PHOTO: cocoparisienne on Pixabay
“How much news are you watching?” It’s a common question among my circle of friends. It seems to lead to an easy explanation about our state of anxiety. More news = more anxiety. Less news = more peace.
For people who are prone to be worriers or fixers, avoiding the regular updates might be a way to keep sane.
I’m wondering if there is some kind of middle ground. Can we be aware and also be peaceful? I believe in this time of crisis, we all need to discover what works for us.
I tend to be curious. I’m also isolated in a place with limited opportunity to be helpful or productive, as many are. So watching the news and listening to the commentators that follow are, admittedly, occupying a lot of my time.
But I’m also finding a measure of peace in the midst of it all. I’ve begun writing out my prayers. I know many who keep a prayer journal of some kind, and I’ve done some in the past. Recently, I’ve started again.
Pastor and author Mark Batterson says, “The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.”
I see two benefits in taking the time to write my prayers. First, I give freedom to my emotions. Those letters on the page somehow nudge me to a deeper honesty about my fears and my hopes.
Secondly, one day, when we are on the other side of this horrible health and economic crisis, I believe my written prayers will increase my trust in the Lord when I read how He remained faithful and compassionate. I’ll see more clearly what the Lord did in my heart as I cried out to Him.
Keeping a prayer journal just might give me a rewrite of how I look back on this season of fear and pain.
“God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes.”
PSALM 18:24
Pull up a chair and sit still
PHOTO: Negative Space from Pexels
What tools is the Lord giving you to cope -- and even to grow -- during this unique time of crisis?