Because everything is connected. Everything has an effect, however small or large, on something else.
The thing is, I often have more options than I realize. It’s far too easy to passively go with the flow, to just allow things to happen to me, within me, and through me. But the good news is than I can allow certain triggers to be pulled. I can also leave the safety on for other triggers. The triggers I allow to be pulled will lead me either in the direction of brokenness or in the direction of wholeness.
Here’s how this works. Consider these lines from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi:
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4
Laid on top of our current pandemic, Paul is saying that we can choose to set in motion the following triggers:
Coronavirus triggers anxiety in me.
Anxiety triggers prayer and thanksgiving.
Prayer and thanksgiving trigger peace.
Peace triggers protection over my heart and mind.
Is the pandemic creating anxiety in you? You have agency regarding the response that you allow anxiety to trigger in you. When you feel anxiety creep in, rather than letting it trigger irritability, or hopelessness, or insomnia, or any number of other possible negative options, let it trigger prayer. Let it trigger thanksgiving. Pray for your needs and the needs of others. Thank God for the gifts he has given you today and the beauty you see in the world around you.
When we choose prayer and thanksgiving we set in motion the subsequent triggers of peace and protection. And gosh, do we need more of those.
Choosing triggers might feel like hard work at first, a bit clunky and unnatural, but eventually it will become a habit.
What’s one thing you’re praying for today? What’s one thing you’re grateful for?
