Disturbing News and Circumstances

copyright Millie Plastaras 3/16/2009

Good Morning Everyone,

Have you ever gotten disturbing news, and it was
not only hard to process it mentally, it was frightening
or difficult for you to deal with? At some time all of
us will face some kind of devastating news, or crisis,
or difficult time in our life.

I was discussing with a friend last night some
articles we found about things happening in our world,
in the United States and other countries. And of course
the media has played up things to such a degree that
many people live in fear of what will happen next.

I also received a letter from a gentleman in the
Philippines talking about my last devotion on fear.
He said how it had comforted and strengthened him
and he needed that as he was going through
some very difficult circumstances. I did not get
his email address so was unable to reply. But I shall
be praying for his needs.

I felt compelled to write today on how to deal with disturbing
news. Many of you are new to my list and do not know
my story, something I have not shared for a long time.

I started sending devotions in 1998. I sent them to a core
group of 6 friends. I did it to share how I was dealing with
tragedies going on in my family that were absolutely
overwhelming and devastating. So bad, that eventually
I had to get counselling and had severe panic attacks.

It is interesting to note that group of 6 friends has now
expanded to more than 1,000 people on my list who share
it with friends, who share it with friends, who share it
with groups and organizations. And it all started by
me being obedient and seeking a way out of the sorrows
in my own life, through faith and renewal in Christ.

Every member of my family in the year 1996 got hit
with a tragedy. Something earth shaking. One by one
something happened to each of them. As things unfolded
there was so much going on each member of the family
had to learn to face it and deal with it, and we had so
much on our plates it was hard to be there for each
other in all the ways we needed. I think we were overwhelmed.

I not only lost my dad to a long battle with alzheimers,
but my husband had 3 cardiac arrests, and would face
many difficult things ahead.
I had a daughter who was bedridden from a shot she was
given that went very wrong. I had a grandson in the hospital
with a bullet wound to his head, and wasn't expected to survive.
The things happening in that particular tragedy were ongoing
and very striking and difficult to cope with. I myself
had very difficult health problems, and all this just built
up to such a degree I came to a point I just felt like
I wasn't even myself anymore. I felt as if I was living
in a strange new world. There even came a time I didn't want
know how to live through another day. There came
a point where all the things happening in the family
caused me to lose relationships with people very dear to me
because of all the stress, misunderstandings and grief
we were all experiencing. It took years for God to work
that out.

Keep in mind this happens to many people around the world.
They get hit with tragedies, personal, or even nationally
and must face things they never thought they would see.

What do we do when hard times hit, or tragedies change
our lives forever? What can we do to live with what we
must face? I remember when my family was going through
these things and many more which I have not mentioned,
that a counselor from my church, who had been counseling
for years, came up and asked how in the world are you
people coping with all this? I said some reassuring comment
but I knew within my heart I was close to the end of my coping
abilities. If he didn't know how we could cope with it,
you can imagine the circumstances were quite difficult.

I have recognized many things since that time, and some of
it through a christian counselor, some through deep prayer
and much through spending time with God. These things I want
to share with you.

In all of our lives these things hit. Prepare yourself. Life
will not always be easy or run smoothly. Things could get worse.
Things could stay easy, or turn difficult. Life changes, and
we must adapt.

1. Recognize there are things you can do.

You can pray. This is not a small thing, it is our first task.
ONLY GOD IS IN CHARGE. He sees what is happening,
knows the right people to send into our lives to minister
to our spirit, and He alone can offer comfort to the depths
of our spirit no one else can bring.

Remember this too shall pass. There are things
you can do until it is done. Recognize you can do some
things to make your situation better. Seek them.

2. Recognize there are things you cannot control.

Give them to God. Don't carry them. If they come to your
mind and start to haunt your thinking and overwhelm you
run back to God and say: God these things are too heavy
for me, I don't know what to do, I don't know how to cope,
and I don't know which way to turn. Help me. Show me
what way to go. God comfort me and strengthen me.

3. Don't dwell on it constantly.

You must have time off from the negative and overwhelming
thinking about your circumstances. I remember one day
my counselor gave me a prescription for a day off
from my problems. I thought about it, and said I am going
to try it. I had been wringing my hands up to that point,
thinking about the sorrow in my life almost constantly.

That one day I gave it a rest. I was sitting on the porch
watching the sunlight dance through a cottonwood tree
and sparkle upon the cement path below. Little birdies
were on the ground hopping around and finding food. It
was such a peaceful, happy scene. Restive, quiet. I thought
I have been missing all this! Then I thought what else have
I been missing? Time with my family, noticing their needs,
ministering to them even more. Just savoring each day.
It was then I realized I had let sorrow and despair rule my spirit.

I often wonder how many blessings or happy times
I missed out on because I was so busy dwelling on my sorrows,
and so inwardly focused.

I learned to give myself a day off from my problems much more
often. Everyday.. I give my burdens to Christ.. and let Him
help me go on and make my day count and not be miserable
and focusing on the wrong things. Instead I make the
day purposeful.

4. Recognize your fear.

If you are fearful, it is controlling your emotions. Fear is
a spirit. It is a spirit that comes in and takes over your
home and your thinking and soon you dwell in it and don't realize
it is helping you have panic attacks, causing depression, or
even worsening depression you had before. Fear becomes
a mental habit. It is something we allow.

I have late stage asthma and copd. At night sometimes
when I wake up and fight for breath, it used to scare me.
Then one night I recognized the ugly spirit of fear. And that
night I spoke out loud. For God has not given me a spirit of
fear but of love, power and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)
. Spirit of fear, leave my room now,you have no place here,
God is here.I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. That fear left my room
and my thinking, instantaneously. It was freeing, and deeply satisfying.
I felt rest and peace in my spirit. So now when I start to fear
anything I say that verse and rebuke fear, and it cannot stay.

Fight the fear! It is NOT your friend.

5. Fill your mind with good thoughts.

Take time to plant Gods word in your heart daily. It will
strengthen you and comfort you as nothing else will. It is alive
and powerful because it is from God. It goes to the core
of your spirit and can change you, it reaches to depths
no other words can.

Change your thought patterns. If you catch yourself constantly
dwelling on sorrow, or sad thoughts, or feeling sorry for yourself
recognize it and replace it. Learn to find positive things
to focus on. Read a good book, do a useful activity, minister
to someone in need, watch a good movie. Get out of the house
and go for a walk. Get your mind off yourself and your sorrow
and on something else positive and uplifting.

6. Do something for someone else.

One of the best cures to our own sorrow is seeing
that others are going through things too and need comfort.
Reaching out to others and doing something to help them
makes us feel better. We know we are not alone, we know
we have done something to change someone's world and
we know we have made a difference. God wants us
to minister to others, and we should be finding ways of
doing it everyday. Whether it is a meal to a shut in, taking
someone shopping that cannot drive, or visiting someone
who is sick, there are ways we can reach out to those around us
and get our minds off ourselves.

7. Attend church.

No excuses! Church gives us a community of believers
that can support us emotionally, prayerfully, and spiritually.
It gives us people to be friends with and to pray with us.
It plants God's word in our hearts, and it helps us grow in Christ.
It also helps us reach out from our own lives and mind sets
and become more community minded. We need to spend
time thinking of others, and focusing on what Christ would
have us do each day. We need to grow and become
mature in Christ, learning to be strong and face things
rather than crumble when they happen.

Ps.. for those of you who complain about hypocrits
in church.. what better place for them to be.
Its where we all seek healing and change through Christ. No excuses!
We are ALL human and subject to failure. Don't go
to church looking for perfect people, go to church to
focus on a perfect Savior!

8. Spend time in prayer.

Daily walk with God in the garden of prayer. Tell him
all your hurts, your needs, your pain, and talk to him
conversationally. Then leave it there. Talk to him
often as you want, it will help you more than you can
imagine. He is your dearest closet friend, and Father,
in whom all things are possible.

9. Spend time in praise.

Turn on beautiful praise music. It will ABSOLUTELY lift
your spirits. It changes you psychologically. It uplifts
your mood. It gets you out of the doldrums, and makes
you focus on God and his great ability and holy, almighty
power. You don't have to face anything alone. God,
the almighty creator of the universe will never leave
you or forsake you.

10. NEVER, NEVER allow a root of bitterness to
dwell in you or your thinking.

Bitterness is cancer to your spirit. It will spread
in your whole way of thinking, in all your relationships
and will destroy them. The root of bitterness is unforgiveness.
Forgive everyone, even if they don't ask. It doesn't mean
we need to be people's best friends, but it does mean
we have to forgive them, and love them through Christ.
It is what He wants, and we as Christians must seek that first.

I know this has been a long devotion. Its a lot to process.
I pray it helps you. My great desire is that each of you seek
God first each morning. And each morning first thing focus
on filling your mind with positive thoughts instead of your problems.
We only have so long in this life, invest your thinking and days
wisely. Live as if today was your last.

love always
millie

ps. Each day, recognize where your focus is. If it is on
the wrong things, only you have the power to change your
focus, and your mind processes. Happiness is a choice.
So is fear, so is thinking negatively, and so is obsessing
over our problems. Life goes on around us while we
are dwelling in despair. Which would you rather spend your day on?<