When You're Anxious - Quiet Spaces

When You’re Anxious

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Calming When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Psalm 94:19

Centering Imagine a still pool of dark water. A pebble drops into the middle of the pool. Ripples begin to spread, moving toward the outer edges of the pool. Another pebble drops. More ripples.

Another pebble. More ripples. Eventually the pool is covered with ripples bouncing into one another, back and forth, up and down, side to side, edge to edge.

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P r ay i n g I’d like for my life to be like that still pool, O God, but I fear it’s more like the one with all the ripples. All my thoughts about this situation are like stones dropping into the stillness of my life.

The ripples spread from one part of my life to another until every moment is consumed by thoughts, concerns, worries about this situation.

I can think of nothing else, just this situation, and my life is full of disturbing ripples.

And I can’t focus on you.

All-Powerful God, I want to be rid of all the ripples of concern and worry. The only way I can do that is to stop the stones of thought from falling into my pool. And God, I don’t know how to do that.

I need your help.

Help me see how destructive worry is.

Help me look into the pool and see the disturbances that all these thoughts cause.

Help me realize that you are the only one who can take care of my anxiety.

Help me see that all my anxious thoughts won’t make one bit of difference in this situation.

Help me put away these thoughts.

O God, right now, I turn my eyes back to 116

you. In this moment, I put away my thoughts of this situation and concentrate on you, only you: my God. Right now, I trust that you are working in me and in my thoughts. I trust that you will help me throughout today and the coming days to put aside the thoughts of this situation, and in their place, to think only of you and your loving care for me. Thank you, God, for returning calm and peace to the pool of my life.

Listening And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?

Luke 12:25-26, nrsv

Returning Throughout the day, as your thoughts return to your situation, close your eyes briefly and imagine the pool covered in ripples. Imagine those ripples slowly smoothing out and disappearing until the pool becomes peaceful and still.

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