Mental Health In The Psalms: 28 Series

I would like to be prayerful and bless those who struggle with extreme fears and anxiety:

* May you find peace and strength in God first for He is Rock, Strength, Stronghold, and Shepherd.

* May you find medicine to be helpful as a tool of God for wholeness and health.

* May you have support and love from people around you.

* May you forgive those people around you who say the wrong things at the wrong times.

* May you know your brokenness brings you closer to God Almighty not further away.

* May you know that God sees you in each and every crisis as you struggle.

APPLICATION: A PRACTICAL ITEM

As I was reviewing Psalm 28, it occurred to me that David did something that we all can do when in a crisis. I mentioned it earlier, but it might be helpful to highlight it again. David is in crisis and in the midst of his crisis he wrote down what was going on inside of him. He probably called it: writing a song. We might call it: journaling.

How does jotting down our emotions and stress to God help?

CONTENT… innerdrive.co.uk/blog/feelings-down-on-paper/ [adapted]

#1 Processing emotions: Getting our emotions down on paper helps us to recognize our emotions and process our feelings. Writing them down will be an invitation to the Holy Spirit for Him to help clear our mind and spirit. Giving time and space to our emotions allows Him to bring us peace and direction.

#2 Alleviating stress: Concealing emotions increases stress. Getting them out and down on paper can help to reduce the stress surrounding negative emotions. Again, being open with God in confession or expressing our stress opens our heart and mind to God and engages with Him.

#3 Melting ‘snowballs.’ ‘Snowballing’ occurs when we let negative emotions build up and race out of control. When we grab a piece of paper or write ourselves a text or doodle out how we are feeling it can put a stop to this acceleration and we rest in the Spirit with self-control.

We all have moments when things get on top of us and we struggle to cope with our emotions. Whatever is causing us stress, scribbling down our emotions inviting the Holy Spirit to minister to us is a step in the right direction. Writing down our thoughts and feelings may help us label our emotions. Labelling is key for understanding “what” we are feeling. It may help with the “why.” Being self-aware or emotionally intelligent is not something many of us do well or comes to us naturally. Writing out what we are thinking and feeling in a crisis may also help us process our feelings, which can reduce the intensity of emotions… and as I said… we are doing this to invite the Holy Spirit to do what He does best. I’m also not talking about writing these thoughts down to yourself, write these thoughts down TO GOD. Write out your prayer amid the stress.

There is no right way or wrong way to write a prayer journal or write out our emotions to God. Picking up the pen and opening up (literally and figuratively) to God can be a great way to begin a prayerful dialogue with Him in the midst of a crisis. It worked for King David.