It’s the first thing to do when you’re lost!
In my last post, entitled Lost in Life, I wrote about what happened one day, when I sat down to write. I described the image that came into my mind of a hiker, lost in the woods. God showed me that many of us are lost in life and that we need to do the same 2 things that a hiker would, in order to find our way again. Today we’re talking about that first necessary action.
Take a moment to breathe…
Did you know that holding our breath is a normal reaction to stress? And when that happens, it adds to our unsettled, alarmed state. So, our first action is to bring attention to the needs of our body.
Stop everything else you’re doing and get into a good position to take a moment to breathe. Just sit back, hydrate, and focus your mind on calming down. If necessary, breathe into a paper bag when crying has escalated into full-on hyperventilating. Don’t knock the paper bag thing—it’s worked for me!
Find your inner calm by focusing inward for a moment.
He has knit you together in your mother’s womb—you are fearfully and wonderfully made. He will speak to you in a still small voice, His Spirit to your spirit. You are not quieting yourself to connect with your own inner strength. You cannot draw from what has been used up, depleted, and now empty. The never-ending supply of strength along with all the evergreen fruit of the Spirit comes from God alone.
Focusing inward to breathe and going back to the simple state of being is a practice that brings stillness to our soul, where restlessness of voices, feelings, and intentions collide. So, in this way, we are able to calm ourself to “be still and know that He is God” in all the big ways and in all the small ways.
It takes a conscious effort to stop our restless heart and mind from leading us in the wrong direction. Otherwise, we will continually overextend our energy on too many outward things. What we’re talking about is being centered and rightly aligned.
Think of the trained position of a classical ballerina who has learned to hold the correct alignment of her body. This analogy is the same for us, we must be diligent to practice being centered until we are able to move freely without losing our position. That is what we practice when focusing inward on our state of rest and breathing. It is to align ourselves correctly to receive from the Almighty God and Father of all things. This requires a total surrender of everything we’re holding onto. This action allows an exchange to be made within our heart, and our soul. It is only through His power at work within us that we are able to receive emotional healing and renewal in our mind, and able to be filled up when we are empty.
If you’ve struggled with a restless heart, fear, general anxiety, a worry-burdened mind, or the feeling that energy is pouring out of you like a fire hose as you try to put out all the little fires you see, consider taking a time-out to realign your heart. Practice calming your soul, which is your mind, will and emotions. Then quiet your spirit to communicate your heart with God, the Father. He is a good Father. And He is always ready and available to have a heart to heart with you.
After you’ve poured out your heart to Him, take time to rest there. Just breathing as you wait upon the Lord. Stay in that place, listening for the whisper of His Holy Spirit upon your heart, in concepts or images that may play across your mind, or with new thoughts and feelings that you experience.
This type of quieting should be the very first thing you stop and do when overwhelmed, and not sure what to do. It will be the necessary adjustment that allows you to get in step with the Holy Spirit, life’s ultimate Guide.
Here are several verses to get centered on:
Colossians 3:1-17
Ephesians 2:14-22
Ephesians 6:10-18
Phillippians 4:4-9
This is only the first thing you must stop and do when you’re lost. But calm or not, you cannot just remain where you are. The next thing is to discover where you are currently, and which direction to go to find the way again. My next blog post in this series is all about getting your bearings!
Until then, may His blessings find you MORE and MORE…
Tami Sorenson Gaupp
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