With Ali Knight
Ali Knight shared practically and biblically about finding resilience in God. Here the NH Media Team brings you a summary of her seminar at #NH2022.
You can’t force life to be perfect because we aren’t in Heaven yet. Since we aren’t in Heaven there will be trouble. He does not enforce the valley on us and the broken can become beautiful.
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “I will give you rest.”
We come to talks on mental health and we assume those behind the pulpit are strong. But our leaders in churches are as prone to presenting a fake version of themselves to appear fine.
How are we made?
We are made in the image of God but are broken in nature. Life circumstances are going to be both amazing and difficult. We must acknowledge that our public facade is not real. Whatever our circumstances we can have confidence not in ourselves, but in God.
Practical tools
We know God is faithful and that He is a good God but there are times when we need to acknowledge that we feel pain. Both can be true. Just because we feel pain does not mean that God is distant.
We need to rest: Rest can be many things to each of us. Psalm 23 says. ‘He makes me LIE DOWN.’ We therefore cannot refuse to rest even if we fear letting people down. God loves us and we can be secure in that. God is a God of rest. In Mark 4 Jesus calms the storm. The disciples couldn’t understand why He was resting in the storm, but He knew His father and rested in Him. The disciples had to let Jesus be Jesus. He promises that the waters will not overwhelm us. We need to allow God the chance to restore our souls on Earth. Psalm 23 says ‘HE MAKES me lie down’ which means God works against our pride and stubbornness with love. In Jesus, we find our resting place. Coming to Jesus as we are and in Him, we find a resting place.
Refuel the body, mind, and soul: Self-care can end up being one of the greatest stresses of our lives because we can make it unrealistic. Self-care needs to be realistic and can happen in little pockets. Make self-care fun and not a stress. It is not selfish -I t is essential.
Boundaries: “No” is a complete sentence. We do not need to justify why we say “no”. When there is an emergency in the airplane we are told to put an oxygen mask on ourselves first. We cannot help anyone else until we ourselves are safe. In 1 Kings 19-3-14 Elijah ran away but God is practical and is not distant. He is working in our every day ordinary lives. Elijah slept under God’s instruction.
Looking after our physical needs is looking after the temple that God has given us. We have spiritual needs as well. We need sustenance from His word. We need to have nourishment from other Christians. We need to have “warning lights” on our tanks because if we try to run on empty we will hit valleys much quicker and for much longer. We can rise strongly much quicker if we know our warning lights. We cannot ignore the empty tank.
Our emotional needs can be broken down into four – love, significance, freedom, and fun. These are biblical principles because God longs for us to have these things. Love and belonging are a basic need. It is being part of a church, family, or friendship group. Significance is about feeling purpose, whether it is a parent, your occupation or being dedicated to serving the church. We need to find freedom to be who God made us to be. Fun – even when we feel in a dark place we intentionally go to places where there is fun. Sometimes our warning lights can be physical signs. We want to be people who are continually refreshed.
Rising Resilient
Being resilient can feel like a pressure. In our weakest moments we can be fed lie after lie by the enemy. When we feel weakest, the lies attack like weapons. Resilience means to bounce back from adversity. To absorb trauma and rebound. A positive outcome despite high risks. But this rebound cannot be done in our own strength.
Isn’t it such good news that God not only feels our pain but saves us from that storm? You don’t have to believe that you will bounce back like a tennis ball for God to work in your heart.
In 1 Samuel 30 David had wobbles. David strengthened himself in the Lord. We need to remind ourselves to stop and be still. David held on to the truth of God’s promises. He has been faithful in the past and He will continue to be faithful.
We were not made to survive alone. We need people to help us keep it real. Living with our humanity in His strength is what we were made for. We were not designed for burnout. Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”
We have been bruised but we are not fully broken. God loves you and He has got you always.