Sitting With What You’d Rather Avoid
Some things are easier to stay busy than to feel.
As long as there is something to do, somewhere to go, someone to help, or another task waiting, you don't have to sit very long with what's happening inside of you.
But eventually, quiet has a way of revealing what busyness helped us avoid.
And sometimes the pause asks us to stay there.
Not Everything Uncomfortable Needs to Be Escaped
Sadness.
Disappointment.
Confusion.
Grief.
Fear.
Even anger.
We often want uncomfortable feelings to disappear as quickly as possible. We pray about them, distract ourselves from them, reason our way around them, or immediately start looking for the lesson.
But sometimes there isn't an immediate lesson.
Sometimes there is simply something that needs to be acknowledged.
You can sit with an emotion without allowing it to control you.
You can acknowledge pain without deciding that pain is your permanent reality.
And you can bring something uncomfortable before God without arriving with the solution already figured out.
God Can Meet You There Too
We sometimes imagine that we need to clean up our emotions before bringing them into prayer.
But God already knows what's there.
You don't have to pretend you're okay.
You don't have to find prettier words.
Sometimes prayer sounds like:
God, this hurts.
God, I don't understand.
God, I'm disappointed.
God, help me sit here without running from what I feel.
There is room for honesty in your relationship with God.
A Gentle Reflection
What have I been trying not to feel?
You don't have to solve it today.
Name it.
Write about it.
Pray about it.
And allow yourself to be honest about what is there.
Carry This With You
I can acknowledge what I feel without being consumed by it. I can bring every part of myself into God's presence.
You don't have to rush through uncomfortable places.
Sometimes healing begins when you finally allow yourself to sit there.
This reflection accompanies Episode 13 of Between the Pause, “Sitting With What You’d Rather Avoid,” from Eternal Grace Journals.
Comments