"Five police officers were killed and seven others injured in a coordinated ambush at an anti police brutality in Dallas."
"Police arrest activist DeRay McKesson during a protest along Airline Highway, a major road that passes in front of the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters Saturday, July 9, 2016, in Baton Rouge, La. Protesters angry over the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling by two white Baton Rouge police officers rallied Saturday at the convenience store where he was shot, in front of the city's police department and at the state Capitol for another day of demonstrations."
"The United States suffered the worst mass shooting in its modern history when 50 people were killed and 53 injured in Orlando, Fla., after a gunman stormed into a packed gay nightclub.
The gunman was killed by a SWAT team after taking hostages at Pulse, a popular gay club."
The Ebola crisis.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
ISIS....and so much more.
I am sure you can add to this list more events that have happened in just the past few weeks.
It doesn’t take much these days to arrive at a panicked state, and to get in a real downer mood....not if you stay abreast of news headlines.
Recently, a friend of mine announced that she had to take a break from social media due to the stress it had been causing on her, due to the fact that she has a chronic illness. I can relate to how she feels. Were it not for the fact that this is my main platform for keeping in touch with family and friends, as well as not wanting to be completely ignorant of what was going on around the world, I probably would have abandoned social media.
However, I needed a way to keep myself abreast of what was going on in the Nation and the World, since I have no cable at home, but I didn't want to lose my mind in the process, and I certainly don't want to have flares due to the health issues that I deal with, one of them being clinical depression.
We are told constantly that, as Christians, we are supposed to respond differently. When you are…pressured, busy, chaotic, sorrowful, sad, confused, frenzied, messed up, upset, complicated, bummed, disappointed, burned, sick and tired … how do you RESPOND; how do you ACT; how different are YOU? What’s your demeanor? The bible tells us repeatedly – that we Christians must REACT DIFFERENTLY to life’s trials.
1 Peter 1:6 says that "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."
How can we rejoice when we hurt? When we're angry? When we're confused?
David tells us in Psalm 118:24 that “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24), but how? The Psalmist, David also comforts us in Psalm 30:5 when he says, “For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”.
"But my life is full of pain and suffering! All this goings-on has the potential to land me in the hospital."
So, I've developed some strategies to watch the news without having a flare or going into depression.
1. I have to know my triggers. Just like I know that going outside during a cool Spring day when the trees are laden with pollen will inflame my lungs and cause a COPD flare-up, I also have to know what kind of news I can watch, and how much of it, before it begins to plunge me into a place of desolation, instead of hope.
2. I have to have a "safe place" where I can watch the news....someplace comfortable, with soft pillows, slow quiet day, when I'm not sitting in a doctor's office.
3. I know you can't always avoid the news, especially when you're out in public and everybody is talking about it, but I can visualize being in a safe place.
4. Breathing techniques are great when dealing with pain, but they are also great for dealing with the stress of watching the news.
5. Be prepared for those "Breaking News" moments. We can't avoid them. It may sound bad, but as someone with a chronic illness, I have had to create a desensitizing method, in which I can handle those sudden, unexpected, breaking stories.
So how do I shine bright, even with those safeguards in place? How do I rejoice, even when I have to protect myself from the goings-on of the world sometimes?
I know my future is guaranteed by God AND the end for us is heavenly sweetness forever, so we can be joyful NOW because God is working in and through us and will keep us all the way home to enjoy PURE heavenly BLISS.
I know that my "trials and tribulations" are being used as powerful tools in my life, and as James 1:2 says, I should "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
I know that these trials are temporary, painful, maybe even necessary, and that God is in control, and trials are a part of His plan.
That is why I can rejoice.....that is why we can rejoice when there is nothing to smile about even when it HURTS.
Have a blessed day, everyone!
"Police arrest activist DeRay McKesson during a protest along Airline Highway, a major road that passes in front of the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters Saturday, July 9, 2016, in Baton Rouge, La. Protesters angry over the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling by two white Baton Rouge police officers rallied Saturday at the convenience store where he was shot, in front of the city's police department and at the state Capitol for another day of demonstrations."
"The United States suffered the worst mass shooting in its modern history when 50 people were killed and 53 injured in Orlando, Fla., after a gunman stormed into a packed gay nightclub.
The gunman was killed by a SWAT team after taking hostages at Pulse, a popular gay club."
The Ebola crisis.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
ISIS....and so much more.
I am sure you can add to this list more events that have happened in just the past few weeks.
It doesn’t take much these days to arrive at a panicked state, and to get in a real downer mood....not if you stay abreast of news headlines.
Recently, a friend of mine announced that she had to take a break from social media due to the stress it had been causing on her, due to the fact that she has a chronic illness. I can relate to how she feels. Were it not for the fact that this is my main platform for keeping in touch with family and friends, as well as not wanting to be completely ignorant of what was going on around the world, I probably would have abandoned social media.
However, I needed a way to keep myself abreast of what was going on in the Nation and the World, since I have no cable at home, but I didn't want to lose my mind in the process, and I certainly don't want to have flares due to the health issues that I deal with, one of them being clinical depression.
We are told constantly that, as Christians, we are supposed to respond differently. When you are…pressured, busy, chaotic, sorrowful, sad, confused, frenzied, messed up, upset, complicated, bummed, disappointed, burned, sick and tired … how do you RESPOND; how do you ACT; how different are YOU? What’s your demeanor? The bible tells us repeatedly – that we Christians must REACT DIFFERENTLY to life’s trials.
1 Peter 1:6 says that "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."
How can we rejoice when we hurt? When we're angry? When we're confused?
David tells us in Psalm 118:24 that “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24), but how? The Psalmist, David also comforts us in Psalm 30:5 when he says, “For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”.
"But my life is full of pain and suffering! All this goings-on has the potential to land me in the hospital."
So, I've developed some strategies to watch the news without having a flare or going into depression.
1. I have to know my triggers. Just like I know that going outside during a cool Spring day when the trees are laden with pollen will inflame my lungs and cause a COPD flare-up, I also have to know what kind of news I can watch, and how much of it, before it begins to plunge me into a place of desolation, instead of hope.
2. I have to have a "safe place" where I can watch the news....someplace comfortable, with soft pillows, slow quiet day, when I'm not sitting in a doctor's office.
3. I know you can't always avoid the news, especially when you're out in public and everybody is talking about it, but I can visualize being in a safe place.
4. Breathing techniques are great when dealing with pain, but they are also great for dealing with the stress of watching the news.
5. Be prepared for those "Breaking News" moments. We can't avoid them. It may sound bad, but as someone with a chronic illness, I have had to create a desensitizing method, in which I can handle those sudden, unexpected, breaking stories.
So how do I shine bright, even with those safeguards in place? How do I rejoice, even when I have to protect myself from the goings-on of the world sometimes?
I know my future is guaranteed by God AND the end for us is heavenly sweetness forever, so we can be joyful NOW because God is working in and through us and will keep us all the way home to enjoy PURE heavenly BLISS.
I know that my "trials and tribulations" are being used as powerful tools in my life, and as James 1:2 says, I should "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
I know that these trials are temporary, painful, maybe even necessary, and that God is in control, and trials are a part of His plan.
That is why I can rejoice.....that is why we can rejoice when there is nothing to smile about even when it HURTS.
Have a blessed day, everyone!
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