Somehow though, irrespective of the limitations of my mind, I have and it’s been working. I’m no longer in a state of dysfunctional worry when things go wrong. Colby F. Maier spells it out accurately in this very short video.
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As I write this blog post today, my life ‘on paper’ makes absolutely no sense. Emotionally, spiritually, and mentally however, it makes complete sense. In all the uncertainty, I’m experiencing the deepest level of peace I’ve ever felt in my life.
If there’s something going on in life that’s deeply unsettling, hand it over to God and free your mind.
If there’s a way to resolve it, I’d always advocate taking the steps to do so but if it so happens that it’s something beyond your control, fretting provides no comfort.
When you continue in a state of calm and peace, your perception of your surroundings no matter how dire they may appear, remains optimistic making it easier to manage (or deal), with the things going on.
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We don’t always have direct control of external factors, but God has given us the ability to have control of ourselves and with his backing and grace – we can get through anything even if it may not seem like it at the time.
Practice prayer and leaning on Him and you’ll indirectly practice peace until peace becomes your default state of mind – so worry not.
“Lord Jesus, I place this situation into your hands. I ask you to take this mental burden and emotional heaviness because you already paid the ultimate price so I could live a life of mental freedom. I trust in the plan you have for my life, and I choose to align my belief with what your word says about me. I know everything I’m going through will turn out for my good and on this basis, I worry not. I live in a state of peace which transcends all understanding and I’m thankful for the peaceful resolution you’re bringing to this situation in your name I pray, Amen.”
