By Lisa S. Tarno

Susie Larson writes a question, “Have you ever gone through a season where, in your head, you knew you were loved by God, but in your heart, you felt absolutely cursed by Him?” (From “Your Powerful Prayers” book & study) I wrote in the margin, “Yep!” I really don’t like answering the question, “So how are yooooouuu?” My immediate thought is, “Nope, not going there…too much information…how can I honestly answer this question….I can’t honestly answer this because it’s even unbelievable to me….” and I respond, “Fine, and you?” Pass that hot potato back to them!

First let it be known that I know that God loves me but what He is allowing into my life at present is pretty heavy! Some days it dogs me. I have to be prayed up and putting my “armor” on just to get through at times. If I sit with the weight of things too long, I could become depressed, but I play a game of the redirect OFTEN and force myself to think about all that I am thankful for and what IS working right and how God has answered prayers for me faithfully before and trust that He will again! It’s very Psalmsy….where the Psalmist in the Bible writes their lament and vents and then does a redirect of recounting all that God has done and who God is. This is the Biblical Rx for situational depression.

The truth is so many of us are walking around with different levels of stress, sadness, goodness, joy and heartache but yet we can laugh. This is just life. It becomes problematic when we stop seeing the joy and goodness that IS still there and we’ve lost our ability to laugh and have perspective. That’s when a therapist and maybe even medication is needed. I’m not there…but I have been in my life, so I speak with credibility. For the sake of this writing, I am talking about overcoming the heaviness of life with a better perspective and plan of sorts.

1)There’s the daily do that I implement to create the right atmosphere in my home. First thing when I wake up, I say, “This is the day the Lord has made and I WILL rejoice and be glad!” (Ps.118:24) Every morning….sometimes I really focus on the “I WILL” command I give to my heart. Shutters and blinds are opened to let sunlight in, praise music is turned on in multiple rooms (Because God inhabits the praises of his people (Ps. 22:3 KJV)and where He is, evil cannot be [James 4:7]), and I make my bed because that is one accomplishment to mark off my list. 

2)Early in the morning, I try to go for a long walk outside if isn’t blazing hot already and listen to either praise music or an uplifting podcast. I may go to the fitness center and lift weights and stretch and then I go back home. Getting outside with natural light and doing something as simple as a walk has a lot of therapeutic benefits for our minds and bodies. 

3)Then I will spend some time in deep prayer thanking God for who He is, what He has done and will do and finally get to my venting and requests to be made known. It’s a conversation. I have prepped the environment and enlisted the help of God with my day. Meditation has many benefits to our overall health and mindset. It’s a daily practice and necessity for me.

All is going well until I enter into traffic upon leaving my house. I am forced to remember to stay in peace and be loving when mixing with the world outside my home. I am often given personal growth “pop-quizzes-of-kindness” with various people and situations evolving throughout the day. I often joke with other women on the necessity to have grace with others because but for the grace of God and one stray hormone…there go I! 

Additionally, the reality of the different plates I am spinning comes into focus…if I stare too long at one plate…it can drop and take me down with it. It dawned on me that many of us battle this same thing…trying to stay positive in a world full of trouble. Life can get heavy and chaotic at times. We can experience a season of “WHOA!” 

One song lyric that I pray goes like this from the bridge: “All of my life, in every season, you are still God and I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship. I will bring praise, I will bring praise. No weapon formed against me shall remain. I will rejoice. I will declare. Great is my victory and You are here!” (From The Desert Song by Hillsong)

No matter what is happening in my life, I still have a reason to sing and worship a good God even when bad is happening all around me. That’s the truth. That’s my redirect. That’s why the Bible says in Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” I can have peace in all my storms and seasons of “Whoa!” The key is keeping my mind on the things above and remembering God is still in control when life is not.