28 Nov

These are unsettling times right now…coronavirus, potential job layoffs, bare shelves in the store, all of it. The fear and anxiety buttons have been pressed in many of us, including us. There’s something about the fear herd mentality that screams at us. We can be doing totally fine until we walk by an empty shelf in a store and suddenly feel this wave of panic telling us that we need that thing!

It’s in that moment that we must become leaders instead of part of the herd. We must become protectors of the ones who need it and voices of calm and reason for our families. So, when we pass by the shelves for hand sanitizer, toilet paper, soap, masks and medicines, we must PAUSE and then ask ourselves, ”Do I need any of these things right now”? If the answer is no, walk away. Take hold of that anxiety and walk away, save the supplies for those who are in need.

Calm the anxiety, leave supplies on shelves so others won’t be tempted to buy in fear… like you just wereBe the leader. Take the risk of not having toilet paper.

When it comes to fear, as believers, hoping that you are one, we need to take that stuff captive. Fear must bow down to God, not run off hoarding. Fear begs you to trust in yourself and take things into your own hands, all the while God is more than capable of handling them. It’s the same doubt the Enemy caused in the Garden. Did God realllly say that??? YES, friend, yes He did. DO NOT FEAR.

When the world begins to panic, which it is, when your husband or wife gets riddled with anxiety, which many are, or your children are beginning to fear, it’s time for leadership. It’s time to be the voice of reason and the voice of calm.

Here are three simple, but yet, not so simple things you can do…

1. Know the truth and rest in it. What are the facts? What is the CDC saying the protocol is? What are the steps you should take? Most importantly, what does God say? Learn the truth and then follow it.

2. Sit in the discomfort of being out of control. Fear and anxiety’s most powerful tool is getting you to react. You move, you follow it, it wins, and it grows. Do what you can…wash your hands, cover a cough, all the things, and THEN, sit. Simply, and not so simply, sit back, accept the vulnerability of your weakness and make friends with it. Tell it that you don’t like it, but you will sit with it. Ask it to pull up a chair instead of allowing it to take off in the driver’s seat.

3. Control your focusDid you know that what you focus on gets bigger? Yep, it’s true. The more you focus on something, the more it gets magnified. What are you focusing on? News, article after article, social media, what ifs and worse case scenarios? I bet when you read those things you physically feel the anxiety increase… You know what I’m about to say now, right?

STOP IT!

Stop reading and focusing on the things that are upsetting. You’ve done step one, do what you can and then rest. You don’t need the overload of information that fear is telling you that you do. It’s just adding more fear.

If you want to lead your family through fear, how about during all of these closures, you sit back, play a game, turn off social media and the news, and once again enjoy one another’s company. For so long we’ve been so disconnected from our families and each other. Perhaps the gift in all of this mess is just that, an opportunity to face fear and overcome it, to reconnect to one another and take back what the Enemy has been trying to steal for generations…our peace, our hope and our families. Enough is enough. Protect your families, protect the vulnerable…

KNOW THE TRUTH…

GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE…

CONTROL YOUR FOCUS.

This article was reposted and used with permission from Expedition Marriage

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