Go Deep

If you’re anything like me, you have spent the last few weeks reeling. Reeling from the constant COVID-19 news feed, breaking case news on TV and ever changing restrictions. Are you like me; trying your hardest to grasp the reality of confinement inside your house, feeling scared witless, constantly talking yourself down off the ledge of fear?

My mind has been spinning. My heart has been spinning. My emotions have been spinning. And my anxiety has reached it’s peak.

The past few weeks I have spent most of my time trying not to think about the pandemic, the death toll, the stock market crashing, the financial devastation and what it means for the future. So I clean. I cook. I do laundry. I go for walks. I work in the yard. I read. I mindlessly watch TV. I text people. I find anything I can do to keep my mind occupied. But keeping myself occupied doesn’t seem to bring down the anxiety.

This week began with symptoms I had experienced many times. A dry cough from asthma. I could hear my chest wheezing. My rational side said, its just my asthma.…

But my irrational fear challenged side said, maybe you have the virus…. it might be the virus…. oh no, what if it’s the virus…. you could get really sick! You could die from it!! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?!

By the middle of the week, the tightening in my chest had me panicking inside. I was a mess but no one knew it. I was calm and composed on the outside. Inside, my anxiety was peaking.

Are you there too? Seeming rational on the outside, doing the day to day chores. Keeping he kids in-line. Making it all work. Staying calm and reasonable. But on the inside your fearful, anxious, upset, unsettled, and on the verge of breaking?

So what do you do? How do you calm the storm raging inside?

This is the discussion I had with God on Friday. After weeks of isolation, I needed connection. I needed his connection to calm my heart. To calm my mind. To calm my emotions.

So I asked God, how do I stay calm during all of this turmoil? How do I need to spend my time right now? How can I quiet the storm that wells up inside of me? He answered, “Go deep.”

Peace comes from him and the deeper you go with your relationship in Jesus, the calmer you will become. Nothing we do will bring peace. It comes when your heart rests in Jesus.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

My sweet friend, fix your eyes on the unseen. Turn off the breaking news and turn on the worship music. You have time now.

Stop.

Breath.

Open your Bible.

Read.

Pray.

Sit with God.

Let him replenish you.

Let him renew you.

Go deep in your relationship with him. That is where your peace will reside.