I have lived with chronic pain most of my adult life. Pain sucks!
Wanna know what sucks even more? Fear!!
Over the last 5 years I’ve had two major concussions. A horse yard darted me out over his head and rang my bell.
Then 2 years after that a 600 lb calf hit a gate that hit me and cold cocked me. I didn’t really come to for about 30 minutes with that one even though I was awake.
When I did I couldn’t figure out why I was in the corral as I was sure I was in the kitchen.
Both incidents physically hurt.
Wanna know what hurts even more? The fear and anxiety that came after.
Things I never would have worried about before now make me borderline panicky.
I’ve lived with both chronic pain and fear and I’m more convinced than ever that I’d rather deal with pain than fear.
Fear sucks!!
Here is where I’m supposed to have words of wisdom on how to get over it. But I don’t have any.
Nothing frustrates me more than someone saying, “Well, just don’t be scared!”
“Oh yeah there we go! That did it. All better!”
What works for me is to acknowledge how I feel and tell God about it. Nothing gets healed in the dark so bring it out into the light.
When I start doing the what if thing in my head I ask the Holy Spirit to take those thoughts captive and make them submit to Jesus.
Memorizing verses to recall at those specific times is super helpful too!
Am I always completely fearless again after that? Nope, most of the time it takes a bit.
But…I know God’s been faithful before and I always expect Him to do it again!
So I just keep showing up for the hard things even when I’m scared. Albeit, maybe at a little slower pace than in my younger days. 😉
If you have any tips that work for you I’d love to hear them.
