Panic Mode or Prayer Mode.
by Ruth Hawkey
This verse really challenged me when I read it yesterday, in the light of the present situation of corona virus. How easy it is to get into panic mode and to become (as the bible says) ‘disturbed, fearful, cowardly even and unsettled’. It seems to me that In the present situation I have a choice to make: Will I allow myself to become disturbed and even agitated? And for me (especially living on my own) this happens when I listen, watch or read the news. Which I love to do!
So, I find that I am faced with not one but a number of choices. Do I stop listening to the news? Do I stop watching television? Do I cut myself off from telephone calls, especially from those who are panicking? I guess these are all choices which I could make.
However, for me the basic choices are these: “With what do I fill my mind and heart?” And secondly, “How do I replace panic with peace?”
The answer would seem to be to rest on and fill my mind with God’s Word. Does this mean that I don’t listen, or even think about the present situation? No, rather I believe that we can turn each situation into prayer. Talking to God about it allows us to get His perspective and therefore gives us His peace.
So today I have made a decision. I am going to choose the peace which the Word of God promises to give me to guard my heart and resist the panic which the world would seem to push me into. I will do this through prayer. Will you join me?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You that there is nothing that will happen to me either now or in the future which takes You by surprise, for You know all about me. You have promised that through Jesus You will give me His peace. I gladly now ask and receive that peace in this present situation. I choose the peace of Jesus over panic. Amen.
Ruth Hawkey has had the privilege of working alongside Ellel Ministries from the very beginning. She and her husband Joe helped to begin the work in both Glyndley Manor and Canada. She has written a number of books including Healing Emotional Wounds, Healing the Human Spirit, Generational Blessing and Generational Sin, and Praying for Children. She and her husband also helped to develop prayer ministry teams in the local church.
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