Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. 7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
Right now, we are finding ourselves in the middle of a season that is new for all of us. The Novel Coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic have displaced our ordinary lives. You may be feeling that you are unprepared for this season and find yourself struggling to know what to do or how to stay healthy. Thankfully God is never caught off guard.
We hope that this field guide can serve as a helpful tool for you. We have looked at five key areas of life where we are finding ourselves impacted right now: Emotional, Physical, Spiritual, Social, and Mental.
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This is a scary time. The Coronavirus and resulting COVID-19 has impacted everyone in one way or another. The emotional impact of this virus has infected everyone.
It is crucial right now that we guard our hearts. In this time of fear, we can surrender our emotions to Christ (who has experienced all our feelings) by following biblical principles. This will allow us to be a thermostat – setting the emotional temperature – rather than a thermometer – just reflecting the emotional climate around you.
Action Steps:
- Have times to share your heart.
We can't manage our emotions alone. We need to create spaces to connect with our own feelings and the feelings of others. - Find ways to express what you are feeling.
Some of us have been taught that emotions like fear, anger, or sadness are wrong and shouldn't be shown. But the bible is full of poems where the authors express deep concern and sadness. We can allow ourselves to share them in a healthy and comforting way. - Create "and yet" moments to shift guard your heart.
After giving yourself and others the space to experience and express what you are feeling, you can manage your emotions. Often in Psalms of deep sadness, there will come the point when the author says something like "and yet…" then moves onto listing the ways they still see God moving. - Practice moments of joy.
In dark times, we sometimes feel that we are only "allowed" to experience negative emotions. This isn't healthy. With all the isolation, fear, and stress, we would quickly find ourselves overwhelmed if we did not include joyful practices in our daily lives.
As you think and pray about your emotional health right now, here is a helpful prayer to lift up to the Lord:
God, help me to be honest about what I am feeling
and explore my heart in healthy ways.
Help me to control my emotions, rather than letting them control me.
In the middle of my fear, help me to still find ways to practice joy.
As you are thinking through these steps, here is a helpful table you can print out (or make yourself), to plan out what action steps you plan to take each day of the week:
Please know that you can always reach out to us for support. Our Care Team and Pastors would love to connect with you and support you during this time. They can be reached at 844.364.4673
