For the past couple Fridays we’ve talked about “ordinary passionate people” here at Tag(g)lines. I’m taking a week off from that topic to participate in wonderful debut author Katie Ganshert‘s blog hop. Katie is celebrating the release of her novel, Wildflowers from Winter, with a special kind of blog hop. She’s invited bloggers to share stories about a time in their lives when God brought beauty from pain.
To go along with today’s post, one commenter will receive a copy of Katie’s debut novel, courtesy of her publisher–Waterbrook Press.
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Nobody died.
I didn’t lose my job.
Heck, we barely got any snow.
But this past winter was difficult for me. Difficult enough I think I may have worried my parents a bit. Difficult enough I’m pretty sure I had my first (and hopefully last) panic attack in the parking lot of a Nowhere, Iowa, gas station.
Stress.
In a way, I feel ridiculous even mentioning it. There are a bazillion worse things. But stress is the blizzard that caught me in its whirl this winter, and it manifested itself both emotionally and physically. Elevated test results, four different doctors and about a dozen distraught calls home confirmed the culprit.
So thus began the process of figuring out the root of my stress and what needed to change. I’m not going to go into all that, because frankly, that’d be about as exciting for you as a lecture on germs.
But I’ll tell you this: As I considered my opposite-of-stable mental state throughout the winter months, I realized something about myself. I realized the bulk of my angst, my stress, all generated from the same spot: lack of trust.
See, I’ve been pushing pretty hard toward a couple dreams in my life. I like to make things happen, check items off the to-do list. But for some reason, this winter it felt like no matter how hard I pushed, I stayed stuck in the same old snowdrift of inactivity. Ohh, that frustrated me. And so I worked harder. Tried harder. Worried harder.
And like in a real life blizzard, I got so caught up in the swirl of my own striving, I couldn’t see the truth anymore.
The truth that God’s plan and His timing are so much better than my silly stress-inducing attempts. I let myself get huff-and-puffy instead of resting in His guidance.
And after a couple months of ups and downs, I can say with such firm certainty that trying to do everything on my own is simply not worth the blizzard of emotions and stress.
But trust? That’s the stuff of spring and life and hope. Trust that we’ve got a God who keeps his promises–his promise to always be with us, his promise that he has a plan for our lives, that He finishes what he starts.
I read the coolest verses in Romans this week which reminded me of God’s promises…
The fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does…When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do, but on what God said he would do...He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he said. ~Romans 4:16, 18, 20-21, The Message
You know, sometimes life isn’t tragic. Or traumatic. Sometimes it’s just…hard. But we can always, always, always trust God.
This past winter, I only had my eyes on what I couldn’t do. But this spring, my vision has redirected toward what God has promised to do. And like Abraham, I want to plunge into the promise…
Come up strong…
Ready for God…
Sure that he’ll make good on what He said.
That’s real, active hope.
Have you ever found yourself overly stressed or emotionally unstable…or both? Have you found hope on the other side? How are you plunging into the promises of God?
Don’t forget, Katie’s publisher is giving away one copy of her debut novel–Wildflowers from Winter–to one commenter on today’s post. The deadline to leave a comment is next Tuesday at 5 p.m., at which time I’ll use a random number generator to choose the winner.
Comments 34
Ha! Oh yes, Yesterday I was about to explode, I felt so stressed. And you’re so right, the root for me was fear too. Argggggh. Thanks for sharing! Maybe this’ll help me get through today without that nauseaous lump in my stomach. lol
Hope that nauseous lump is long gone, Jessica. 🙂
Girl, that has been me! I had one of the worst winters of my life before I got pregnant with my son. It was disastrous and it was because I was spiritually barren, cold, brittle. I won’t ever look back. I love that God is doing a new thing all the time, it’s springing forth. I am a Wildflower.
Love this post, woman!
That’s such an apt way to describe it, Jess – spiritually barren, cold and brittle. I also love that you said you won’t ever look back. Same with me…my focus is one the new things God is doing. Yay God!
Oh yes, indeed! Stress is such a killer…literally. Stress can produce such turmoil in our bodies!!!! And, from personal experience, breakouts on my face!!!! Ugh…mid-forties and still breaking out.
Thanks for sharing your wildflower story. I know many can relate!
Thanks, Sherrinda. I actually worried a bit as I wrote it, because stress isn’t as big a deal as what many others are writing about. And yet, you’re right, it is something a lot of people can relate to. And it takes such a toll on us.
Love the version of that verse! And I agree, lack of trust shakes my core. It messes with me…brings in doubt, then fear, then stress. Doesn’t even have to be big things. Like you, sometimes the little things conspire to just make life hard. In those times I keep repeating, “God is good, all the time.” Sometimes to simply remind myself, sometimes to just tick off the devil. It’s my way of plunging into God’s promises, I guess, and grabbing back the trust.
Yeah, I was all bug-eyed as I read those verses in The Message, Susan. Romans is one of my favorite books in the Bible, but reading it in The Message made it feel new and fresh.
God is good, all the time…that’s a good mantra. 🙂
thanks for sharing your story!
And thank YOU for stopping by! 🙂
Stress? Me…;-) (Look how long that nose looks…sort of Pinnochio-ish) Hmm. Wonder why?!
I’m glad you revealed this. I’ve seen stress really mess with some loved ones. And I agree, as I feel it creep into my own life, it’s a trust issue.
~ Wendy
Haha, nice Pinnochio-ing. 🙂 It’s a good, good thing to catch stress early on before it does an all-out assault!
Wow….this pretty much SCREAMS truth: “You know, sometimes life isn’t tragic. Or traumatic. Sometimes it’s just…hard. But we can always, always, always trust God.”
So well-written and so well-said, Melissa. I’m so glad you shared your story. I’ve never gone through any great loss in my life, Melissa. But I sure do try to take things over and check things off. Your words were a great reminder to me this a.m.
I think so, so much of life comes down to trusting God!
Thank you so much for letting me be a part of all this, Katie. We’re similar in that I haven’t had major losses in my life either. And yet, still the devil finds ways to eat at me – and stress was his latest tactic. I’m thankful God eventually got my attention through it all!
Melissa, I hear you. Stress is so hard on our bodies and minds and not the place that God wants us to reside. Stress is an extension of fear and fear comes from not trusting God. Whenever I feel those familiar pangs of stress, I always look to the culprit and it’s usually an area that I am not handing over to God or trusting in His sovereign will for my life.
Thanks for sharing your story today.
Thank you for stopping by, Gabrielle. Yeah, it’s crazy how the littlest fear, the littlest moment of not trusting God can explode into all-out hard-core stress.
Yes, Melissa, I can relate to this. I’ve wanted to be published for years. And God has asked me to wait, to put aside writing for other important tasks He’s had for me. So when the time opened up where I heard the go-ahead, I assumed it would happen quickly.
It’s been a long, long wait. But God opened my eyes this past year that in His eyes, I have a more important role I’m filling than my dream job of published writer. He has a ministry for me right now, while I wait. 🙂
Blessings to you!!
Oh the waiting. Not fun. My mom once told me patience isn’t just waiting, it’s waiting with a good attitude. I say that to myself ALL THE TIME. And yet, still sometimes the good attitude part trips me up. 🙂
I’m glad God gave you a ministry while you wait!
Love your honesty. Love your openness. Love your willingness to admit this. I’ve felt this way sooo many times. I’m that same type-A, gotta-succeed, never-gonna-fail-if-I-can-help-it personality.
But I’m learning that God doesn’t love me or not love me based on what I do…but whose I am.
I’m a planner. I like to know when things will happen. But God. Is. In. Control. And I need to give him the reins.
Love you, girl! You are beautiful, inside and out.
Oh Lindsay, I love you! And I’m so glad we’re friends. As silly as it sounds, I find it hard to admit I let myself get to the point of going to the doctor due to stress. That sounds so…weak.
But maybe God needed me to get weak…especially emotionally weak. Because that’s when I finally started listening to His voice…
I love what you said about God not loving us based on what we do…but who we are. And who we are is HIS!
So many times! And I always cling tight, tight, tight until I start to fall apart. And then I realize this whole time I could have been resting in His trust and arms instead of blazing my own trail. It must be human nature to want to do things on our own. But once I give it over, I have SO MUCH more freedom. Amazing how God works like that.
Hope you have an awesome day, Melissa. :-))
I know, isn’t it annoying sometimes to look back and realize what we put ourselves through when we could’ve trusted God? But you’re right – it’s actually FREEING to trust God!
Hope you have a great day, too, Casey!
In the newest film version of Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester asks Jane, “What is your tale of woe?” She answers with, “I have none sir.”
That is me. I have no sad story of great loss or hardship. Yet I feel the truth of your words when you say life is hard. A lot of times for no good reason. I honestly haven’t gotten to the hope on the other side yet (at least for my current bout of stress and emotional instability). The only thing I’m clinging tenaciously to is that I want what God wants from my life.
Ooh, I liked the new Jane Eyre!
Praying and hoping you find the hope on the other side…SOON. It is awesome to me that even in the midst of your stress and emotions, you’re able to say you’re clinging to wanting what God wants for you. That’s what true trust looks like.
p.s. Sorry for your four hours of annoyance with Gone with the Wind!! 🙂
Thank you so much for your prayers. I appreciate them. 🙂
p.s. Hahahahaha! I don’t hold you responsible even though you loooove it!
Yes, the ups and downs of being a writer have been throwing me into emotional states I never thought I’d feel. Sometimes I feel I focus way too much on the goal, instead of the process. I just cling onto verses for dear life, knowing my prayers are heard (even though it doesn’t feel like it). Thanks for posting!
I hear you, Heather. Sometimes I wonder why in the world I want to be a writer…too much waiting, too much vulnerability, too much out of my control. But I love that you cling to verses, knowing Christ hears you. That’s so the truth!
The hardest verse in the Bible for me is “Cease striving and know that I am God.” It’s the hardest because I’m a “do it myself” kind of person. I want to help God. I’ve found that when I do cease striving and let God be God, my life runs a whole lot smoother.
Oh yeah, that cease striving part is a challenge for me, too, Pat!
A real-life blizzard? I can relate. Tires slip and slide. Cars rear-end each other.
May the warming sun come and shine blizzards and buffeting winds away until we marvel at the sights, sounds, sweet fragrances, and bird songs of spring, outside and inside . . .
Love your words, Dee!
Oh, yeah. I’m with you. Last week our pastor spoke on the importance of not giving up… but I’ve found it’s when I’ve tried with everything in me, utterly failed, and given it completely to God that the situation resolves itself or God gives me the grace to deal with it… which leads to that issue of trust. Trust. Yep, that’s the bottom line.
Trust! If we all could just get that down, life would be so peaceful. 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by!
I love the conversational tone of your writing, Melissa. It’s as if I’m sitting across from you having tea (I don’t do coffee). Thanks for sharing your story. Winters/deserts/pain happens even when it doesn’t involve death, devastating loss, health, or other majorly traumatic events; they also happen in the mundane day-to-day activities of life. And they are always painful, but they always produce abundant blessings if we care to notice them.
Enjoy this blessed day.
Fun to meet a fellow Iowa writer. (I did miss the snow though!)