3 Keys to Avoid a Meltdown

What season are you in?
Busy but beautiful? Easy and comfortable? Stressed out and crazy?

It’s fall in the midwest and that means an explosion of colors outside the window and roaring fires inside. It’s the season of comfort food simmering on the stove and pumpkins lining porch steps.

Fall launches women’s ministry and my weekends are packed with great places to proclaim the Name of Jesus and teach the Bible. I meet lots of lovely women and we belly laugh, cry and pray together.

It’s the best!

Have you had a season like that, busy but beautiful? Has God moved or whispered or maybe you’ve had a break through? Secretly, you wonder if God must love you more than he did yesterday. That’s how it feels when your passion partners with God’s purpose for you.

But then comes the attack.

Right after Elijah has one of the biggest God-moments in the Bible, facing down the 450 prophets of Baal, calling down fire from heaven and declaring God’s power, the very next thing we read is that he’s hiding in a cave, fearing for his life (see 1 Kings 19:1-9).

What?

Don’t judge. That happens to me.  A lot.

On any given weekend, I experience God’s presence and pleasure in worship. God’s anointing falls on me and I am smarter and stronger than I have any right or training to be. Women in the audience have an ah-ha awakening moment and encounter their Creator.  Baggage and bondage falls away. Faces light up under the glow of God’s forgiveness. My hair turns out perfectly!  (remember, don’t judge)

Then I get slammed. 

A misunderstanding with someone I love. An automobile I need refuses to function. An unexpected bill arrives. A disappointment, a rejection, a heart wound. Like Elijah, I want to run away, hide in a cave and fuss at God.

Does that happen to you, too?

That’s when you must remember the God who touched you in worship, the One who whispered or convicted or healed or moved in your life is the same now as He was then.

When I find myself sitting in my proverbial cave, I practice this simple system to get back on track.

I tell myself aloud all the characteristics of God I know to be true.

• He is Awesome (Psalm 47:2)
• He cares about me (1 Peter 5:7)
• He loves me (John 3:16)
• He knows my situation (Psalms 139:1-2)
• He created me (119:73)
• He celebrates me. (Zephaniah 3:17)
• He is all powerful (Jeremiah 32:17)
• He keeps his promises (Deuteronomy 7:9)
• He does not make mistakes (Psalm 18:30)
• He has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11)
• He redeemed all my past messes and worked them for good. (Romans 8:28)
• He will never leave me or forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:8) …

Next, I recall the times in the past that He has been faithful to me. 

Times He has come through for me. Times when he’s answered my prayers just the way I asked or intervened in a situation for my benefit. I think about Bible accounts where He rescued Daniel, (Daniel 6) or restored David, (2 Samuel 12) or encouraged Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 32). I remember all the times he shows up in the Bible like he did for Elijah. God gently restored, (1 Kings 19:9-21) repurposed (2 Kings 2:1-25) and renewed (Luke 9:30) Elijah back into sanity and service.

Finally, I use all that to stand firm in who God is right now.

If he was faithful then,  He will be faithful now. Because our God never changes. 

I don’t know what season you’re in today, but when your problems seem too big for you, remind yourself how  big your God is.

Hope grows. Fear flees. Faith is fortified. 

If this helps reset your faith, let me know by leaving a comment.

Scripture refresher: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17, NIV)

Prayer:  God, please be my ever present help in times of trouble. I know that you love me and work all things for my good.  Remind me to be watchful for how you are moving.  Remind me that you have never let me down and I can trust you.  Amen