Worry, worry, worry.

There is an old curse that goes something like this: May you live in interesting times. 

Well, we are living in interesting times and that can cause anxiety, worry, a troubled heart, how ever you want to phrase it, it comes down to trust issues. 

 Who are you going to trust? 

God? 

9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ Is 46:9-10 

 Or perhaps yourself: 

I was borne a few years ago and I can’t remember what I had for breakfast let alone tell you what will happen tomorrow. 

God who created life, the universe and everything (Gen. 1:1; 2:7) said: 

 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Mt 6:34 

 And: 

 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Lk 12:25-26

 (Notice that adding time to one’s lifespan is considered a small thing.) 

Worry partly comes from us not understanding what is going on. In the book of Job his complaints come from why? 

 Why is this happening? Why isn’t this other thing happening? Why am I sick? Why am I poor? Why an I… fill in the blank. 

(By the way, as far as we know God never told Job the why of it.) 

I would suggest that we replace the why with: what (what can I learn from this), how (how can I grow/trust God more) and thank you (thank you for being there for me in this).

Triggers

It has been a long time since I have written anything. Years actually. Life happens, sometimes it’s not gentle. Someone that I know ask how to handle it when someone does or says something the triggers his PTSD. (We are both working through PTSD issues.) That’s a difficult thing. It’s easier to avoid situations or things that trigger PTSD that you know will set you off. Not so much for things that just happen. For example, a few years ago I got off at a bus stop that was near some road construction and just as I walked away from the bus BOOM! There was an explosion. They were blasting some rock or some such at the construction site. Only in my mind I was taking rocket fire. Only all around me it was a city street on the outskirts of town not a road in Iraq. Cannot really plan for that. Life happens. So what to do? I went to someone that I trust and talked about what happened. How I felt, what I saw both in my mind and outside of it. That person listened, gave some words of encouragement. Not platitudes. Just a “You can get through this." kind of thing. What helped the most was an ear to unburden myself on. I don’t even remember the words of encouragement, but I do remember the willingness to listen. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal 6:2) If one does not share their burden then no one can help them bear it. It is a blessing to have someone share a burden with you and it is a blessing to help someone bear that burden. If someone shares their burden with you, be careful not to add to that persons burden.