“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for
you.” - Peter 5:7
My church counselor told me that I am experiencing
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, even though I never set foot in a war zone. He
equated my childhood with a war zone; and he said that what I considered normal
as I was growing up was definitely abnormal for the normal person J He told me that since I never knew what would
happen to me from day to day, I learned to face the fear by disassociating or
by getting angry to protect myself.
In thinking about his diagnosis, I realized there
just might be some truth in his conclusion. For so many years, the unknown
entities of life caused me to wake up in constant fear that something bad might
happen to me that day…yet, again. I viewed life as a potential catastrophe! I
felt like I had to control the circumstances in my life so I would be safe. I
did use disassociation or anger to protect myself whenever anyone hurt me or
was trying to make a decision that affected me, without discussing it with me
first.
Thankfully, God taught me a replacement exercise for
living in fear. I picture a little child and an adult within my soul. We face
each other and raise our hands heavenward, lifting to God every one of our
cares and concerns, knowing that He cares for us and that He will make all
things work together for our good (Romans 8:28).
At times, my soul does not want to relinquish every
care to God. God made it very clear to me, however, that I needed to surrender
all of me to His will; not just my rational mind, but my irrational fears as
well. I have learned to stand there with my hands raised until I feel a release
in my inner being, which means that my fear is now replaced by His faith. God
also taught me that I do not have to trust people who continually let me down;
but I can trust God, because He is always trustworthy.
I love Job’s advice (Job 5:8-26). He proclaimed that
God controls the universe; therefore, our only hope to
experience true joy in life is to connect with God and to walk in His Spirit
moment by moment throughout the day. God changes our attitude, so that we can
actually laugh at calamities instead of fearing them.
As we walk in the Spirit, we start to look for the
silver lining in every black cloud. We look for the seed of the miracle in
every negative experience. We end up living a long, fulfilled life in service
to God, until the day He chooses to call us home.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to remember that You have a plan for everything that happens to me. Keep me focused on Your provision and care rather than on the potential harm lurking just around the corner.
Thought for the Day:
God’s
love takes the teeth out of the bite of adversity!
