HOPE & LIGHT

This morning, I woke up wanting to do what the fellow in this week’s prompt photo above did. Instead of jumping out of bed, delighted to start a new day, my biggest desire was to pull the covers up over my head and hide. And why was that? Pain. Problems. Stress. Unknowns.

As a woman with several chronic illnesses, pain is something I’m well acquainted with. And this has been a week marked by severe physical pain. Chronic illness can put pressure on our finances. It can mean a future filled with unknowns. Having a child with special needs adds to the pressure in all of these areas. But no one thing has caused the desire to hide away that has overtaken me this week. Rather, it’s the feeling that life is closing in on me from many directions all at once.

First thing Monday morning, a call came in informing me that medical equipment essential for our special-needs adult son’s survival wasn’t covered by his insurance so the supplier would be picking it up. Then, the sewer problems my husband had been trying to solve all weekend got worse, and he we had to call a plumber, something we really couldn’t afford. Then I felt relief that this problem was finally behind us, only to learn this morning that it really wasn’t and that we needed to call the plumber again. Add to this the unexplained pain in my left shoulder that felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife, and my desire this morning was to pull the covers up over my head and hide from the new day.

Though your details are probably totally different than mine, I think most of us can identify with having a day that makes us want to crawl back in bed and hide. How do we face such a day as believers in Christ, seeking to live a life pleasing to the Lord? Do we allow ourselves to be ruled by our emotions, or do we somehow live differently? Do we ignore our feelings, or do something constructive with them?

When I feel overwhelmed by the flood of problems in my life, I’ve learned through experience that the worse thing to do is to surrender to how I’m feeling. Instead, I take several steps to change my perspective, to bring the Lord into the picture.

• The first thing I do is pray, honestly telling the Lord Jesus Christ how I’m feeling.
• I agree with Him about any sin He shows me, confessing it to Him and receiving forgiveness.
• I ask Him for the grace to walk through this day in a way that pleases Him.
• I make the decision to trust in Jehovah God, the Creator of the universe who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and not in my continuously shifting emotions.
• I get into God’s Word, asking Him to speak to my heart.
• Then, after spending some quality time with the Lord, I ask Him for my “assignment” for the day, for what He wants me to accomplish today, and I get busy.

While taking these steps may not result in a perfect day, they do turn my day in a healthy direction. They get my mind off of the problems I’m facing and onto fulfilling God’s purposes. They are a lot more effective than pulling the covers over my head and hiding from the new day. You may want to try them the next time you feel like you want to bury your head under the covers and hide.
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