Make that a Double!

A Lesson Learned: by Robin Thomas

Last weekend I went up to our house in Bodega Bay, California,with friends. I am an ENFP on the Meyers-Briggs scale, with an emphasis on the “P” which basically means I’m not a planner. I usually throw in whatever food we have in the Frig. Our motto is “We won’t starve”. Well, I had a bag of Holiday Blend from Peet’s Coffee in the freezer but it was full strength. I usually drink “half-caf” but it was convenient, so I threw it in. Everyone knows that as long as you have coffee it’ll be fine.

We wake up to a glorious day, I got up and made the coffee and it tasted great, I didn’t really think much about it until the normal 3 cups of “full strength coffee” started to hit me.

My friends decided they wanted to play the board game, Quirkle, so that meant sitting in a chair and concentrating. Well, I had so much caffeine coursing through my veins that I simply could not sit still. My mind was racing, my thoughts were jumbled and apparently I was quite humorous to watch, (as my daughter took a video and sent it to my husband.) I was rocking in my chair, talking a mile a minute and breaking into song, spontaneously, as my mind couldn’t control the excess caffeine.

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It makes me think about how we tend to react to crisis. Our minds race and we can’t sit still because we have to prepare, we have to “fix it,” we have to go stock up on toilet paper, or do we?

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Why?

Because when we calm down, when we cease striving and look up, He will sustain us. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”(Psalm 46:1)

What crisis would prove too much for the Creator of the Universe; the one who spoke everything into being? (Genesis 1)

Pastor Doug Heisel said, “A heart at rest comes up with solutions.”

So next time you feel your heart racing and your mind entering panic mode, try looking up and taking a double shot of prayer and praise to God. Recite a Psalm, Sing a Little Louder, or just “Be still” and connect with the Creator and feel the stress subside.