Your life may feel out of control. This invisible virus has caused visible chaos around the world. Nothing in your life may seem normal right now. How do you feel a sense of control even when the world feels like chaos? It starts with your mind.
Proverbs 23:7
As someone think within himself, so he is.
You are what you think. Your thoughts define and determine who you are— your personality, temperament, values, passions and desires. They dictate your action and behavior. According to National Science Foundation, our brains can produce 50,000 thoughts per day. A majority of those thoughts (90 percent) are on your daily routine. In our current world, there is nothing routine about our daily routine.
This can create negative thoughts such as “I can’t.” The disruption of our lives focuses our attention on all the things that we can’t do. The only way to change this mindset is to replace “I can’t” with “I can.” There are many things that you can do even in the midst of the chaos. Now, it may not mean that you do it in the same way. There will need to be adjustments and changes. You will have to adapt. But there is always something you can do. And when you do, you will find a sense of control in your life. You can take back the life that God wants for you during this transition. This crisis won’t last. Therefore, you need to control what you can control or else this crisis will control our lives.
Here are five areas that you may need to replace “I can’t” with “I can.”
CAN’T HANDLE MY FINANCES
You may not think you have a handle on your finances. You are working with less or you are running on empty. There are so many market forces that are outside your control. While you can’t control the stock market or job market, you can still take control of your finances.
Philippians 4:19
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
You probably lost many things that you want, but God promises to meet all your needs. God will take care of your physical needs. He knows you and cares deeply about you and your finances. He will provide what you need in this time. Taking control of your finances may mean doing things differently. There may need to be adjustments to move forward financially. Here are some practical things to help you take control of your finances:
- Budget. You need to budget your incomes and expenses. This will help you understand how to manage and move forward with your finances. There are a variety of free budget templates you can use.
- Unemployment services. There are government assistance programs to help you if you have been laid off. Go to your state’s unemployment office for those services.
- Workshops and services. There are other services that help you receive coaching the areas of resume building and interviewing skills. There are other financial workshops on managing money as well. There are food banks and resources to help cover basic necessities too.
- Look for other job. In this season, you need explore all different job possibilities during this transition. It may just be temporary until the economy goes back to the way it was. There are still companies that are hiring such as Costco, Amazon and many more.
CAN’T SEE THE FUTURE
The future looks bleak. You may not feel optimistic about today or what next year brings. You can’t see how it will all turn out. This may give you a hopeless outlook on life. This will ultimately make you less motivated and productive right now.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
God has a plan. His plans are good even when we can’t see it or feel it. God is in control. He’s the same God in the Old Testament, New Testament and our present day. Everything changes but we know that God never changes. We can trust on his goodness and faithfulness. This requires that we seek him.
Matthew 6:33
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
What I can do today is seek God. I can remember that the most important thing I can do today is to seek after God. This looks like reading my Bible, talking to him in prayer and praying for other people. It also means watching church online and being part of a small group. It’s putting God first and at the center of my day.
CAN’T CONTROL MY MIND
You may be losing your mind. You can’t control the negative thoughts about what you see and what you hear. The media is creating more fears. Your thoughts are spinning in a million different places. This creates a roller coaster of feelings.
You can take hold of your mind. You can still have sanity in the midst of chaos. You do this by being grateful and thankful.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 -18
Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Gratitude is the antidote to you losing your mind. It helps you see that you have much to be grateful for and thankful for. It anchors your soul to God’s heart and will. You lose your mind because you focus on what you don’t have. Gratitude focuses your mind on what you do have. This reminds your soul that you can have joy even in the midst of a crisis.
How you can be grateful:
- Every morning, write down 3 things you are grateful for.
- Text someone everyday you are grateful for and why
- Close the night by telling God what you are thankful for the day
CAN’T HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE
The stay at home orders have forced us into isolation. We can not gather for church services, birthdays, weddings or watch movies. We can’t even mourn the death of loved ones. This may force you to believe that you can’t have any social connection or relationships. Your physical distancing may make you believe that you can’t have a social life. But while you can’t meet physically, you can still connect socially. You can still have a thriving relationship.
Hebrews 10:25
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
You can still engage with people socially because everyone is at home and has nothing else to do. There just needs to be someone to initiate and start the conversation. You can do so with technology. Here are some creative ways that you can still connect and have celebrations. Our family has tried these during the past month. It’s allowed us to still celebrate and connect.
- Facebook Live a wedding ceremony
- Sing “Happy Birthdays” with friends
- FaceTime with parents and grandparents
- Worship and Prayer Night for church family over Zoom or Facebook Live
- “Coffee Hangouts” or “lunch” with Friends through zoom
CAN’T HAVE A NORMAL ROUTINE
You are stuck at home and your schedule is not what it’s used to be. It’s easy to fall into the beliefs that “I can’t have my own space,” or “I can’t do what I want,” or “I can’t do anything.” This attitude makes you do less things because you don’t feel you have control over your schedule.
You can take hold by how you use your time. You control your time. You still have the same 24 hours as you did before. You are just home for all those 24 hours, but you can still control your time and space through a schedule.
Psalm 20:4
May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.
It’s biblical to make schedules and plans. This helps us to accomplish our goals as well as what God wants us to do. You can seize the day by writing down your goals and scheduling your day accordingly. This gives you a sense that you can still be productive and effective.
How to make a schedule. There are three 4 hour blocks of your day. There is the morning (8am-12pm), afternoon (1-5pm) and evening, (6-10pm). You can figure out how you want to spend the time based on your goals and desires. Here are some questions to help you process.
- What are some goals you would like to accomplish during this season?
- What are the big buckets that are important to you (family, work, fun, social) and where can you schedule it?
- Who needs to know your schedule to keep you accountable?
Thanks for this Pastor Sam! Making those lists as you suggested surely helps keep us stay positively busy and focus on what we can change.
Thanks Vanessa. Appreciate that and appreciate you!