Moving towards healing and wholeness for yourself is worthwhile, if scary. Because really, who knows where it will lead? Most of us feel a bit shaken and stressed after a year of world pandemic, government turmoil, food insecurity, joblessness, relocations, and family-at-a-distance. Life turned upside down in 2020.
Journal: What changed in your life? How are you feeling now? What do you need? What support and resources would you like, if anything were possible?
Instant relief is not the goal. Transformation and spiritual maturity often result from trials or times of crisis. Typically adults are more open to change in crisis. We tend to tolerate stressful conditions stoically and far too long. And then something happens and we are forced to act...
- Call a doctor
- Call a therapist
- Call an attorney
- Call human resources
- Call the pastor
- Call the police
Awareness of need and willingness to seek help are initial steps in healing. It takes courage to admit all is not well and that things could be better. Stop pretending; start speaking truth to yourself. Move forward with God's guidance. Acknowledge God the Father's call to trust, to yield, to submit, and to surrender to his will. We were never in control.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
The healing process can be long, painful, and difficult. It may involve uncomfortable discussions with therapists, honest confessions to family/friends, or breaking away from destructive habits and people. To become whole is a gradual process. It may require setting new goals or finding peace with new realities. Begin by praying with Reinhold Niebuhr:
"Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace:
Taking as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it:
Trusting that you will make all things right
If I surrender to our will:
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with you in the next."
