how to keep going when anxiety reels you in

I sit at the bedroom window watching wind whip branches of redwood.

It is a flurry of wild green against gray, the clouds low and heavy. No, the air is anything but still.

I don't grab my bag and rush out into this day. The day doesn't shout, go! Rather, it whispers, wait. And I hear it speak to me so quietly, quietly.

Stay. Stay.

Yes, this day can speak. Yes, our hearts can speak. Do you hear the sound? The soul whispering with gentle insistence: ignore the list, lay down that burden, give up the fear.

These souls of ours ache for connection with the Father. They are depleted without sustenance. They are weak without the strength of a love that equips and builds and gives and sustains.

So I sit at the window. I keep my laptop closed. I delay my plans for the day. This is where I need to be. Even if it doesn't make sense, sitting in my bedroom, about to head out the door.

I can't move. I see the waving of majesty out of the window. Holy. I put everything else on hold to watch creation groan and twist and burst. Yes, that's it, holy beauty bursting with an energy I crave. An energy I have within me too, if I choose it.

When we look for peace, for contentment, for joy, sometimes it matters how hard it is we look. Sometimes it matters if we listen to the very whisper of our own soul.

For in the twisting and turmoil of our current climate—the anger and the confusion, the fear and the distrust—we must do our part in letting God take care of our hearts.

Our souls are desperate to let God care for us. Our souls are desperate for us to choose His rest, his truth, His sword, His joy. If we don't? The distractions of this world destroy our hope. We so easily become convinced that hope is not here, hope is not for us. Rather, we believe we had better dig in a little harder, worry a little more.

But what if what we really need to do is surrender our hearts more fully—open up these hands of ours and release? For in giving up ourselves—our fears, our worries, our anxieties—we give room for the true peace of the Savior.

We need Jesus to settle on our hearts. We need Jesus to come in and remind us how He has us. We need Him to remind us how He has our future—the future of all crazy elections, the future of this world. He has the most amazing, beautiful plan.

Let us not miss the plan. Let us not miss the beautiful part Jesus has for each of us to play.

And it starts with letting our souls be cared for by the Father who created us. Let us stay close to Him. Let us listen for His voice. Let us surrender the fear, push into the hard thing of being kind and generous and loving. For there we will find Him. And then His strength and peace will equip us to keep going. Will you sit with me, this day?

What is one thing you are doing this week to intentionally choose to listen to your soul and respond to what it needs?