A number of years ago I was “doing life” as usual when personal crises (notice plural!) occurred—-multiple lightning bolts out of a clear blue sky.
{ They say lightning can’t strike in the same place twice—-but “they” are wrong. }
The ground opened up under my feet like a hidden trap door and I fell into a dark pit. In a matter of a few seconds, I saw the door above me slam shut.
And there I was.
Alone.
In the dark.
Confused.
Shell-shocked.
Disabled.
We all face situations in this life that blindside us. And during those times, we need a lifeline thrown out to us. Maybe even more than one.
{ Usually more than one. }
For me, one of the first lifelines I had thrown out to me and that I grasped onto was extended after I made a call to a stranger—a Christian counselor at a church in a city near where I live.
I had never gone to a counselor before.
{ I thought it meant “failure” for me as a Christian—that I wasn’t trusting and believing God enough. }
But I was desperate for help in that dark pit. Panic-stricken in fact. I didn’t care what anyone thought. I felt that if I didn’t get help, I might slip so far down no one could get to me—no matter how long the ropes.
I wasn’t able to grasp the Lord’s hand:
“See, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save, and His ear is not closed that it cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:1
I needed to be reminded that often —usually— God’s arm reaches us through caring people.
Via e-mail (we never spoke by phone) the counselor and I set up a time to meet. But later that day I wrote her back and told her that I didn’t even feel like I could drive the hour to where she was. I just couldn’t drive my car out of that pit.
I canceled the appointment.
And then…she sent me a lifeline.
She didn’t have to.
She didn’t know me.
There was no exchange of money.
She was obviously prompted out of her love for God and His love for me.
I received a follow-up e-mail from her after I canceled the appointment.
She suggested I do 3 things.
Let me tell you, when you are in a crisis, and your mind has become a whirlpool of disconnected swirling panicky thoughts and nothing makes sense to you anymore—having someone tell you some simple things to do to start the climb out of the pit is one of the most beautiful lifelines you will ever receive.
I want to share those lifelines with YOU…
This is what she told me to do:
- Spend 15-20 minutes each morning reading through the Psalms. Underline whatever speaks to your heart. Read the Psalm that corresponds to the day’s date, add 30 –read that one, add another 30—read that one, and another 30, and perhaps another 30. (So if it was April 15th, I would read Psalm 15. Then, if time allowed, add 30 to that and read that Psalm 45. And so on. In my opinion, David, a man after God’s own heart, could possibly have been diagnosed as bipolar in this day. Ha. Talk about extremes! Ecstatic praises one minute and the depths of despair the next. I can relate. How about you? Life on this earth lends itself to those extremes sometimes. )
- She told me to journal for just 5-10 minutes every morning about what I was feeling and going through, and to write out a prayer. Journaling had been something I had done a lot, but I had gotten out of the habit. For me (and I think it holds true for everyone), journaling is a way of skimming off all the junk in our thought life that usually clogs up the pipeline. It gets us in touch with all our junky real thoughts and emotions. Once I get all of that out of the way, I find myself flowing into a pure dialogue with God. Prayer, really. And all my thoughts come into line like neat little soldiers. And peace comes not long after. It’s really quite amazing.
- She suggested I get a devotional book to read that was specific to the particular crises I was going through. (And, for the record, I am not giving details of the crises because there are other people involved and it wouldn’t be right for me to share their stories. I will just say that they were both financial in nature (so no one in the extended family comes up with their own ideas!) and they were beyond huge. If elaborated on, every single one of you reading this would know why I ended up in a pit. These had tentacles that reached even outside of a financial realm. They were due to outside forces of a horrific nature with innocent victims, and there were some inside mistakes as well. A lot of other work and healing needed to be addressed. (Still no sins of the flesh, though, which can be equally devastating—things like affairs and such. There are many devastating attacks that can come to us in this life. Chronic health problems, an accident, to name just a couple more.)
And, finally, this dear counselor told me that any time I wanted to come see her, she was there. She told me she understood and that she cared.
This stranger became my lifeline in my pit.
I cried with gratitude.
Days later, I wrote to tell her of my gratitude
{ I think we always need to take time to thank people. Because when we show our gratitude, they will feel more inclined to reach out again—to others in need. }
I followed through on every single one of her suggestions. And I started immediately.
I pray that you will do the same. Just start with these 3 things—even if you feel you don’t know how or even why. I will tell you why. They will lead you out of your pit.
(I love the words to this song and the photos used in this video but I have to confess I’m not too keen on the music itself. Just me… You can actually mute the music and just read the lyrics and watch the video…)