We've Been Here Before, I've Got You By Mackenzie Roberts

SETTLE IN

Take a few deep breaths. Settle into your space and silence all distractions. This isn’t just a task to get off your checklist, but it is time for refreshment, soul care, instruction and love from your heavenly Father. Write down one attribute of God and meditate on that for 2 minutes. Push aside your to-do list and just BE. Spend time in prayer following the silence. Pour out your heart to a good God. 

Attribute: 

SLOWLY READ PSALM 91

Read it aloud a second time.  Remember, God speaks through His scripture, so linger for as long as you need.  

What words or phrase stood out to you?

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We've Been Here Before. I've Got You. By Mackenzie Roberts

Originally printed in Sharpen Your Focus (OUT OF STOCK). Find new articles in Rooted!

Whew. When anxiety hits, it HITS. Amiright? For Valentine’s Day my husband bought me a fancy schmancy deep massage gun. I tend to get horrible knots in my neck and hips that cause pain, migraines and nerve pain. Enter the solution: This brilliant and thoughtful gift. As I have gotten used to using this muscle melting machine, I have triggered some pain that has been hidden deep in my muscles. Hiding and lurking, waiting to rear its ugly head and send my body into a whirlwind of discomfort. 

I do not do well with lingering pain or body-related weirdness. I instantly link it to something horrid, inevitably resulting in death. At the first sign of a twinge in my pinky lasting longer than a few minutes, the spiral in my mind spins faster and faster until I am completely consumed. Everywhere I turn I see some sickness, or disease that I must have. Pain and discomfort that I know the source and have often experienced becomes a fit of anxiety I cannot shake. 

Eventually, I speak this truth out loud to my spouse or trusted friend and the second it leaves my mouth - I know that I have let the spiral win that day, rather than listening to the still Jesus voice in my head that says, “Hey, we’ve been here before. No need to panic. I’ve got you.” 

The devil is shifty that way to throw off our focus. He claims the things we know as his puppets to play with, and convinces us we have no control. That we know nothing and our experiential knowledge doesn’t matter. Anxiousness sets in motion complete distraction from the Lord. Spiraling thoughts equip the enemy to dig in, like he has in the past, and allow fear to feel like truth.

Truth isn’t a feeling - truth is purely Jesus. Our feelings and thoughts are not reliable, only Jesus is. 

REFLECTION

Where is a space in your life where you have allowed a narrative in your head to spiral out of control? 

In what ways was this distracting you from Jesus?

What are the facts in the midst of the spiral? Bullet point the facts. 

What is the fiction/fear in the midst of the spiral? Bullet point the fiction/fear. 

Now take the fiction/fear and surrender those things to Jesus - and allow the peace and focus only His voice can bring.

After the devastating revelation that the spiral won, I found myself on my knees in prayer on the floor of my closet - revisiting bits of Psalm 91. I have included a similar prayer for you to pray if you are finding yourself in a similar place of anxiety or unease. After praying, allow yourself to be still, and listen only to the voice and response of the Father. What is He telling you?

A Prayer Over Anxiety:

“Jesus, I have completely overlooked your voice and let fear and anxiety takeover. Forgive me. Meet me in this space. Thank you for being my refuge, my place of safety. You are my God who I trust. I know that no evil will conquer me if I make you alone my shelter. Lord refocus my mind and heart on only you, and in your name I pray the devil flee. I know that when I call, you answer. Allow me to train myself to hear your voice and truth alone. Amen.” 

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