Hey friends!!
Thinking today about wildflowers (and most days, because I think they are the coolest!). The RAIN comes before the beauty of the flowers… and life is the same way!! God uses trials and hardships to help develop our character. The difficult days, when we are putting our trust in God, develop our perseverance and make us look more like Jesus! I think it's safe to say that quarantine has contained many of these “hard days’…for all of us.
For me personally, quarantine has brought about heightened troubles of anxious thinking. Although I struggle with this outside of quarantine, the countless amount of unknowns surrounding our days has caused me to become trapped inside my head more than usual.
However, through these difficult nights and worried thoughts, I have discovered tricks that work for me. Today, I thought that I would share some of the things I have found that bring me peace when my fear and overthinking want to take over!!
Above all, God is our prince of peace. While these tricks are helpful, I always pair them with prayer! God is the only source of comfort that will be reliable and steadfast every time you seek it! Prayers for you, sweet friend, as we navigate these times together!
ALPHABET ATTRIBUTES
THIS!!! IS!!! ONE!!! OF!! MY!!! FAVS!!!! God recently laid this idea/technique to quiet my mind on my heart and it is helpful every single time!! When my brain just won’t shut off when I am trying to fall asleep, I will go through the alphabet and list one attribute of God per letter (a is for all-knowing, b is for breathtaking, c is for calming…)!! Not only does this keep my thoughts busy, but it also sets my mind on Jesus!! Praise Him in the storm, am I right???
SPOTIFY WORSHIP
I have two different Spotify playlists that I love to pop on whenever I am feeling anxious! One, that I have simply titled “Praise in Anxiety” is full of upbeat songs that remind me who I am in Jesus. The other is called “To Sleep” and contains peaceful songs of truth to help me fall asleep at night!! I linked them below if you want to try either one out!!
TEA
I have become a hot tea drinker!! It was about time haha!! My fav is Vanilla Chai!! I have been drinking a warm cup of this every night for the past week, and it has exponentially helped me calm before bed!
SCRIPTURE
The most effective way I have found to remind my anxious thoughts of who’s boss is by quoting scripture to myself. I have a couple of go-to verses that I like to speak over myself! Some of them are verses I have found on my own, while some have been given to me by friends (those are my favorites hehe)!!
My favorite verses to fight anxiety are Colossians 3:2, Psalm 23:1, 1 John 4:18, 2 Timothy 1:7, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 94:19… and more!!!! WOOHOOO!!
TALKING TO FRIENDS
While this may seem like an obvious solution, for the longest time I felt embarrassed by my worries. I knew that I should trust God and submit my thoughts to him, but I felt shameful when I still felt those worries after praying. Finding a couple of people that I could be completely honest about my worries has been a game-changer. Those sweet friends are so loving and speak so much truth about my situation. I value phone calls with those closest to me more than anything right now!!
CONSISTENT PRAYER
While God definitely wants us to come to him with what is worrying us, he more than anything wants a relationship with us. He desires for us to come to him both in the good and the bad, the joys and the sorrows. I have found that days when I am more consistent in prayer are days that I feel less anxious! One of my best friends challenged me to try and pray for at least ten straight minutes every day… which proved to be harder than I thought!! Talking to God throughout the day develops your relationship with him further AND you learn how to listen for his voice!! All around, prayer is, I think, the most valuable tool in fighting ANY sin problem!!!
Tell those anxious thoughts about your God!!!!!
xoxo, Katie