Day 189: Don't Run Away, Deal With It!

Something that I have learned time and time again is that running aways from problems does not solve them. It hides them for the time being but they will always catch up with us.

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

The keywords in these scriptures is, “face trials”. It doesn’t say have problems or run away from them. It says consider it pure joy when you face trials. That to me means we have to face the trials in our lives head on if we want to keep our joy. We cannot ignore what is going on in our lives because we don’t want to deal with it. If we want to move forward we have to face whatever it is in our lives that is bothering us or presenting a problem.

This is something that God has been teaching me recently, to get in touch with my feelings and not ignore what is going on in my life. I believe that mental and emotional health is just as important as our spiritual health because if we are not mentally and emotionally healthy, then it will start to take a toll on our spiritual wellness. I think many times as Christians we tend to ignore these things because we are Christian, we feel like we don’t have to deal with a problem because we pray. Sometimes it starts with a prayer, and then we have to do some deep digging to get to the root of the issue, then we pray some more. We have to be honest with ourselves if we want to grow, yes prayer changes things, I believe in the power of prayer, but we sometimes use, “I’m praying about it.” as an excuse not to deal with it. We use prayer as our scapegoat.  

If we want to grow in life we have to learn how to access our true feelings and not shy away from them, no matter what they may be. Pinpoint the problem and face it head on like David did Goliath. Now the thing about prayer is that it will get us through, God will give us all we need to get through the trials, but we still have to go through them, we still have to deal with it. That is how we persevere and become stronger, we look to God to help us face trials, not to help us skip over them. In the end we will be stronger. We have to choose to do this however. We have to choose to stop running and hiding and dare I say it again, deal with it.

Reflection

1. Check in with yourself from time to time. Set a reminder to check in with yourself. Take the time to examine every area of your life. How you’re doing spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically. Set a reminder, take at least 10 minutes at the end of every day or every other day to see how you are doing. You must prioritize yourself.
2. Find a way to let out whatever it is you're going through, to get to the root of it. For me I write and make video diaries.
3. Find a way of release, pray first and then do whatever it is you need to do to release yourself. For me this is working out, painting, or going for walks or hikes. Spend this time alone to recuperate and really talk to God.
4. Last but not least, talk to someone. Someone you can trust. Don’t be afraid to set up an appointment with a therapist. God has given therapist the gift they have to serve others, He knew we would need it at some point. If you need to see a therapist, go. You don’t have to tell anyone about it unless you want to.
5. This is your life, take care of yourself, take care of your spiritual, mental, and emotional health.

Prayer Time

Pray about what we talked about today, start by checking in with yourself and pray about, Talk to God about whatever is on your heart ask Him to help you face your problems head on and uncover the truth that needs to be revealed within you. This is between you and God, if you choose to share with others, do so. If not, then you don’t have to share.

I love you so much, and I hope you have an amazing day. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 190!