Pain is a whole lot easier to deal with when I am centered emotionally, when I'm at peace within and not frantic and not overwhelmed and not crying at the drop of a hat (why do we say that? I am not into the practice of dropping hats -- must be a story behind that).
It took all morning yesterday for me to get centered.
Do you know what helped get me on track?
An email conversation I had with a friend.
She is a true friend: one I can trust, one who will listen, one who may give advice but not take it too seriously (that is key -- I've found that people love to give advice about a situation they assume they understand -- I've done that myself....oh, we ought to not do that); one who also has a great sense of humor. She is another person in my life who can make me laugh!
Let's go back to that favorite verse in Psalm 46:10a: "Cease striving and know that I am God"
Why does this help?
Because if we can stop the frantic rushing within and be still within our own feelings of helplessness, we can see that God has it covered. He sees what we need. He will take care of it.
Another favorite Psalm (probably the most favorite of all) is Psalm 23. You may even be able to quote much of it:
"The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for Thou art
with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they
comfort me.
Thou dost prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
Thou has anointed my head
with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness
will follow me all
the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house
of the LORD forever."
One of my favorite parts of this psalm is "He makes me lie down."
I remember when I was a kid when I would be so upset and I thought the world was just caving in around me, and my mom would say, "Jane, you are just tired. Just go to bed."
And I'd say, "No, I'm not."
And she'd say, "Yes you are. You need to go to bed."
Young Jane would finally listen to her mother and go to bed. When I woke up life looked a whole lot better.
When God makes us "lie down" it isn't always literally a lying down. Sometimes it is some other kind of lying down, but it is always something we need and often we don't think we need it.