From Panic to Pause

Panic is my M.O.

When something goes wrong in life (which is quite often, as you may have experienced) my usual reaction is to overreact.  Just ask my kids.  I have to admit, Grant's reenactments of my overreactions are hilarious! But it's true, fear creeps up right away, and in my fret, I start sending panicky prayers.  Not that long ago, led by the Holy Spirit, a phrase came to me:  "Thank You, Lord, for opportunities to trust You!"  That prayer of thanksgiving has become my go-to thought when I find myself in the midst of a panic-induced reaction.  Of course, sometimes the intensity of the moment is such that the prayer goes out the window...but...when Our Good Father allows me a second of lucidity, long enough to move my hand from the panic to the pause button, the prayer comes to me and I begin to calm down.

Today's post on the devotional: My Utmost for His Highest spoke about this, and on the one hand, it convicted me, but on the other one, it gave me great hope.  This is why I wanted to share it with you here, praying that it blesses you as much as it did to me:

"The Theology of Rest"

Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith? — Matthew 8:26

When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits’ end, showing that we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world; He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead.

“O ye of little faith!” What a pang must have shot through the disciples — “Missed it again!” And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced down right joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead.

There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him.

We have been talking a great deal about sanctification — what is it all going to amount to? It should work out into rest in God which means oneness with God, a oneness which will make us not only blameless in His sight, but a deep joy to Him.

I don't know about you, but this really hit it close to home for me today.  I especially was struck by the sentence that says how in a crisis, God's children are supposed to be the reliable ones.  I have failed pretty much every time I've been tested on this subject. In my moments of crisis, more often than not, I'm the one fretting and making things worst.  And, even though I've gotten better, I'm still too quick to hit that panic button first, and too slow to reach for the pause. But I know that through the sanctification process, God demonstrates that we are not done yet.  And, by His love, grace, mercy and compassion, He continues to show us the way...He is the ONLY Reliable One.  And I trust in His Faithfulness.  

Blessed are those who keep his statutes

and seek him with all their heart. Psalm 119: 2