Month: March 2022

NCFI CARES: Huddle with God

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In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;

In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

Psalm 5:3

One of the biggest challenges new believers and possibly seasoned Christians face is daily setting aside time to spend with the Lord. Even though believers recognize the importance of a daily prayer, most struggle with being consistent.

Recently, I was reminded of a common practice in health care—Huddles! Just in case you are unfamiliar with the practice, here is a description:

A huddle is a short, stand-up meeting — 10 minutes or less — that is typically used once at the start of each workday in a clinical setting. The huddle gives teams a way to actively manage quality and safety, including a review of important standard work such as checklists. Often, standard work will be the output of previous quality improvement projects, and huddles provide a venue to ensure process improvements stick. Huddles enable teams to look back to review performance and to look ahead to flag concerns proactively.

Huddles were put in to place for patient safety. Research showed improved patient outcomes and better unit communication when health care members met daily to discuss the priorities and strategies of the day.

Maybe the struggle with setting time aside for prayer and devotion is in our perspective. How about if we thought of our quiet time as a “Daily Huddle” with God? Instead of drudgery or boring prayer and Bible study, refocus the time as a “check-in” with God. When we meet with Him to discuss His plan for the day. Here are some suggestions:

  • Share important activities or stresses that you will be facing. This may include difficult conversations or challenging projects.
  • Share your concern for others – this is a great time to intercede for your colleagues and bring their concerns to the Lord. 
  • Include a personal focus  – are you actively seeking to grow spiritually or implement a suggestion from a sermon topic? Take time during the huddle to be intentional about how you want to mature as a believer or grow closer to Christ.
  • Take a moment to listen – this can be the most challenging! Yet, even 1 minute of quiet opens our heart to listen to our Great Physician’s plan.

A huddle brings a health care team together for better communication and collaboration, and the same is true for our huddle time with God. We can connect with God and prepare for the day, while benefiting from checking in with Him.

NCFI CARES: Respond to Stress by Praising the Lord

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Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth. Break out in a joyful shout and sing!

Psalm 98:4

Have you ever had one of those days, when you are running around, and your stress is escalating?   Recently, while teaching an all-day class, my phone vibrated continuously with urgent voicemails needing my attention, my phone buzzed steadily with multiple texts exclaiming endless problems, and my email in-box filled up with crucial questions that only I could answer. I won’t even get into the family crisis that raged throughout the day. UGGH!!

At the end of the day when I got into my car to drive home, a worship song playing reminded me of when I worked in the hospital. As a cardiac nurse, my colleagues and I had many crazy hectic days. We even had horrible, chaotic days when the entire unit couldn’t keep up with the emergencies and the multiple crises. We would run from one cardiac resuscitation, intubation, stat surgery, to the next stroke alert, anaphylactic reaction, and family emergency. Forget lunch. There were days I didn’t go to the bathroom, nor get a drink of water.

In the midst of this chaos, a colleague of mine would start singing: “Praise be to God, alleluia.” To say he would sing, is not really correct; he would proclaim loudly! “PRAISE BE TO GOD, ALLELUIA!” We knew our everyday chaos had hit a certain peek for him, when his praise would echo across the nurses’ station and down the halls: “PRAISE BE TO GOD, ALLELUIA.” Keep in mind, I worked at a non-Christian hospital. A few other colleagues and I were the only Christian believers on our unit.

This memory brought a giggle to the end of my stressful day. I thought, “Hmm, maybe I should try proclaiming a praise song amidst my next crazy day!”

When Defeat is Better than Death

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The king (David) covered his face and cried out loudly, “My son, Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 19:4)

Anyone with a child can understand David’s emotional toil at the death of his son, Absalom. It didn’t matter that his son had become his enemy by forming a coup and would have killed David for the throne. At the news of Absalom’s death, David was heartbroken and grieved loudly at the sudden news. David would have rather lost his kingdom then lose his son.

When I reflected on David’s grief, I seen many comparisons to the grief we experience today. Even though, we rarely have adult children take over our kingdom or attempt to kill us for economic or political gain, many have experienced adult children maliciously causing parents’ harm. Adult children today can steal money, take over a business, or cause bodily harm.

In addition, parents are grieved by children becoming estranged. Or the opposite situation, whereas, you are the child who has become estranged from a parent(s), siblings, or other relative. Any time a significant relationship is fractured there is insurmountable grief. We grieve the raw, constant pain of the incident(s) and we mourn the lost future of how our relationship could be now and in the future. Whether the time is measured in years or decades, the pain is intense and never ending.

This is David’s grief. When her heard of Absalom’s death, he mourned the broken relationship and the unrealized hope for reconciliation.

The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!”

Can you relate to David’s grief over the fractured relationship? What have been your emotions? Are you angry? Bitter? Depressed? Many of these are signs of grief expressed in seemingly more acceptable emotions. Whatever your emotions, you can bring them to God. Be honest with Him and tell him exactly what you are feeling. God will understand the unrealized lost experiences and the painful disappointments. Whether your loved one is still living, or like David, death stole reconciliation away, share your feelings with the God of comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-6).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, the broken relationship with ___________ [insert name] has caused me pain and suffering.  Help me bring my heart to you, so that I can lean on You for comfort and wisdom. Amen.

Suggested Reflections:

  • Write out the relationship losses you have experienced through the broken relationship.
  • Psalm 3 was written by David when fleeing from Absalom. A few key themes are fear, crying aloud, retribution to those who cause you harm, and others. There is also hope, confidence, and trust in God to provide care. What feelings are you similar to David? What additional emotions are you experiencing? Find a way to express them through journaling, recording audio/video, drawing or some other media.
  • This verse reminds us of God’s comfort through others who are experiencing the same “hard time”. I encourage you to seek counseling and/or support group. Please see my post entitled Seeking Counseling on finding the right counselor as a Christian believer.
    • All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort-we get a full measure of that, too. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5. The Message).
  • Nearer, My God to Thee This beautiful hymn speaks of the pain and hope of grief.

Seeking Counseling

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I am a big advocate of seeking a professional counselor. The right person can be a place to talk, explore and dive into your emotional issues. When my sister suddenly died I was a wreck! With the support of my husband and daughters, I was managing until the holidays. My backpack of grief (that was how I explained it) became heavier and I was a weeping, depressed mess.

I had barely made it through the holidays, when the first anniversary of my sister’s death slapped me with anxiety! I wasn’t sleeping, couldn’t concentrate, and was barely functioning. I knew I needed help. I reached out to my workplace and was given the resource for mental health counselors. The list were professional counselors and not necessarily Christian counselors. In the past, I have learned excellent counselors don’t necessarily need to have the same faith.

Here are some tips when looking for the right counselor/psychotherapist:

  • Pray: Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you to the right counselor. Seek out your family, friends, and church community in praying for your healing and the best counselor for you. In fact, pray through the entire process of counseling! Jesus is the Great Physician and the Holy Spirit is our Counselor!
  • Review Counselor Specialties: Many times counselors will have a website that provides their qualifications and specialties. Look through the list and choose one that has experience with your issue. If you aren’t sure feel free to call or email them.
  • Choose same gender: I know this sounds archaic, but I feel strongly about this. Counseling sessions are very private, intimate and personal. Thus, as a Christian woman or man, you should connect with a professional of the same gender.
  • Be clear/respectful: When you reach out to make your first appointment with your counselor, let them know about your Christian faith. I don’t expect them to tell me to pray/read my Bible, attend church, etc., Instead, I let them know my faith is important to me and I will talk about it during the sessions.
    • Your email may say something like this:
      • I am a Christian and my life with Jesus is an important part of my life and therapy. Let me know if you lack experience or would prefer not to see me.
    • Notice how I gave the counselor a way to “decline.” I trust God and want the best person. If someone feels uncomfortable, then it this is not the right person.
  • Your healing: Remember that the counseling session is for your healing and for no other purpose.

My final thoughts are from my testimony. Over 30 years ago when I came to know the Lord, I needed to leave the pain of my past behind and learn to walk in the new life Jesus had given me. My life verse is Luke 5:25 Immediately he stood up before them, picked up the stretcher he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. What isn’t part of the account is the man had to learn to walk in his healing. That is what counseling did for me. It opened up the pain from my childhood and allowed the healing touch of Christ to heal past, present, and future–Amen! Hallelujah! Even today, as this world continues to bring pain and suffering, counselors have helped me to open my heart to the healing balm of God.

Resources:

10 Myths Keeping Christians from Counseling