Joy and Peace Despite Crisis?

Every so often in life, it seems one is hit with not just one, but several devastating crises.

It might be the unexpected death of a loved one. Job loss. Health issues. Financial pressures. Dashed expectations. What’s Going On In The World Now. Hassles of all kinds, such as things breaking down, technology not working, being the victim of injustice, etc., etc.

Unexpected transitions and losses can take many forms. All are challenging.

If you are in such a season, as I am along with so many, I would like to offer you some of the things that are allowing me to face a number of such challenges with relative peace, and even joy.

1. Prayer. I have usually turned to prayer first, but it seems prayer is a constant these days. Whether I’m crying out to God for justice, or mercy, or help–or thanking Him (see below)–prayer is a constant help and comfort. I especially find the Psalms comforting. In them, you see the full gamut of human emotions and experience, all brought before God and processed in His presence. That, I’m finding, is transforming.

So is meditation and worship. As I focus on God, I am pulled out of myself to a larger perspective. That shrinks my own problems down to size, and reminds me that God has bigger purposes in allowing trials to come into my life.

2. Gratitude. Though it may seem that everywhere I turn, there is something negative coming at me, I resolutely glance at the problems and gaze at the positive. I actively look for things to thank God for.

And you know what? I always find them. Big or small things, I search for them and rejoice over them. This makes a huge difference in my day. At the end of the day, my husband and I look back and celebrate the “grace moments.” There is always something there.

3. Healing Codes. After doing Healing Codes daily since 2007, I have cleared away many past “heart issues” so that I am not carrying a lot of junk from the past that gets “triggered” by present circumstances. More of my emotional and spiritual resources are available to deal with the current situation. This is the great value of regularly doing Healing Codes. When a crisis hits, you can be “all there” to meet it.

Not that I’m never triggered. I am. But when I am, I know what to do about it: Get in touch with how I feel, look for other times I felt that way in the past, and do a Healing Code to address those issues. Healing the past allows me to face the present without that extra “baggage.”

4. Meditation.  I find my favorite Truth Focus Statement to be very grounding: “The life-giving light of the Lord God Almighty shines in all the darkness, and brings complete healing, peace, and right relationships with God, self and others.” As with prayer and worship, concentrating on those words seem to lift me out of present pain and into a wider perspective.

I also use Scripture and images from that Book. I use Love Pictures from times when God was very real and present to me. Many of these times come from something called Immanuel Prayer. I am a trained Immanuel Prayer minister, and have found a unique way to combine that with Healing Codes in my coaching. If you’re interested in that, send me an email (diane at healingcodescoaching.com) and ask about how it works, or visit this link.

5. Journaling. For more than 27 years now, I have been writing “morning pages,” three pages of longhand first thing in the morning. I got the idea from The Artist’s Way many years ago. It’s a great way to work through stuff and just “mind dump” to get that out of the way.

I also do a form of interactive journaling with God that is outlined in a wonderful little book called The Joyful Journey: Listening to Immanuel. This is one of my all-time favorite books for transformation. Learn how to “thought-rhyme” with God!

6. Music. Uplifting music of all kinds really helps change my mood. I love the Music for the Healing Codes, lots of classical, jazz, worship music, and these days, Christmas music.

7. Focus on love and kindness. I have a friend who would ask, “How can I make your life more joyful?” I love that! When I focus on this question, or something like it (“how can I show kindness to this person?”), it changes everything. Even genuinely thanking a sales clerk can brighten both their day and yours.

Recently someone was treating me very unkindly. Instead of retaliating (my usual mode), this time I simply said, “I can see you’re under a lot of stress now. I will pray for you and do a Code for whatever’s bothering you.” I didn’t get a response (I’d said it in a text message), but I felt better. Quite at peace, actually.

8. Support from others. This is something relatively new for me, and I’m relishing it. I have wonderful friends, wonderful clients, and a church community that actually demonstrates the kind of caring that Christians are supposed to be known for. I think that as I healed and changed, I was able to find and be in a healthy community of caring people.

It’s a huge piece of the resilience puzzle, to have people with whom you can be real, whether you feel like raging or crying. People who you know won’t judge you, but will care and offer perspective and even practical suggestions.

I hope you are not in a challenging season. But if you are, perhaps some of these suggestions will help you as well. These practices are helping me to get through an incredibly stressful time with an amazing (to me ) measure of peace and even joy that I hadn’t known before when going through much less.

If any of these suggestions are a challenge to you, then perhaps that can be an area of growth for you. For instance, if prayer and worship leave you cold, perhaps addressing “anger at God” will be a key to set you free. If you don’t have enough supportive relationships, you might want to get some coaching to begin to specifically address those areas that might be blocking you from the supportive relationships that will help you get through the trials of life with a smile.