“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work. For you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58
“I’m useless”
“I’m not good enough.”
“I can’t handle that.”
“I can’t do this.”
Yes, I’ve heard every single one of these rolling around in my mind. Have you?
Thoughts like this might plague you when you are about to try something new or out of your comfort zone. Sometimes it’s something big like taking a new job that will trigger this thought pattern. Other times (and honestly for me, more frequently) it is small changes that trigger these types of thoughts. Trying new food, eating at a new restaurant, feeling a physical sensation that I’m not comfortable with, talking to new people, and even just getting in the car to go somewhere can all be experiences that make us a little uncomfortable and trigger these ‘self-destruction’ thoughts.
Self-destruction? Yep. These thoughts are trying to keep you conformed to a box, a routine that is already labeled ‘self-destruction.’ When we stay in our boxes of routine and safety for too long without trying or doing something new or out of the norm, we limit what we think we can do in this world.
As many of you know, I’m a middle school teacher. For years I’ve taught 7th-grade social studies. This year I’m moving to 7th- grade English ELA and I am already hearing those thoughts start to swirl in my mind. I’m moving classrooms this year too! So it’s a lot of change that I am going to have to go through as the school year starts back! This morning, my mom wanted to start a conversation with me about what I’m taking for snacks and lunch this school year and I heard myself say “I can’t even talk about this right now.”
Sometimes, it all gets too much. Sometimes, these changes to our lives are just frightening. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your emotions aren’t valid. They are! You might be handling them in a way that isn’t beneficial, but the root of your emotion is always valid. The important thing is to learn to deal with the emotion and the change so that we don’t self-destruct.
That’s where this lovely lesson from Paul comes in. This verse has so much meat in it! Let’s break it down!
First, Paul tells us to be strong and steady. When emotions and thoughts come flying at us, we don’t feel either of those things. Most of us go towards ‘fight, flight or freeze’. We fight the emotion off by using a behavior, we run from the emotion by distracting ourselves with a behavior, or we freeze and get stuck in the thought cycle and have no idea how to get out. Strong and steady? Nope. Not at all. The Corinthians were facing a lot of problems and Paul advises them to be strong and steady in their faith in the face of their issues.
So how can we do that? How can we consciously and consistently choose to not run from the emotion and instead work through it? How can we choose to stay steady when our emotions want us to fall into pits of fear, despair, shame, and guilt?
The biggest answer to this question lies not in the emotion that you are feeling but in the behavior. You most likely aren’t running to the Lord when a panic attack strikes, are you? You aren’t reading your Bible when your depression and sadness are rolling over you like a steam engine? Nope. Instead, we turn towards behavior that makes us feel more in control. Instead of turning to God, we turn towards what we can control. Do you want to be strong and steady during emotional times? You have to have a behavior switch. You have to start turning towards the Lord, not towards the behavior and the control that you feel with it!
A lot of us choose to NOT turn towards the Lord because when we turn to Him, it means that we give up the control that we think we have. When we turn towards Him in our deep emotions, we acknowledge that He is the one in control, not us. Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to go to God to process your emotions with Him instead of turning towards behaviors?
I’m not perfect, nor will I ever claim to be. But when I starting doing this consistently when anxiety, panic, and fear struck, I started actually getting through the emotions and not getting stuck in them. I wish that I was someone who could memorize verses, or carried their bible with them everywhere, but I’m not. The way that I am trying to combat the behaviors that my emotions illicit now is prayer. I write out my prayers to God and I tell Him EVERYTHING that is happening. From the triggers, to the thoughts, to the physical sensations, and even the behaviors; I tell Him all and I ask Him to help me. I write down what thoughts I know are true and biblical and what thoughts I know are the enemy’s lies and fueled by emotion. After that brain dump of prayer, it’s a huge weight lifted off of my chest. I’ve processed with the Creator of the Universe. I always feel so much better.
Another strategy that you might like to implement is actually writing a letter to yourself. I have one that I keep on my nightstand. When my brain can’t even make coherent thoughts because everything is SO LOUD, I read my letter. This letter is a reminder to me that my emotion isn’t going to last forever, that my physical sensations aren’t going to kill me, and that they will pass. And then I remind myself who I am in Christ: I’m a warrior, resilient, strong, capable, a treasure, and that I have a purpose.
Speaking of purpose, the Lord gave you a job to do on this planet! Are you doing it enthusiastically? Or, are you hardly participating? Are you letting your emotions rule whether or not you are doing the job at all? When we let the emotions that we are afraid to feel (like fear, sadness, depression, shame, guilt) run our lives, we go into our purposes and jobs in fear of those emotions. YES, you can fear fear! By focusing on the unpredictability of the emotion and the instability that comes with feeling it, we create fear of feeling that emotion. You can fear any emotion to the point of it being debilitating when you do feel it. (I know that I personally fear fear and panic, and it is something that I am still working to overcome.)
Your purpose on this planet was given to you by God when He created you. He wants you to do it enthusiastically for HIM no matter what that job and purpose is. God made me a teacher, and I can humbly say that I was born to be a teacher. But do I do my job enthusiastically? Sometimes. Most of the time, fear and panic (and fear of fear and panic) seem to rule my day more than doing my job enthusiastically. See, I’m focused on the wrong thing and maybe you are too. I need a new routine, a new WAY to go into my job every day instead of fearing the possible emotions that might crop up throughout the day. God actually gave me direction on this exact topic this morning after I have been praying about it for weeks. During my quiet time, God directed me to get up at a certain time and make time for silence with Him. He also led me to get to my classroom early and praying in the silence every morning.
Enthusiastically doing what God has directed us to do is not always easy, but it is needed. When we change our perception of the situation, job, and purpose that we are walking into we can choose to do it enthusiastically because we know that we are serving our FATHER by doing it. Serving God is what we were all put on this planet to do, yet we get so caught up in our own plans are that we don’t serve God. And that’s a problem! Going into everything with a heart of service will change your outlook on it!
Finally, Paul writes that nothing we do for the Lord is ever useless. Going through those panic attacks, those depression episodes, even going to work every day- it’s not useless. When it brings us closer to the Father, when it forces us on our knees to pray, when it shows us the Lord’s mercy and goodness in dark places, when it helps others, IT IS USEFUL. Never think that what you are called to do on this planet isn’t important. From what society sees as the lowliest jobs to the highest-ranking- it ALL matters. As long as you are doing what God has called you to do, then you are in the right place at the right time. It is useful, it matters.
I find such peace in knowing that my suffering isn’t useless. I find strength in knowing that God put me on this planet for a purpose and I need to be disciplined enough to continue to fulfill God’s calling even when it’s difficult.
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