More Self-Care
The other day I began to touch upon the idea and thought of our own self-care, spiritually, and physically. If you already engage in some of the areas I spoke to, how does this impact your ability to manage stress? How do the areas of self-care influence your ability to choose and embrace healthy choices, either spiritually or physically? What areas do you struggle with?
Let’s look at this through the lens of the Holy Scripture, and the eyes of Jesus, as we continue discussions surrounding PTSD. This can help us to work through our pain, anxieties, worries, fears, and other areas as we seek to move closer to healing.
In Psalm 34 we read these words, “I sought the LORD, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him” (Psalm 34:4-8, ESV)!
Here in the sacred text we find care for our weary and restless souls through the living God.
What does this have to do with self-care? Read forward.
Seek the LORD. He will answer you.
I know in this day and age, many people are wondering if they can even know God. The answer is a solid and loud “YES!” Seek Him, do it often, and know He will answer you in His timing. Part of our self-care has to be seeking the LORD in all times, everyday activities, in good times as well as hard times. I cannot care for myself the way only He can. He will answer you. He cares for you, your troubles, wounds, hurts, joys, frustrations, and all things. He formed you, He created you, He calls you out of darkness and into His marvelous light (see 1 Peter 2:9).
2. When we seek Him, He will not only answer, but He will deliver us.
What deliverance do you need today? What bondage are you walking through that the LORD wants to deliver you and release you from? Those hidden wounds of the heart and mind often weigh us down, but hear this, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (see John 8:32-36). Once we recognize the truth -
Jesus came to set us free.
Jesus came to gives us hope and a future.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but by Him (see John 14:6).
we begin to understand how He not only died to set us free from spiritual bondage and eternal death, but He came to set us free, our minds, our spirit, Jesus came to bring deliverance from those things which plague us, like intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance from trauma, and other areas. Trust Him. He will hear, He will answer, He will deliver.
3. Look to Him, and you will not be ashamed.
We need to look to Him, and behold His lovely radiance and countenance, He is amazing to behold. His word promises that if you look to Him, you will not be ashamed, in fact in Romans 10:13 you can read the words, “All who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved!” You will be saved not ashamed.
He knows the struggle in your mind, in your heart, He beckons you to look to Him in all of it. In Philippians you can read these words of hope, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8, NKJV).
When we turn our life over to the Lord, He wants to reclaim all of us for His glory and purpose. He wants to bring your broken thoughts, hurts and scars to the cross, and nail them there. He already has, sometimes we need to relinquish our control over them? Sometimes we need to understand the spiritual battle, we are in, with the flaming darts of the enemy seeking to penetrate us in our minds (see Ephesians 6:10-20).
Look to Him, I promise you won’t be ashamed.
So? How do these relate to self-care? I believe the best way to bring care to ourselves, is to offer our very life to the One who gave His for ours. Jesus knows all about our troubles, there’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no, not one, NO NOT ONE.
When we seek Him, and look to Him, this is part of our total care package, if I can call it that. Jesus is not a genie in the sky granting our every desire, and yet He invites us and implores us to come to Him for the best care in this world and in the next one with Him for eternity.
Seek Him while He may be found, He is not hiding, He cares for you like no other can or ever will. He knows the trauma you walk in, He has taken it when He died on the cross for our sin, and yet - we need to give Him the things He already has given His life for. He wants the turmoil and anxious thoughts. He wants the joys and the sorrows, the extreme sufferings, the manic episodes, the laughter, the tears, He wants you to give them, or rather cast them upon Him - the Word of God tells us that He cares for us!
4. The Lord will save us from all our troubles!
I think you just need to say “Amen!” here, and know He will save you from all your troubles. Do you want to be made well? Remember this is the question Jesus asked of the lame man (see John 5:6)? Some translations say, Do you want to be made whole? Look, Jesus saw this man, and knew he had been in the condition he was in - for a while, so Jesus asked him this simple and profound question that I now ask you
DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WHOLE?
I have PTSD, and depressive tendencies as diagnosed by my primary care physician, and a clinician. I am aware of the struggles in my own head, and sometimes struggle to get out of my head, if you understand that phrase. I need to cry out to Jesus, and, although not audible, I think He might be asking me, every single time I go to Him, “Do you want to made well?”
He loves to hear from us, you are not bothering Him when you come to Him, He is not saying, “Oh, that Kevan again…” He loves hearing from us, from you.
He implores us to come to Him if we are weary and heavy burdened, and He will give us rest (see Matthew 11:28). He says we can come boldly before the throne to find grace and mercy in our time of need (see Hebrews 4:16).
He will save us from all our troubles.
5. Blessed is the man (or woman) who takes refuge in the Lord.
You are blessed as you take your refuge in the Lord. You are strengthened in Him. He not only has raised the dead to life, restored sight to the blind, given the ability to walk to those who were lame, healed the woman with the flow of blood for 12 years, and so-forth - He says to you that you are blessed as you take your refuge in Him. He can deliver you from all your enemies and troubles - even PTSD.
He raised Lazarus from the dead, He can heal your mind and heart of PTSD,
He restored sight to the blind, He can heal you of your PTSD.
He spoke to the wind and waves, and they obeyed Him. He can speak your PTSD into obedience to the One who created the elements.
He walked on water, showing His authority over the natural order - He can trample out the PTSD.
Any questions?
May you find your hope and peace in the Lord, know He is more than able. Will you trust in Him?
I know PTSD is real. I will share more later, from an interview I conducted. Be blessed as you walk through the journey.