This last week has felt a bit like an emotional rollercoaster. There are moments when I feel like everything is fine and completely under control. Then five minutes later, it feels like I’m being stalked by an unseen enemy and my whole family’s safety and well-being is in peril.
We live in uncertain times. For the majority of us, we are facing these concerns for the first time in our lifetimes. The store shelves are bare. Schools and business are closed. The future feels frightening and uncertain. Things feel out of control and that can be frightening. It’s OK to not be OK right now.
However, we can’t live in a constant state of panic and fear. It’s not good for our own mental and emotional health or the emotional and mental wellbeing of our families.
So what can we do? How do we manage in these uncertain times?
Don’t lose hope.
It feels like this season will last forever, but it won’t. Eventually life will return to a new normal. There will be a light at the end of this tunnel. While we don’t know at this moment how long our “new normal” will last, we do know that eventually we will move on and these days will be a weird memory. When you feel overwhelmed, remind yourself that this is temporary.
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5
Look for the good
Yes, there are bad things happening in the world right now, but there are also good things. When you’re tempted to focus on the bad news, be intentional about redirecting your heart and mind toward the good that surrounds you.
You will find what you’re looking for. You cannot control your circumstances, but you can control what you allow your mind to focus on. Pay attention to what triggers these negative thoughts and emotions. Is it social media? Is it the news? Is it a particular friend, social media account, or news channel that triggers these feelings of fear and anxiety? When you sense your heart and mind giving way to fear, redirect your attention to something else. It’s good to be informed, but it’s also good to protect your heart and mind – learn to discover this balance. Put boundaries in place that allow you to redirect your focus when you begin to sense fear taking over. You do not need to read every article. You do not need to know every statistic.
When we were preparing our daughter for her first brain surgery, I asked her neurosurgeon what the odds are that he surgery would be successful. He told me that “it doesn’t matter if it has a 99% success rate if you are the 1%.” Statistics are statistics, they’re good to know, but ultimately the outcome is in God’s hands.
Turn on a song you love. Put on your favorite movie from your childhood. Fill your home with light and love and the darkness will flee.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossian 3:1-4
Do what you can
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you see all of the things going on around you. Don’t focus on the things you cannot control. Do what you can: pray, stay home, donate to causes that are making a difference. Take your fears and concerns to God. Ask him to exchange your fears for peace. Ask him to grant wisdom to those making decisions. Ask him to bring healing and protection to those being treated and working in hospitals and medical facilities.
Trust him with both your todays and your tomorrows. It’s easier said than done, but I firmly believe that God does not want us to dwell in the land of fear. His word says that all the days of our lives were written in his book before even one of them came to be. This means that virus or no virus, every single day you would draw breath on this planet is already fully known by God, and that your lifespan won’t change one iota from that plan. Life by its very nature is incredibly fragile. For some, that might provide little comfort, but to me, knowing that I won’t pass from this world one moment sooner than God ordains gives me peace.
Take care of your body
Exercise. Eat good food. It’s great for stress relief and it gives you something productive to do with nervous energy. Get good sleep. Get fresh air. Take a walk. Snuggle a pet or a loved one. Listen to good music. Make memories with your children. You know what your body needs, whether it’s a warm bath or a brisk jog. Turn off the computer. Put down the phone. Live fully in this current moment. Notice the beauty and the good that surrounds you. Dwell on this. Redeem the difficult and use it for good. Good is all around you. Good can come from this.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:28-34
God loves you. God knows you. He can and will provide what you need.
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7
If you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, acknowledge those feelings, surrender your fear to the one who loves you, made you, and promises to provide what you need. Make the most of these days. Trust him with your tomorrows. Pray. Give. Spread love, courage, kindness, and hope. The world desperately needs what you have to offer.
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